Fused teeth

ksyknelvr73

Does anyone's LO have any fused teeth?

My DS has two lower teeth that are fused and it basically just looks like one tooth. It's not too noticeable and every time I see the pedi they mention it, but never say it's an issue.

So at his 15 mo appt on Tuesday, the pedi mentioned it again and then said "He needs to see the dentist when he is 2 so they can tell you what to do about this and if they think his permanent teeth will be affected" and then never elaborated.

So...I'm confused. Is it a problem? Has anyone else been through this?

Sonadora

Not my LO, but my younger brother had this. It was his very first tooth (the two bottom middle ones) and my mother FREAKED out thinking he had some sort of strange teeth that were all going to be enormous. It fell out like any other baby tooth and two permanent teeth came up in its place. I remember our pedi at the time telling my mom it was nothing to worry about and was fairly common. (Bro is significantly younger than me, which is why I recall this.)

ksyknelvr73

Sonadora:

Not my LO, but my younger brother had this. It was his very first tooth (the two bottom middle ones) and my mother FREAKED out thinking he had some sort of strange teeth that were all going to be enormous. It fell out like any other baby tooth and two permanent teeth came up in its place. I remember our pedi at the time telling my mom it was nothing to worry about and was fairly common. (Bro is significantly younger than me, which is why I recall this.)

I was thinking the same thing would happen with DS. I hope so, anyway.

If you look at the picture in my siggy, you can kind of tell the teeth are fused b/c it looks like his bottom middle left tooth is bigger than the bottom middle right. His bottom middle and side tooth are the ones that are fused.

ABColeslaw

Well there really isn't anything they can do about it.  My H had this when he had baby teeth I think on the bottom and all his adult teeth are fine.

AshleaB12

I asked my dentist about this because DD has a fused tooth. She said that more than likely once she loses her baby teeth that it will come back as two teeth, but she said there is always the possibility that it could come in as another fused tooth.

quidditchcapn1120

There is a difference between fusion and gemination.  Gemination is when one tooth kind of splits and looks like two teeth in the mouth.  In other words, there would have been an extra tooth but the two teeth didn't fully separate.  Fusion is when two teeth that should have been two teeth are stuck together and results in a missing tooth.  That is why your pedi/dentist are saying that there is a good chance that there won't be a missing tooth- it is more likely that what your child has is gemination of a primary tooth and not fusion.

That being said, as an AAPD member and as a dentist, the recommendation for a first dental check up is at one year old or when the FIRST tooth erupts in the mouth, whichever comes first.  The first few visits are typically knee lap exams and really easy.  I don't charge for them either.  So, in my humble opinion, it would be worth it to go to the dentist now.  Not necessarily for the gemination/fusion of the teeth, but just for preventative purposes.  Good luck!