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#1
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Sigh. Confused more than ever about orthodontics.
Okay, so DS's pediatric dentist recommended a palate expander because he
said his new teeth coming in were too big and he doesn't have room in his mouth. He says there's not much time for a palate expander. After age 8, he stops doing them, it's too late to expand the palate and he just leaves everything for the orthodontist later. He said they want to prevent the need for tooth extraction later. My main concern is I see a big, whopping gap between DS two front teeth. To a layman, it doesn't look crowded at all. So, I take him to an orthodontist who happens to be an assistant professor of orthodontics at a nearby university. This guy says no problem waiting for the palate expanders. He's more worried about the molars not having come in. DS is 7 and they should have come in last year. He says there's not much time, they need to come in in six months or else action will need to be taken because the roots will become fully developed soon and they will never come out if they are stuck there fully developed. Funny DS's pediatric dentist never mentioned a concern there. He says if the molars don't come out in six months, DS will need surgery to help release them or maybe pull a baby tooth to let it out. It seems if he needs a tooth pulled, then maybe he does have crowding? I saw the x-ray and it's hard to explain, but the molar is coming up straight, it's just a tiny bit under the tooth in front of it. If the baby tooth gets pulled, he'll need orthodontic work to help hold the other teeth in position. This orthodontist insists we do not need palate expanders at this time and we can wait until the four top and four bottom front teeth are fully in to decide. Okay, I think if I go get a third opinion, the opinion will depend of if I go to a pediatric dentist or an orthodontist as they both have a different focus and financial incentive. There are two different issues that two different experts say require immediate attention. Anyway, anyone with experience in this area? |
#2
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Sigh. Confused more than ever about orthodontics.
DD2 had a palate expander and our orthodontist says that before age 15 is a
much better time frame to get the expander because at that point the bones start to fuse together (they are supposed to do that). I would take the opinion of the orthodontist because that is what their specialty is and have more experience with it. Usually, they like to wait for orthodontic work to be done when all of the teeth have come in. If the molars don't come in, you may have to have some work to get them to come through. -- Sue (mom to three girls) "toypup" wrote in message ... Okay, so DS's pediatric dentist recommended a palate expander because he said his new teeth coming in were too big and he doesn't have room in his mouth. He says there's not much time for a palate expander. After age 8, he stops doing them, it's too late to expand the palate and he just leaves everything for the orthodontist later. He said they want to prevent the need for tooth extraction later. My main concern is I see a big, whopping gap between DS two front teeth. To a layman, it doesn't look crowded at all. So, I take him to an orthodontist who happens to be an assistant professor of orthodontics at a nearby university. This guy says no problem waiting for the palate expanders. He's more worried about the molars not having come in. DS is 7 and they should have come in last year. He says there's not much time, they need to come in in six months or else action will need to be taken because the roots will become fully developed soon and they will never come out if they are stuck there fully developed. Funny DS's pediatric dentist never mentioned a concern there. He says if the molars don't come out in six months, DS will need surgery to help release them or maybe pull a baby tooth to let it out. It seems if he needs a tooth pulled, then maybe he does have crowding? I saw the x-ray and it's hard to explain, but the molar is coming up straight, it's just a tiny bit under the tooth in front of it. If the baby tooth gets pulled, he'll need orthodontic work to help hold the other teeth in position. This orthodontist insists we do not need palate expanders at this time and we can wait until the four top and four bottom front teeth are fully in to decide. Okay, I think if I go get a third opinion, the opinion will depend of if I go to a pediatric dentist or an orthodontist as they both have a different focus and financial incentive. There are two different issues that two different experts say require immediate attention. Anyway, anyone with experience in this area? |
#3
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Sigh. Confused more than ever about orthodontics.
"Sue" wrote in message ... DD2 had a palate expander and our orthodontist says that before age 15 is a much better time frame to get the expander because at that point the bones start to fuse together (they are supposed to do that). I would take the opinion of the orthodontist because that is what their specialty is and have more experience with it. Usually, they like to wait for orthodontic work to be done when all of the teeth have come in. If the molars don't come in, you may have to have some work to get them to come through. Thanks. DH says to go with the orthodontist for the same reason. It makes sense. Thank you. |
#4
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Sigh. Confused more than ever about orthodontics.
