Your child is in good hands
Oral surgery can include removal of teeth, or “exposure” of teeth to allow them to grow in the right direction.
Sometimes teeth will need to be removed. Common reasons for children to have teeth extracted include decay, infection, trauma, orthodontic reasons, or dental anomalies (e.g. supernumerary teeth). Removing teeth can vary from a simple extraction of a wobbly baby tooth, to a surgical removal of an unerupted supernumerary tooth.
Occasionally, permanent teeth have difficulty growing into the right place, and can remain “stuck” or impacted under the gum. Our orthodontic colleagues will often assist in creating the right amount of space for the impacted tooth. Sometimes this can be enough for the tooth to grow by itself. In other situations, the impacted tooth needs to be exposed and bonded to an orthodontic bracket to allow a guided eruption into the arch.
