NetWellness Dental and Oral Health (Children)

Pitting on Infants Teeth

Dennis McTigue DDS — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:01:00 EST

Question: I am inquiring about my 1 1/2 yr old she is a breastfead baby never had a bottle and is still breastfeading now. She does have juice and milk in a sippy cup but juice is diluted and not put to bed with a sippy or bottle. Her top four teeth near gum line are pitted and are now starting to turn a ting . . .

Answer:

Ask an Expert: Dennis McTigue DDS, Dental and Oral Health (Children)

Unerupted Molar with No Roots

Dennis McTigue DDS — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:10:00 EST

Question: My daughter is 14 years old. It was recently discovered by our dentist that one of her 12-year molars has not erupted, and, apparently, it has no roots. The dentist said this is uncommon. What does this mean for my daughter? Will the tooth need to be exposed and pulled out?The dentist suggested brac . . .

Answer: Delayed development of permanent molars is uncommon, but can usually be easily managed. Most often these teeth do eventually develop and erupt, so conservative treatment is usually indicated. The eruption of the 12 year molar opposite the unerupted tooth must be monitored and, many times, another mo . . .

Ask an Expert: Dennis McTigue DDS, Dental and Oral Health (Children)

Blister on Gum

Sarat Thikkurissy DDS, MS — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:10:00 EST

Question: My son is 10. He has a white and red blister on his gums. There is a baby tooth that is a little loose below it. The dentist says its an erosion from a big tooth coming in. It is irritating and a little painful for him. Is there anything I can do to help relieve the pain or irritation? Also, how lon . . .

Answer:

Thank you for the question. I'm glad to hear that you had a dentist see this, as that would have been my first suggestion.

In terms of pain relief (and I am assuming your son has no other . . .

Ask an Expert: Sarat Thikkurissy DDS, MS, Dental and Oral Health (Children)

Tooth Coming from Front of Gum (Lip Side)

Sarat Thikkurissy DDS, MS — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:10:00 EST

Question: My son has a damaged front baby tooth. He had a root canal when he was 3. Now the permenant tooth is coming out throught the front of the gum, what procedures are available to fix this or is this not uncommon.

Thanks

Answer: I'd recommend first off that your son have a comprehensive evaluation by a dentist. This will give a good perspective as to his individual eruption sequence (how the teeth are coming in) and any problems with eruption. This will likely involve taking a xray to determine how much of the baby tooth ro . . .

Ask an Expert: Sarat Thikkurissy DDS, MS, Dental and Oral Health (Children)

I`m 15 and I`m missing my permanent teeth.

Dennis McTigue DDS — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:09:00 EST

Question: I was born and raised in Jamaica for 8 years when I moved to America to live with my mother. By that time I only had 2 permanent teeth, my "two front teeth." After that as I got older, dentists were baffled by the fact that I had no permanent teeth growing under my baby teeth. I recently v . . .

Answer: The scientific term for missing teeth is "oligodontia" and this can occur sporadically or have an hereditary component. You state that missing teeth does not run in your family, but you might check to see if any extended family members have any missing permanent teeth. It's possible that you, unfo . . .

Ask an Expert: Dennis McTigue DDS, Dental and Oral Health (Children)