toypup wrote:
Okay, I think if I go get a third opinion, the opinion will depend of if I go to a pediatric dentist or an orthodontist as they both have a different focus and financial incentive. There are two different issues that two different experts say require immediate attention. Anyway, anyone with experience in this area? My dentist defers to the orthodontist. The orthodontist consulted with a oral surgeon for one of my kids. I don't know anything about a palate extender. It has never been mentioned to me. My boys are 7yo and 9yo. I was told they have size 10 teeth in a size 5 mouth, lol. They look more and more crowded as more adult teeth come in. My kids have the gap between the front teeth too. It is because of their frenulum (sp?) being so tight/strong. Ordinarily the dentist would cut that but they will need so much orthodontic work anyway that it isn't worth it - or so they said. The 9yo had to have one of the baby molars pulled and the dentist put a spacer in that spot to keep the teeth in line. The spacer will come out when the molar under it pops through - which should be any time now. The spacer has not been any big deal at all. The only problem it has caused is they wanted to pull a baby tooth to give the adult teeth more room but they couldn't because it was holding the spacer in place. He already had that back molar up though. The 7yo had to have surgery to get a un-erupted 2yo molar out. The back perm. molar next to it is seated to far back for some reason, tipped side ways, and ran into it under the gum line. If it doesn't come up now they will have to either cut an area of the gum away and hope it comes up or the orthodontist will possibly attach something to it under the gum line to guide it out. He'll be 8yo in April. I was not told anything about the root development. I'll have to ask about that. I'm pretty sure all three of the guys I use yack on the phone to one another so I never hear of a disagreement. I should probably get another opinion myself. -- Nikki |
#5
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Sigh. Confused more than ever about orthodontics.
"Nikki" wrote in message news:zfWdnaxpsrhlsNXUnZ2dnUVZ_sTinZ2d@prairiewave. com... My kids have the gap between the front teeth too. It is because of their frenulum (sp?) being so tight/strong. Ordinarily the dentist would cut that but they will need so much orthodontic work anyway that it isn't worth it - or so they said. I was told about the frenulum needing to be clipped for DS, too, but that was by one dentist long ago and no other dentist has ever mentioned it. The 9yo had to have one of the baby molars pulled and the dentist put a spacer in that spot to keep the teeth in line. The spacer will come out when the molar under it pops through - which should be any time now. The spacer has not been any big deal at all. The only problem it has caused is they wanted to pull a baby tooth to give the adult teeth more room but they couldn't because it was holding the spacer in place. He already had that back molar up though. I wonder if they have to pull baby teeth to let the adult teeth through, if that means there will be no room for adult teeth when they are all in. I mean, baby teeth are much smaller than adult teeth, after all. I know the jaw will grow, but I wonder if that's enough. The 7yo had to have surgery to get a un-erupted 2yo molar out. The back perm. molar next to it is seated to far back for some reason, tipped side ways, and ran into it under the gum line. If it doesn't come up now they will have to either cut an area of the gum away and hope it comes up or the orthodontist will possibly attach something to it under the gum line to guide it out. He'll be 8yo in April. I was not told anything about the root development. I'll have to ask about that. That's what will happen with DS if his 6 year molars don't erupt. The orthodontist said there's not much time because if they don't come out soon, the roots will mature and they will never come out. |
#6
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Sigh. Confused more than ever about orthodontics.
Nikki wrote:
toypup wrote: Okay, I think if I go get a third opinion, the opinion will depend of if I go to a pediatric dentist or an orthodontist as they both have a different focus and financial incentive. There are two different issues that two different experts say require immediate attention. Anyway, anyone with experience in this area? My dentist defers to the orthodontist. The orthodontist consulted with a oral surgeon for one of my kids. I don't know anything about a palate extender. It has never been mentioned to me. My boys are 7yo and 9yo. I was told they have size 10 teeth in a size 5 mouth, lol. They look more and more crowded as more adult teeth come in. My kids have the gap between the front teeth too. It is because of their frenulum (sp?) being so tight/strong. Ordinarily the dentist would cut that but they will need so much orthodontic work anyway that it isn't worth it - or so they said. The 9yo had to have one of the baby molars pulled and the dentist put a spacer in that spot to keep the teeth in line. The spacer will come out when the molar under it pops through - which should be any time now. The spacer has not been any big deal at all. The only problem it has caused is they wanted to pull a baby tooth to give the adult teeth more room but they couldn't because it was holding the spacer in place. He already had that back molar up though. The 7yo had to have surgery to get a un-erupted 2yo molar out. The back perm. molar next to it is seated to far back for some reason, tipped side ways, and ran into it under the gum line. If it doesn't come up now they will have to either cut an area of the gum away and hope it comes up or the orthodontist will possibly attach something to it under the gum line to guide it out. He'll be 8yo in April. I was not told anything about the root development. I'll have to ask about that. I had three impacted wisdom teeth and had to have surgery to remove them (mid 50s). I did not have a fourth wisdom tooth. My dad had four impacted wisdom teeth and had them all removed at once (early 30s). My oldest daughter started what they called serial extractions to remove baby teeth early to let the adult teeth come in. She had four baby canine teeth removed and had a spacer. Then we moved, and lost the spacer but by the time we got to another dentist, she had grown another set of baby canines and the second dentist did not believe me that one set had been removed. My dad had extra canine teeth too from what I understand. Anyway, she had braces. The second one just had a head gear. The third one had a palatal splitter for cross bite. Our family dentist at the time did all the work, and sometime about that time he went to jail for making drugs to support his mistress because his wife ran the office and kept a tight hand on the money, and things just fell apart after that - dental-wise. I'm pretty sure all three of the guys I use yack on the phone to one another so I never hear of a disagreement. I should probably get another opinion myself. |
#7
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Sigh. Confused more than ever about orthodontics.
