Milk Teeth – How important are they?

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When there is some dental issue in a milk tooth and it needs to be treated, the first question that the parent asks a dentist is “aren’t these milk teeth? Aren’t they supposed to fall off? Why do we need to treat them?”

Well God has given us two sets of teeth, in case you don’t take care of the first set you will have trouble with the next one too. The answer is simple; you need to know a few facts about milk teeth to know how important they are.

Milk teeth are important for physical, emotional and social development of the child.

1. The milk teeth hold place for the permanent teeth to erupt into the oral cavity. If not, the permanent teeth can erupt out of place and may lead to severe crowding or spacing or malalignment of teeth.
2. The eruption of milk teeth and their health will inturn indicate how well food can be chewed by the child. If his teeth are bad then food is swallowed without chewing and may lead to indigestion. Essential nutrients may not be available for the child if he is unable to chew all kinds of food.
3. Presence of teeth in the mouth will help develop good speech. Loss of teeth may have its own implications on speech development.
4. Child with good set of milk teeth will learn to maintain a good oral hygiene and this inturn will improve his morale and boost his confidence.

The first milk tooth comes out in the mouth at about the age of 6 months. Each of us have 20 milk teeth. Its about 3 years by the time a child gets all his 20 milk teeth in the mouth. The first permanent tooth erupts by about 6 yrs and all 28 permanent teeth erupt by 13 years. The 4 wisdom teeth usually erupt by 18-21 years.

The health of the permanent teeth depends on the health of the milk teeth. If a milk tooth gets infected, the infection may spread to the developing permanent tooth. And if the infection in the milk tooth is beyond the possibility of restoring the tooth, the tooth may need to be extracted. And the loss of a milk tooth compromises the space for the permanent tooth. One needs to be careful with the health of these teeth.

Hence inculcating a good habit of brushing teeth twice a day and rinsing mouth after every meal, is a habit that proves much added benefits to the child to last all life.

By Nandini Nelivigi

To Know More Visit: www.nelivigidentalclinic.com