Baby Teeth: Guidelines and; Importance

Today’s era and even before, children require proper dental care routine as much as adults. Most especially if it involves the primary teeth otherwise known as baby teeth.

Children’s baby teeth play a vital role in proper digestion and reserving spaces for the secondary teeth popularly known as our permanent teeth. It guides the permanent teeth where to erupt aside from breaking down or chewing foods for digestion.

There are only 20 baby teeth in total due to the small jaw size of children. On the other hand, a total of 32 teeth are expected to erupt by the time they reach adult stage. While children have 20 teeth in their mouth, there are 10 teeth on both the top and bottom. Since children are born without teeth, baby teeth erupt by the time they reach 10 months and last up to 29 months of age. Children’s teeth come with different important layers, such as the outer protective layer that acts as shield against food-caused damages.

The anatomy of the tooth consists of root and crown. The root of the tooth functions as anchor for the tooth and allows for blood and nerve supply to enter the tooth to maintain its viability. The crown is the surface or the outer layer of the teeth. This is where the food breakdown takes place by means of chewing.

Baby teeth eruption sequence can vary quite a bit from child to child.

Children who are likely exposed or engrossed to sweet and sugary foods and lack good dental hygiene are at high risk of experiencing different dental problems. Know that the primary teeth are not as tough as permanent teeth; hence, dental treatment is quite hard to be carried out. This is due to the general anesthetic that involves risks to the oral health. Tooth decay and dental plaque formation on kids induce pain that can cause dental abscess inside the roots of their teeth. This can result in an early tooth extraction.

Parents must be mindful about tooth decay or infection on their kid’s primary teeth. They should be educated as well about the oral health. After all, learning the importance of primary teeth and considering dental care habits as part of the daily routine are among the ways of avoiding potential dental problems. Know that our oral health can affect or influence our overall health. Thus, make sure to establish good oral habits at an earliest possible time.

Since baby teeth eruption varies from child to child, it pays to seek the best dentist in Chicago Illinois for further info especially if your kid’s teeth fail to erupt after the expected period.