Over-Retained Baby Teeth

At some point in everyone’s childhood, their baby teeth inevitably fall out. This isn’t always the case. Over-retained baby teeth need proper evaluation, monitoring, and possibly removal. When a baby tooth doesn’t exfoliate, the adult teeth cannot properly erupt. Schedule an appointment for your child with Kidz Connextion Dental & Braces right away. Our pediatric dentists in the Phoenix, AZ, area are here to help.

There are a few causes for over-retained baby teeth. It’s important that your child receives an evaluation to determine why. Your Phoenix, AZ, dentist performs a dental examination and takes X-rays. This will provide you with the answers you need. The most common reason is that your child is missing permanent teeth. Hence, there is nothing to push out the baby tooth. A more rare possibility is that the baby tooth is fused to the bone.

Here are a few other possibilities for an over-retained baby tooth:
-Obstructions in the jaw or mouth
-Misalignment of the baby or permanent tooth
-Infection
-Trauma or injury to the specific area
-A late or slow eruption of the permanent tooth

Treatment depends entirely upon the tooth and the condition it is in. If the tooth does not require interference, it is left how it is. A weirdly shaped baby tooth is safe to leave retained with modification. Lastly, a crooked or strangely positioned retained tooth will require an extraction.

Kidz Connextion Dental & Braces top-tier pediatric dental services. We have three separate offices located in the Phoenix, AZ, area. Visit https://www.kidzconnextion.com/ to learn more about our services or schedule an appointment. Call 623-232-0749 for our N. 75th Ave. office, 480-666-5984 for N. 24th St., and 480-405-4714 for E. Baseline Rd.