"Rosalie B." wrote in message ... I had three impacted wisdom teeth and had to have surgery to remove them (mid 50s). I did not have a fourth wisdom tooth. My dad had four impacted wisdom teeth and had them all removed at once (early 30s). My oldest daughter started what they called serial extractions to remove baby teeth early to let the adult teeth come in. She had four baby canine teeth removed and had a spacer. Then we moved, and lost the spacer but by the time we got to another dentist, she had grown another set of baby canines and the second dentist did not believe me that one set had been removed. My dad had extra canine teeth too from what I understand. Anyway, she had braces. The second one just had a head gear. The third one had a palatal splitter for cross bite. Our family dentist at the time did all the work, and sometime about that time he went to jail for making drugs to support his mistress because his wife ran the office and kept a tight hand on the money, and things just fell apart after that - dental-wise. LOL. That's a good one. |
#8
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Sigh. Confused more than ever about orthodontics.
toypup wrote:
I wonder if they have to pull baby teeth to let the adult teeth through, if that means there will be no room for adult teeth when they are all in. I mean, baby teeth are much smaller than adult teeth, after all. I know the jaw will grow, but I wonder if that's enough. His molar was pulled because of abscess but he has had other baby teeth pulled to make room for adult teeth - and yes his adult teeth will be way over crowded. I had adult teeth pulled to make room for them all also. He has two baby teeth with no perm. teeth under them so if he needs any pulled, it will be those. My 7yo has 4 baby teeth with no perm. teeth under them. I think my boys got the short end of the stick when it comes to decent teeth. All my fault too -- Nikki |
#9
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Sigh. Confused more than ever about orthodontics.
"toypup" wrote in message ... Okay, so DS's pediatric dentist recommended a palate expander because he said his new teeth coming in were too big and he doesn't have room in his mouth. He says there's not much time for a palate expander. After age 8, he stops doing them, it's too late to expand the palate and he just leaves everything for the orthodontist later. He said they want to prevent the need for tooth extraction later. My main concern is I see a big, whopping gap between DS two front teeth. To a layman, it doesn't look crowded at all. I had a huge gap between my front two teeth when they came through. I'd estimate at least 2mm. It was like that still at 12+ (looking at photos). It cleared on it's own, I now have no gap at all, and they didn't do anything. I had some adult teeth removed due to over crowding, but never had anything else. The dentists I've seen say it's typical for the teethto come through with a gap, and it corrects itself usually. Certainly they wouldn't be looking at doing anything about it at this stage. Debbie |
#10
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Sigh. Confused more than ever about orthodontics.
"Welches" wrote in message ... "toypup" wrote in message ... Okay, so DS's pediatric dentist recommended a palate expander because he said his new teeth coming in were too big and he doesn't have room in his mouth. He says there's not much time for a palate expander. After age 8, he stops doing them, it's too late to expand the palate and he just leaves everything for the orthodontist later. He said they want to prevent the need for tooth extraction later. My main concern is I see a big, whopping gap between DS two front teeth. To a layman, it doesn't look crowded at all. I had a huge gap between my front two teeth when they came through. I'd estimate at least 2mm. It was like that still at 12+ (looking at photos). It cleared on it's own, I now have no gap at all, and they didn't do anything. I had some adult teeth removed due to over crowding, but never had anything else. The dentists I've seen say it's typical for the teethto come through with a gap, and it corrects itself usually. Certainly they wouldn't be looking at doing anything about it at this stage. Debbie Well, then. It is possible to have a big gap but yet end up with overcrowding of adult teeth. I very much want to prevent having any extractions of adult teeth if at all possible and that is what the pediatric dentist said the palate expander will help prevent. |
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