I AM SAM star Dakota Fanning fears she'll have to have all of her baby teeth pulled out, because a defect prevents them from falling out by themselves.

The 10-year-old actress had two teeth removed last week (ends30APR04) and is convinced she'll have all the others taken out by a dentist over the years to make space for her adult teeth.

She says, "I don't have an enzyme in my body to break down the roots of my teeth. Somebody told me. I've lost six teeth and all of them have been pulled."

But one aspect of her changing teeth does thrill her.

She adds, "I'm getting a retainer on Wednesday (05MAY04) and I'm so excited I can't even contain myself! I'm gonna get a pink one and I'm getting gold glitter and I've picked out the colours and everything. It's gonna go on the roof of my mouth, but it's removable so it can come out. I can't wait - I've been waiting for one for so long."

She also has a fancy pink retainer case to put it in - compliments of comedienne ELLEN DeGENERES.

03/05/2004 13:56