Will Dental Implants Fix My Missing Canine Teeth

Question submitted by Adeline

Until last year, all my baby canine teeth were still in my mouth. I’m almost 17. I had the lower ones out, but there are still some gaps because the adult teeth did not come in at the right place. I know I need to take out the top teeth, but I’m worried about the same thing happening where I smile. Can I put dental implants in when I remove the baby teeth?

Adeline

Dear Adeline,

Whether or not you can get dental implants placed in that spot will depend on if you have adult teeth there ready to erupt. If the adult teeth are there, then dental implants won’t work because the tooth root will be where the implants would need to be placed. If you look at the image you see it goes where the tooth root would normally go, so if you have an adult tooth there would be no place for the implant.

If you do not have adult teeth there, that is a condition known as congenitally missing teeth. It would be unusual for that to happen with canine teeth, but not impossible. If that is the case, then a dental implant would be a great replacement. However, you will want to wait until your jaw is fully developed. Until then, I would recommend a more temporary tooth replacement such as a dental flipper.

I am concerned that your dentist has not taken care of this issue. When you still have baby teeth and are hitting your teen years, pediatric dentists are trained in how to deal with this and I’m dumbfounded as to why yours hasn’t. The first step is to for your dentist to make a surgical opening to expose the tooth. Sometimes that is all you need and the adult tooth erupts just fine. Other times, however, if it is coming into the wrong positioning, then a brace will need to be added to it to help guide it into the right position.

Your first step is seeing whether there is an adult tooth there.

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