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| All You Need to Know about MILK TEETH |
Man has two sets of dentition in his life span. The first
one is called DECIDUOUS dentition or MILK teeth or PRIMARY teeth. The second
one is called PERMANENT dentition.
The total no of milk teeth is 20 in number. 10 teeth in the
upper arch and 10 teeth in the lower arch. The first milk tooth erupts into the
oral cavity by around 6 months of age and by 3 years all 20 milk teeth would
have erupted. There can be a variation of a few months in the eruption of these
teeth. The first permanent tooth erupts approximately by 6 years hence the
child will have all milk teeth between 3 to 6 years. The shedding of milk teeth
starts at around 6 years and goes all the way up to 12 years.
One needs to be careful to maintain the health of these
teeth until they are exfoliated and the permanent teeth erupt in their space.
Some common problems are seen in deciduous dentition:
Nursing bottle caries
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| Nursing Bottle Caries |
A generalized carious the breakdown of almost all teeth are seen in this condition. This is a common
occurrence when a child is made to go to bed after drinking milk or with a
pacifier in the mouth.
It is recommended that
- The child sips water after drinking milk before going to bed
- Start using a finger brush to clean the mouth of the child with plain water
- You can use a toothbrush and pea size amount of toothpaste and brushing your child’s teeth once he is a year and a half
Dental caries
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| Dental Caries |
Dental caries is the decay of teeth. When one eats
something sticky and does not brush it off the tooth surface, the bacteria
stick to the food, consume it and produce acid as a byproduct. The acid will demineralize the tooth and
cause holes or decay of the teeth. If
you see a black or brown spot on the tooth immediately consult a dentist. When
the carious lesion is incipient a small excavation and filling the cavity will
do the job.
Deep caries
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| Deep Caries |
When the child has a bigger
carious lesion complains of pain in the tooth probably the tooth cannot be
filled and it needs a procedure called PULPECTOMY. This is similar to root
canal treatment with a few changes since the tooth is deciduous and not
permanent. The procedure needs to be followed with a cap on the tooth to
protect it from any kind of fracture and to give it a form.
Cause Of Misalignment Teeth
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| Cause Of Misalignment Teeth |
If a milk tooth has not fallen and you see the
permanent tooth erupting behind it kindly get the tooth removed. The pressure
of the tongue can push the erupting tooth to its place only if space is
available. Leaving the milk tooth in place for longer until the permanent tooth
has completely erupted makes things difficult. It can cause misalignment of
teeth which might be difficult to correct naturally.
Space for the Erupting Tooth
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| Space for the Erupting Tooth |
If for some reason the milk tooth cannot be
saved with any procedure and needs to be extracted before the eruption of the
permanent tooth, then we need to maintain that space for the erupting tooth.
You will need to get a space maintainer so that the teeth behind will not move
ahead and occupy that space leaving the permanent tooth impacted.
Habits
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| Habits |
If a child is having a habit like Thumbsucking, Lip sucking, Tongue thrusting or Mouth breathing you need to consult a dentist to get the child off the habit.
You need to take care of the milk
teeth of your little ones to give them healthy good permanent teeth
erupting in
the right place in their mouth. Instill good habits like brushing teeth twice a
day, rinsing their mouth after every meal and keeping good oral hygiene.
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