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Double teeth are dental conditions in which the teeth are connected to each other through the dentin or the pulp. The dentin is the layer found under the enamel of the tooth while the pulp is the innermost part of the tooth. The presence of double teeth on a child should be monitored by a pediatric dentist since it may result to issues in the eruption of permanent teeth.
There are two primary causes of double teeth in children, namely gemination and fusion.
Gemination
Gemination happens when a single tooth splits into two, but the two parts continue to be connected to each other. This dental condition is also described as teeth “twinning” in which a bifid crown comes out of one root. In this situation, two teeth develop from one tooth bud. The two parts of the teeth are identical to each other. When a geminated tooth is counted as a single tooth, the child will have the normal number of teeth. Germination typically occurs on the upper set of teeth.
Fusion
Fusion, on the other hand, is a dental condition where two separate teeth join together while they are developing. Fused teeth look similar to geminated teeth. One way to tell these two types of double teeth is by counting the number of teeth of a child. When fused teeth are counted as a single tooth, the child will lack one tooth. The fusion of teeth normally happens on the lower set of teeth.
Effects of Double Teeth
Since double teeth can prevent the normal eruption of permanent teeth, a pediatric dentist should constantly monitor it. It may even be necessary to remove it so the permanent teeth can emerge without any issue. There may be instances when there are no permanent teeth under the double teeth. But this rarely happens. This can be checked by the pediatric dentist using an x-ray.
Parents should make sure their children do not develop double teeth to prevent any issues in the future. A pediatric dentist should be consulted in case double teeth develop so that all the necessary measures can be undertaken to deal with it.