My 3 and a Half Year Old Daughter Has to Have Her 2 Front Baby Teeth Pulled

My son had a front tooth taken out when he was 2.5. He could care less so we all acted like we could care less and life went on! He was so cute. Now his adult tooth is in and life goes on! If you roll with it so will she.

My son had O. front top tooth pulled for the same reason--abscess. He was 5 then. Now he is 7.5 and still--no tooth. He didn't have to wear a spacer, retainer or prosthetic tooth.

If the second tooth is NOT involved or abscess what is the reason for extracting it? Years ago, my oldest sister (less than 18-years old) had a doctor tell my mom because of gingivitis she needed to have all her teeth extracted. She found later from other dentist, it could have been treated and she would not have needed dentures at her age.

I would get a second opinion on the 2nd tooth.

these are baby teeth - they won't give her prosthetic teeth.. her permanant teeth will just grow in naturally when they are ready won't they?? My nephew had a tooth pulled very young (18mos?) and he was just toothless until the adult one grew in. If you are going to miss her smile, take a picture . She's going to look adorable without teeth.

I have a cousin who had an upper plate when she was about 5 or 6. It looked so real that the teachers accused her of lying when she told them she had "false teeth". Not sure if they apologized when she took them out of her mouth in class.

I can't answer for prosthetic teeth, but my younger brother had his two front teeth knocked out in a swingset accident when he was two. He spent the following years with a big gap. During adolescene he had braces, like myself and our sister and many other kids. He and his teeth turned out fine. I wouldn't worry too much about her appearance.

I totally empathize. My daughter had to have one of her front teeth pulled when she was about 2.5 years old. I was devastated, but I got over it. It helped that my daughter acted like she couldn't have cared less after the tooth was out. Now she's almost 5, and I'm so used to her missing a tooth that I think it's going to look weird when she gets her adult tooth in that space! Some people who have known her forever have just mentioned to me recently that they noticed she's missing a tooth--the way that she smiles, it's not super-obvious.

I was worried about her not being able to eat certain things and about her speech development. Neither has been any issue whatsoever. I don't know if it's different for both front teeth coming out, but we never even considered any kind of retainer/prosthetic. Is your pediatric dentist recommending that? Also, I hope that they're planning to use laughing gas when they do the extraction. (Our pedi dentist sent us to an oral surgeon.) It is horrible watching your child go under for even a minute, but my daughter is excited to go to the dentist and not at all fearful. If we hadn't done it that way, I shudder to think what dental appointments would be like now.

We all want our kids to look perfect and untouched by life, and one of my first thoughts when I learned her tooth had to come out was about how she'd look in all of our family photos. But honestly, it's who she is now, and she's beautiful. And I can't imagine her any other way.

I would definitely go to another dentist and get a second opinion!!!!!

Yes, she will have to wear a retainer as a place holder until her adult teeth come in. Otherwise, they might come in in front or behind and you will have WORSE problems!!

Look at adult retainers. With today's dental technology, I would bet you couldn't even tell. Your biggest burden will be to make sure your 3.5 yo doesn't lose it! I have heard of older kids (even adults) accidentally throwing it away, leaving it at a restaurant, etc. That can get quite expensive.

Children usually start loosing baby teeth by 6-7. Is it necessary, to replace the teeth? Will not having teeth bother you or her? Obviously, it seems to bother you. Does it bother her, also? I can't imagine a 3.5 year old will want to wear a retainer. Her smile will still be beautiful.

I know this is upsetting, but try not to be devastated. Think ahead to when she and all her friends will be in kindergarten or 1st grade -- none of them will have any front teeth anyway. All the school pictures show kids in various stages of toothlessness! You'll get thru this as soon as you get used to the idea that losing baby teeth is normal and occurs on different schedules in different kids.

Please check out this dentist. If he's a pediatric dentist then I would trust him. I mean a pediatric dentist that has that degree, not a family dentist that accepts children.

A peditric dentist would normally put the child to sleep in a hospital setting under anesthesia and do a root canal and caps on, white caps at that.

K fell at her moms house and broke off a chunk of her front tooth. The peditric dentist I took her to in OKC was wonderful and the work was done in less than 45 minutes and she woke up and wanted to go eat lunch...the white matched her other teeth wonderfully and when she lost her teeth you could not tell the cap from the original teeth.

It can be scary to have a child go under anesthesia but it really is the best way, they don't have to go through the feeling of getting shots, feel the grinding drill, feel the motion of the drill going back and forth, the smell of tooth in the air, it's just so much easier to see them gently close their little eyes and then go have the work done.