Q. Please can you give me some advice. My daughter, who will be 14 next month, has been wearing a brace (she calls a train track) for the past two years on her top teeth only. We went today to have a new retainer fitted. The brace was removed last month. At the beginning of her treatment, our orthodontist explained that he was going to fit a brace because her teeth were severely sticking out. The teeth affected were the second of her front four teeth (one on each side) and they protruded over her lip when she closed her mouth (like a vampire). However, the rest of her front teeth were still milk teeth apart from these front four. He said it was unusual for him to fit a brace to milk teeth but because my daughter was conscious of how her teeth looked he was happy for her to have the brace now. During out appointment today, our orthodontist seemed alarmed. He took an x-ray which revealed that my daughter has two teeth (one of which looked almost adult in size) growing horizontally towards each other in her gums above her front four teeth (one on each side). The orthodontist said these should have come down somewhere near the sides of her mouth (though I cannot see any room left where this teeth would have come down). He has asked us to come back tomorrow and said that we will need to see a consultant at a hospital. We are very worried. 1) Could this be due to the fact that the brace was fitted to milk teeth? 2) Should the orthodontist have picked this up earlier during our two years of treatment? 3) What should we expect to happen next? Thank you in advance for your advice.

A. The fact that your daughter has horizantally impacted teeth is probably nothing to with the braces. This is just they way they have formed. When you go to the hospital the consultant may try to expose the teeth and add brackets to them to move them down into the correct position. I am guessing that the teeth are the canines which are vital to the on going health of the functioning system. The hospital will do the best thing for your daughter and your orthodontist is doing the right thing by refereing her to the hospital. The teeth may have shown up x-rays that were previously taken but you have to ask your dentist to show you them so that you can look for yourself.If it had been picked up earlier, there was probably nothing that could be done at this age
I hope this helps
Kind regards

Dr Komal Suri
Smile Design Dental
www.smiledesigndental.co.uk
Tel: 01296 624163
33 High Street
Wendover Buckinghamshire
HP22 6DU