HELP! Shark teeth in my child!!

When you glance inside your child’s mouth, you notice something unusual. The front of their mouth has a double row of teeth. It’s Shark Week in there, so turn on the “Jaws” music! But don’t worry; this is a typical occurrence among our 5-7-year-old children and is not a dental emergency. Ectopic eruption is a term used in dentistry to describe when a permanent tooth emerges beneath a baby tooth before the baby tooth falls out. The lower front teeth are the most typically affected, and they are also the teeth that fall out first.

The permanent teeth usually destroy the roots of the baby teeth as they grow forward, however, sometimes the permanent teeth are forced to emerge behind the baby teeth due to crowding or atypical location. Typically, an ectopic eruption will resolve on its own without the need for a dentist to extract any baby teeth. The baby teeth normally become loose enough overtime for children to pull them out on their own, and the permanent teeth will then slide forward into place due to tongue pressure.

There are times when a dentist’s aid is required to help the baby’s teeth move out of the way. Your kid’s dentist may prescribe extractions in the office if the permanent teeth continue to erupt behind the baby teeth, almost as tall as the baby teeth but with limited movement. If a youngster refuses to wiggle or brush a loose tooth, the area becomes increasingly inflamed, irritable, and uncomfortable, an extraction may be necessary. When a double row of top teeth appears, extraction is always recommended because the tongue cannot drive the permanent teeth forward.