Berkeley Parents Network: Extracting Teeth

Berkeley Parents Network

Extracting Teeth

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Advice about Health > Extracting Teeth

Extraction of 8-y-o's baby teeth
Baby teeth extraction for 6-year-old?
related page: Oral Surgeons

Extraction of 8-y-o's baby teeth

Feb 2005

My 8 year old needs two baby teeth extracted. I welcome advice about what has helped your children through this procedure and experience, as well as information about who should perform the procedure - dentists vs. oral surgeons. Thank you. Nancy

my two year old had to have a front tooth extracted (by oral surgeon) after falling and chipping it at a park and then after about 7 months the tooth abscessed. i was very concerned about the procedure, especially the fact that they wanted to put him under. i went in to talk to the oral surgeon the morning of the extraction about not having my son put under and we were able to avoid that by talking to my son about what is going to happen. they give the series of shots (two or three i think) of the local right around the tooth (also, laughing gas is an option in addition) and then they just pull the tooth. the actual extraction took seconds. my son was fine. he was a little whimpery when he got up out of the chair, but we went straight to the grocery store w! here he had fun picking out yogurt, pudding, and even a little ice cream. stayed home the rest of the day and he was back at school the next day. hope this helps! feel free to email me with any other questions you may have. kate

My 10 year old recently had two baby teeth extracted for her on- going orthodontia. Her regular pediatric dental office did the extractions. They used the topical local anesthetic as well as the injectable--and they also used nitrous oxide. My daughter tolerated the procedures very well, despite the fears that she had prior to the procedure. She was even able to attend her after-school program directly after the extractions. I did give her some ibuprofen an hour before the extractions and she took one more dose that night at bedtime. Baby teeth c! an be easily extracted by a pediatric dentist. Rita

My 9 year old had 2 baby teeth pulled, in 2 sessions. It was traumatic (but she is very sensitive to and scared of pain). Her dentist, who is very patient and gentle said next time we'd use an oral surgeon so my daughter could better maintain her relationship with the dentist (eg not associate pain/trauma with her). I think if she had nitrous oxide to relax prior to the extraction, it would have all been fine either way. anon

My daughter had to have several baby teeth extracted. The first time we were a little nervous about it, but it went so well that we didn't worry about it too much the next couple of times. The first time we did it, she was about 8. Our dentist recommended that we go to the oral surgeon and we ! did. The main thing was, the oral surgeon was kid-friendly. He had young children himself and was relaxed and friendly-- definitely non-threatening. I did not want my daughter to have laughing gas or other drugs besides the injection they used to numb the teeth. He was fine with this, and the whole thing went well. She definitely did not need more pain medication or sedation. The procedure itself was very quick--those teeth popped right out! I had talked it over with my daughter ahead of time, explained what they were going to do and that it would hurt, but I didn't think it would hurt too much, and that it would be over quickly. All of this was true! I stayed in the room with her. The oral surgeon didn't want me to hold her hand, but he let me sit where she could see me out of the corner of her eye. Afterward, we talked about it and she confirmed my observation that it really was not a very scary or painful procedure. Paula

I don't know if this will help much, but I had several baby teeth extracted as an 8 yr old, and that would have been several decades ago, and my parents didn't take notice of it at all (didn't worry about how I'd feel), and I have no negative recollection of it at all. The one thing that probably did help was that I got to save the teeth, and I still got to put them under the pillow for the tooth fairy (maybe the tooth fairy could be more generous in this case??). Probably also helps to explain why it's necessary and how special the kid is to go through this, etc. jan

We have nine year old twins and tried both ways. Our daughter had four teeth extracted by an oral surgeon, on the recommendation of the orthodontist. It was a bit traumatic for her, she had to get an IV and she felt pretty groggy coming out of the anesthesia. Her twin brother had four teeth extracted by the pediatric dentist. A few shots, a twist with the pliers and we were home waiting for the tooth fairy in less than half an hour.

In retrospect, I wish we'd asked the orthodontist more about why he thought we needed the oral surgeon. I suspect it was a case of ''That's what we always do.'' Unless your child will really need to be sedated, I'd go with the regular dentist. It was faster, easier, and many, many hundreds of dollars cheaper. Cheers, Brian

Baby teeth extraction for 6-year-old?

Jan 2003

Our pediatric dentist referred our six year old twins to a pediatric orthodontist, who now wants to extract a number of baby teeth in both children in the hopes of making the permanent teeth grow in straighter. This might be done under local anesthetic, but might require a general. (These are not, by the way, baby teeth that are in any way ready to fall out.)

The orthodonist made clear that while this might help, my daughter would almost surely need orthodontia later, and my son might as well.

I'm not at all convinced that the benefits (perhaps making orthodontia easier later on) outweighs the costs (pain, enough discomfort to create a possible fear of dentists, and the risk, however minor, of general anesthesia if we have to go that route.)

