Retained baby teeth

[Cara1990]

Hi, i'm new to this forum and am hoping someone could offer me some advice. I am a 25 year old and I still have my two canine baby teeth and one lower one. I have all my adult teeth which have grown round them. I have one wisdom molar on my lower jaw on the side of the lower baby tooth which has not come through (is it possible to have one wisdom tooth missing?)

Due to my sister having problems with having a brace fitted on her own teeth, my mum refused to allow me to have a brace or any treatment as such when I was a teenager.

I have always looked after my teeth, brushed twice a day and used mouthwash, I've never had and decay from my adult teeth all very clean. However regrettably I developed bulimia 6 years ago when I was 19 (my mum passed away, this may of triggered it). Since then my teeth have "eroded", almost shrunk in size and started crumbing and chipping and breaking in places. My two baby teeth have broken quite literally where the backs to the teeth have broken off, leaving very thin pieces for baby teeth. I have a lower baby tooth which the dentist said was "hanging on". I have since managed to stop bulimia nearly altogether. The damage is done though in my opinion. The last dentist I saw took a look at my mouth and said he didn't want to say anything but he could tell I had bulimia at the very end of the appointment as I mentioned it, tiny unusual holes & where there is no enamel left. The pain now in my whole mouth is excruciating and I can barely eat and I avoid sugar and acidic food altogether. I use sensitive enamel care toothpaste which is the only thing that makes the pain manageable.

I have celiac disease which affects my bones due to lack of nutrients from the condition, so my teeth have probably suffered more from being weak and brittle, and I also have MS, none of this has helped but I am not working currently because of the latter illness, so I am on a low income and don't know how to get this treated. I suffer from a lot of mental and physical fatigue and sometimes struggle to take in information/function depending on how ill I am so i'm finding this to be a total minefield right now looking for answers on how to correct this problem with my teeth

The fact I have 3 baby teeth in my mouth which I am guessing will not last any longer. The prospect of losing these teeth where I will have 3 large gaps in my mouth I find the thought very distressing and depressing. My dentist said don't worry, it's not right at the front when they fall out. When I open my mouth to speak it will be obvious, and to me so it is no consolidation really. Is it possible to get an adult brace and realign teeth in some way? My teeth aren't wonky, just my adult canines aren't where they should be and I will be left with sizable gaps. As for the lower baby tooth, the wisdom tooth has not come through on that side but I don't know if it's there or I only have 3? Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Plaza Dental Group]

I would say a baby tooth like yours can develop a toothache and infection at any age without undergoing any orthodontic treatment. I think you should be fine getting Invisalign and don't worry about your baby tooth. The Invisalign could work and be gentle on the baby tooth as all aligner movements are very slow and incremental. Hope this advice will surely help you.

 

[evensmiles]

Hi Cara. Unfortunately, fixing your problem has only one solution: Dental implants. Having said that, baby teeth could last for a long time if there's no adult teeth sitting underneath them. I've actually seen adults in their 30s, 40s and even 50s hang on to their baby teeth believe it of not. On average, these teeth go bad at age 30-35 at latest. Once the baby teeth get loose or infected, it's time to remove them. If I were you, I would start consulting with a dental implant specialist in my neighborhood right away. There's always one tooth that is in worse condition as compared to the rest. Start with this one. You don't have to replace all 3 teeth at once. If you plan accordingly, you can remove one tooth at a time and replace it with dental implant so you can extend your treatment over the course of 3 to 5 years. This way you can make small monthly payments to your dentist. If you ignore your problem then you will eventually lose all 3 teeth and get stuck with a huge bill! So in my opinion, start planning early. It sounds to me like you need to find a new dentist, one who specializes in dental implants and has affordable prices! The final question which you might have is what to do during the healing process? After all, it may be 6 months to a year to have each tooth replaced. My favorite option is to wear a set of clear retainers with fake teeth built into them. Basically, your dentist will make you a set of clear retainers that look like clear aligners. Then, he or she will fill in the missing gap with white filling material to resemble your natural teeth. You can wear these while your bone graft and dental implant are healing so you're not embarrassed by having missing teeth. Hope this helps and I wish you best of luck!

 

[MattKW]

Hi Cara. Unfortunately, fixing your problem has only one solution: ...

Hello evensmiles, just a heads-up. This post is from 2016 so you may wish to watch for more recent posts.