by Charlie Danger

Created on: November 03, 2009

Treating Extra Teeth

A Mesiodens is the term given to the most common type of Supernumerary or extra tooth. A Mesiodens occurs in the middle tooth which dentists refer to as the maxilla tooth. This condition occurs in many forms. The most common form of a Mesiodens is a complete fully formed extra tooth, but some cases are small semi-formed tooth parts which grow within the gum above the original tooth. A second and more serious condition commonly associated with extra teeth and sometimes accompanying a Mesiodens is called an odontoma.

An odotoma is an anomaly which grows within the gums and is made of enamel, dentin, cementum, and pulp tissues. This odontoma is a benign tumor which sometimes resembles a tooth and can cause many more unwanted side effects than the more common Mesiodens. There are too many types of odontoma to list and their effects are also innumerable. The most common types are the composite odontoma and the radicular odontoma. The composite ondontoma consists of both enamel and dentin in an abnormal pattern, the radicular odontoma is associated with the tooth and the root of the tooth.

The treatment for both conditions is the same. If the tooth or in the case of the odontoma growth erupt from the gum normally then all an oral surgeon must do is conduct a routine tooth extraction, which is the exact procedure used in the removal of a wisdom tooth. Much monitoring through x-rays is necessary for your dentist or oral surgeon to determine if the extra growth will erupt from the gums properly. If the dentist determines that the tooth will not be able to erupt normally from the gum or if it is causing the main tooth from coming in normally an incision can be made down to the tooth or growth to promote normal eruption. If the dentist or oral surgeon determines through close monitoring that the tooth is not moving that the tooth is not moving or if the the tooth is too out of line or it grows in upside down it will require a more difficult and complicated procedure in which the surgeon must cut away the gums blocking the irregularity and finally remove it.

According to Dr. Dean Brandon timing is everything he says "I don't like to do it too soon as I don't want there to be any damage to the developing tooth buds from the surgical procedure. Eventually, you do need to have them removed. Once it is removed it is likely the new teeth will erupt in a fairly normal pattern".

It's actually quite simple to take care of this problem if you go to your dentist regularly. Early detection and constant monitoring will ensure that any extra teeth are properly taken care of. If the teeth do not grow in in a normal fashion it will be necessary to take more extreme surgical actions and if they do grow in normally it will only take normal tooth extraction procedures to remove the tooth.

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