I'd be grateful if other parents who have confronted this issue would share their thinking about it with me. Worried Mom

We have had a similar situation with our 9 year old son. When he was seven, his dental x-rays showed permanent teeth jumbled up behind his baby teeth. Then when the permanent teeth started to push through, the baby teeth did not come out and began to force the permanent teeth to come in very crooked. He had two of his four top incisors pulled to allow the permanent teeth to drop down straight (which they did). Then he had a couple other baby teeth pulled when they were in the way of more teeth. Those permanent teeth also came in straight.

This sounds like a lot for a pain adverse child, which our son is. However, the oral surgeon we used, Dr. Brian Krey, was great. He explained everything to our son in a consultation appointment. During the extractions, he and his assistant made sure our son was as comfortable and calm as possible (even holding his hand during the hardest part.) It was such a good experience (especially the ice cream and video afterward), that our son actually looks forward to his next extractions (scheduled for March). Toothless in Berkeley

Tooth extraction seems a major event. If the X-rays show teeth coming in crooked behind the baby teeth, two things come to mind that may be helpful. 1) Ensure your children have the most nutrient-dense diet (avoid refined foods and sugars) as this is compatible with the research of Dr. Weston A. Price, DDS, who studies the effects of diet on dental arches and general health (see his book NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL DEGENERATION or the more readable TRADITIONAL FOODS ARE YOUR BEST MEDICINE by Ron Schmid). Foods that help are vitamin A-rich foods (liver, egg yolks, raw dairy). 2) Seek out a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner who works with children. This touch therapy has been known to correct errors that occurred in the womb. Two very skilled people I know are Pam Reynolds (in Berkeley on Spaulding) and Leah Statman (in Albany on Cornell, 525-5080). Children in Japan are taught JSJ (from where it came to the US) and licensed practitioners there work in the hospitals along side medical staff. It is being used now in cancer clinics in the Bay Area to mitigate the adverse effects of allopathic cancer treatments (nausea, diarrhea, hair and energy loss, etc.), it's that powerful! Good luck! Nori Hudson

We have gone through a tremendous amount of cappings and extractions all under the age of 6 for my child. From our experience it was enormously radical and tramatising to go through general anesthesia TWICE. Our childs teeth look fine now with orthadontia to come after all the adult molars come in. Even under ''general'' anesthesia my child was awake and struggling. It was horrendous and I am the kind who stayed in the room holding and encouraging and making sure the team respected all perameters for my childs comfort and not just their need to move on with the procedure. And these were the best and ostensibly kindest of the available dental practioners. Knowing what I know now I would have waited. All in all my child will still need 2 years of braces and years of retainers. Good luck in your descision. Remember to floss!

Yikes! I've written in before on a related post about anticipatory tooth extraction because of my own fairly nightmarish history of orthodontia, so I won't give all the details, but suffice to say I had very aggressive, very early orthodontic ''care'' that began with the extraction of recalcitrant baby teeth when I was about nine (complete with holes drilled into the hard palate to ''bring down'' the adult teeth). Twenty-five years, twelve of those in braces, one massive jaw-surgery and about forty titanium screws in my jaw later, I can't say that my teeth are even that straight. I am really an advocate of getting second and third opinions in all matters orthodontic, and also of taking the low-intervention path. My parents and I long ago agreed that we were too taken in by the ''experts'' and that we didn't ask enough questions, especially about the Platonic ideal of the bite that my orthodontist imagined for me. It didn't work for my mouth or my teeth, and I urge you to think hard about subjecting your kids to major surgery (anytime you're given a general anaesthetic it's major) unless it's absolutely necessary. If you've ever had a tooth pulled, you'll recall that it hurts a lot, afterwards. Alexa

While I am not a parent who has confronted this, my father is a retired dentist (30 years active), and I have adult friends who had baby teeth extracted for these puposes. If you asked my father, he would not recommend such action. The adult teeth may be late in arrival, and no one can accurately predict how they will grow in. Yes, there may be problems later, but he would suggest dealing with them when they arise rather than anticipating them with such drastic measures. I also have two adult friends who had baby teeth extracted. One's adult teeth didn't come in for years aferwards, so she had numerous problems: both social and physical. Another one's adult teeth still came in with problems, so she had to wear braces anyway. She remembers the extractions as traumatic and wishes her parents had not made that choice. Amy

RE Baby teeth extraction for 6 year olds...Before embarking on such a journey think about a plan. Dr. Broderson is a unique and skilled DDS on Gilman in Berkeley who does a kind of orthodontia that doesn't start with extractions. Unfortunately he is retiring and not taking on new clients but has a very capable associate who I am sure can help. Too many orthodontists depend on extractions and headgear which can lead to serious long term cranial problems. anon

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