Posted by writeradmin
I’ve only been to a dentist once in my life. I have both baby teeth (Lots of them) and adult teeth (all of them) in my mouth at the same time because most of my baby teeth didn’t come out but the adult teeth came in. It looks really weird because I am 15 years old. I think the best thing to do is to take out the baby teeth, which sounds really painful and scares me a bit. But, will braces help them become straight? How much are braces? I don’t think my parents will pay for them, but I can save up. I’ve been babysitting for two years and have $987 saved.
Kelli
Dear Kelli,
First, let me say you are an amazing young woman carrying more than your share of responsibility. Had you been able to see a pediatric dentist regularly growing up, this would have been dealt with for you. When a baby tooth is still in place and the adult tooth is breaking the gums, the baby tooth has to be extracted to keep what is happening to you from happening. No one did that for you and hence you have both.
You have also diagnosed the solution quite well on your own and may have a future career in dentistry! Yes, the baby teeth will have to be extracted. I know you said that scares you. Here are two pieces of good news that should help with that. First, baby teeth don’t have those big teeth roots that your adult teeth have so it is much, much easier to remove them. Second, if you want to, when you do get them extracted, you can see a dentist who offers dental sedation and just sleep through the entire procedure. Because you have so many teeth to extract, I recommend you do it that way as it will be less stressful for you.
I think you should be able to get your parents to pay for this for you because it is actually a necessity. Those baby teeth will not have the same defenses and strength that your adult teeth do, especially on the enamel, so they are more at risk of developing decay, which will spread to your adult teeth. So, ask them to take you to a dentist to get these extracted before the situation gets worse.
As for straightening them, you were right again! Braces will do the trick. Depending on how complicated the case is, braces can run between $3k – $7k, so it would take some saving for you if your parents aren’t able to do it. There is a company called Care Credit which helps to finance medical and dental procedures. Your parents should look into that because you could get your braces paying a little at a time.
I can’t wait to see your new smile!
This blog is brought to you by Lafayette, LA Dentist Dr. John Theriot.