Permanent tooth growing quickly

Dear Dr. Donya,

My son is six years old and one of his bottom permanent teeth is coming up without the milk tooth falling out. What should I do? -- Mikka

Dear Mikka,

Talking about milk teeth, the lower-center teeth are often the first to appear in children, usually at about six months. They're also the first to fall out, usually at about age six. Baby teeth fall out on their own to make room for permanent, or adult, teeth.

In your son's case, you can wait until the permanent tooth grows to two-thirds of full size because the milk tooth will usually fall out once the permanent tooth comes up. If it doesn't fall out, then your dentist will need to pull it out. If the permanent tooth is growing normally the dentist will often want to wait and let the tooth fall out on it own. This sometime could take up to six months.

The most important thing during this time is cleaning between those two teeth and using dental floss to make sure there is no food particles between them. Otherwise tooth decay will be a problem. --Dr. Donya