I really hate my smile and some guys at school call me shark because I have both my baby teeth and my adult teeth in my mouth still. The adult teeth came up behind my baby teeth so my smile looks weird. Can this be fixed? My mom doesn’t have a ton of money and it’s just the two of us. I’m 16 now and willing to work to pay for it myself. What do I need to do? I’ll be going back to school soon. Luckily, I get to wear a mask for now to hide my teeth, but they all know what my mouth looks like anyway.
Kaleigh,
Dear Kaleigh,
You sound like a compassionate, intelligent, hard-working young woman. I’m sorry the other students have been so cruel. I’m going to guess that you haven’t been to a dentist a whole lot because of your mom’s financial situation. If you have and your pediatric dentist allowed this to happen, you need to switch dentists immediately.
When adult teeth are erupting but the baby teeth are still in place, if the baby teeth aren’t removed, it will cause the adult teeth to shift to an improper position causing the need for braces later on.
The good news is this can still be fixed. If you haven’t had a dental check-up and cleaning in a while, start with that. We need to check on the health of your teeth. You can get those fairly cheaply at a dental or hygienist school if there is one in your area. Another thing, because you are a minor, your dental care should be covered with Medicaid, which will help with some of the expenses.
If your teeth are otherwise healthy, what you need to do first is have those baby teeth removed. Having a tooth extraction sounds scary, but if you have a lot of teeth, it could seem overwhelming to you. The good news is it’s not nearly as hard as you’d think. Those baby teeth don’t have very good root systems because they are designed to come out. I just recently had a friend whose 12-year-old had to have two baby teeth removed and they did it in under 5 minutes. However, if you are nervous, you can ask for some dental sedation to relax you.
After that it will be time to look at orthodontics. I usually recommend an Invisalign type of braces for a couple of reasons. First, they make it easy to clean your teeth. The aligners are removable, so you just pop them out, brush and floss, then pop them back in. Because they are removable, the patient has to be responsible enough to keep them in the right amount of time. You sound like that won’t be a problem. Another great reason for Invisalign is no one will know you are wearing them, even if the mask mandate is removed at your school.
Braces are rarely covered and when they are it doesn’t cover a whole lot, so it will be an investment. Your mom can apply for Care Credit, which is a medical loan service with low and no interest payment plans depending on various financial factors. That may allow you to get the orthodontics you need and pay it out in reasonable increments.
Best of luck to you and your mom!
This blog is brought to you by Libertyville Dentist Dr. David Potts.