Dental Health Check with Dr. Linda Niessen
Dental health topics from Dr. Linda Niessen of Baylor College of Dentistry
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 Kid False Teeth

By Dr. Linda Niessen
Monday, August 09, 2004
STORY:  KID FALSE TEETH
SCRIPT #570  
AIRDATE:   Monday, August 9, 2004
Daybreak and Midday
DHC #19    Timecode: 50:15

Here's a new trend in dentistry: false baby teeth for young children. Dentists are creating pediatric dentures for kids who suffer traumatic tooth loss before their permanent teeth come in. Dr. Linda Niessen explains in today's Dental Health Check.

It happened to young Lauren at age 3. A sudden fall fractured the roots of four baby teeth. "I saw a lot of blood. I covered her mouth. At that point, I thought she bit her tongue off.  We ran to the emergency room," said Mary Purser, Lauren's mother.

When three or more teeth are lost, a child faces not just a cosmetic problem. Speaking and chewing may also be affected.

"We worry about the permanent teeth. Pediatric Dentist   So once we establish that the permanent teeth aren't damaged. Then we worry about the healing. So we let the sutures and the damage to the gums heal up. Then we bring them back in. And I'm able to look at a parent and say, it's okay. It's okay. We're going to fix this."

Dr. Bob Morgan is a pediatric dentist who often meets parents and children in a hospital emergency department.

"In the old days, we didn't really worry about this too much. People would knock out a tooth and we'd leave it. Well, now the kids go what happened to you. And the adults go, oh my, what happened to you. And all of a sudden, the kids start thinking what's wrong with me. Do I look bad because my teeth aren't there."

Dr. Morgan and other dentists fix the problem by creating a pediatric partial denture made out of acrylic.

"They glue in. They stay put. We can eat or drink anything we want. They eat corn on the cob. They eat apples."

Young Tori damaged two front teeth in a fall. She wears a partial denture.

"It made us feel a lot better because the last thing we wanted was to go around three or four years without any front teeth. It was a blessing," said Wes Gliem, Tori's father.
 
When the permanent teeth start to come in, the dentist removes the pediatric bridge and the child then can join those classmates who have naturally lost their front baby teeth. For Baylor College of Dentistry, Texas A & M System, I'm Dr. Linda Niessen, Channel 8 News.

Dr. Linda Niessen, clinical professor in the Department of Restorative Sciences and  the Office of Communications and Development at Baylor College of Dentistry, hosts Dental Health Check, the only weekly dental feature shot on location in the nation.

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