Baby tooth

[Daphne]

Hello

My six year old son is getting his adult teeth coming through and I have noticed that his lower front adult tooth is coming through and is stuck behind a baby tooth and it seems that this baby tooth is hanging on and not falling out.

I always thought that baby teeth fall as soon as adult teeth come through, but strangely it seems my sons baby teeth are holding on and pushing the adult teeth back behind them.

I would like to know if I should take my son to see a dentist, to see if these baby teeth should be removed. I don't want him to have any problems with his new teeth coming through. Please help.

[Dr Mohsen J. Esfahani]

Adult teeth often erupt behind the baby teeth and usually eventually the baby tooth sheds itself and the adult tooth moves into the correct position.

If your son has not yet seen a dentist, you should take him along for an examination so that his teeth can be checked to make sure they are developing correctly and are clinically sound.