Does a shaky tooth in a child need to be extracted? Will he require braces?

Hi Xue An,

Thank you for your question. From what it seems based on your description at least, I would think that there is no urgent need to extract the shaky tooth at this moment, as it is the baby tooth that is exfoliating naturally. It should not hinder the eruption of the adult tooth.

We may not be able to tell if your child needs braces at this time, as there are many factors in place that determines that. For example, jaw growth of both the upper and lower jaws and their relativity to each other, the size of the teeth when t the arch size etc etc.

As such, I recommend bringing him to see a dentist from young, such that any issues can be addressed early, and early interventive treatment, if any, can be rendered.

Hope this helps!(:

Hi there!

Hope this finds you well.

A loose tooth generally wouldn't cause too much issues or distress to patients. And it should exfoliate spontaneously. However if your notice your child having difficulty in eating or maybe eating at a relatively slower pace than before, it might be affecting your child more that what he/she expresses and a simple solution is to extract it.

It might too early to diagnose whether your child need braces. However regular visit to the dentists could shed some light in regards to that concern. There are some signs that your dentist can pick up that would put your child in a category where there might be a need of early intervention. There are several factors like tooth and jaw size and sometimes habits (like mouth breathing, tongue thrusting or thumb sucking) that could predispose to misalignment of teeth and if need be, your dentist will be able to pick it up or refer to the relevant experts in those fields.

Regards,

Kenneth