Are you an adult who still has some baby teeth? It’s unusual, but not an unknown situation. At the Shoal Creek Prosthodontic Group in Texas, we extract and replace teeth that are compromised for whatever reason. Baby teeth in an adult mouth could certainly be a problem cosmetically, not to mention for hygiene and bite comfort, so we thought we should explore the situation more.
When permanent teeth push through, they cause the roots of the baby teeth to dissolve. Normally, the baby teeth fall out immediately before the emergence of a permanent tooth; when they don’t we call them “retained deciduous teeth.” Sometimes, the permanent tooth emerged in a radically different location than its baby counterpart, resulting in the patient having two sets of the same tooth. This would lead to overcrowding and the one that gets stuck in back would be very difficult to brush. The typical treatment is to extract the baby tooth and refer the patient for orthodontic treatment.
Sometimes, there simply is no adult tooth coming in. A small percentage of people are congenitally missing certain teeth, usually the upper lateral incisors. Many people dislike having a mix of baby and adult teeth, which is why they may want to get the baby tooth extracted and replaced with an implant or denture. Some orthodontic work may also be required to make room for an adult-sized crown, but we can provide a variety of restoration options.
Frederick Shaw, DDS, operates the Shoal Creek Prosthodontic Group at 1500 W 38th Street, Suite 34, Austin, Texas, 78731. To schedule an appointment, call 512-451-7491 or visit Frederick Shaw DDS and fill out a contact form.
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