Baby Teeth

Nursing Bottle Decay                  Pregnancy Dental / Oral Care

Dentist's today place more importance on the primary or "baby" teeth than ever, due to continuing research into their growth. Thousands of children have been examined. All the investigators have agreed that the future health and lining up of permanent teeth may rest largely on the care of the baby teeth right up to the normal "shedding" time.

Twelve Important Years: Baby teeth last for about one-sixth of a person's life. A child could not act normally if some other part of his body was missing for this long. It's the same with baby teeth. Babies need 20 healthy ones. Milk teeth are very important as they have to last about 6 - 14 years until the permanent set grows. Early or premature loss of milk teeth give problems like overcrowding of another tooth into its place. Caring for milk teeth encourages good habits in dental health and hygiene.

Healthier Jaws: Chewing on well-formed teeth helps the jaw bones to grow properly. Without the full number of teeth, your child's jaws would be working off balance and could grow that way. The danger increases if there is a lack of teeth on any one side of the jaws.

Straighter teeth: The baby teeth are nature's pathfinders for the normal growth of many of the permanent teeth. Premature loss of a "pathfinder" tooth allows tipping and drifting of neighbouring teeth - blocking the space for its permanent successor. The permanent tooth could be forced out of proper position or prevented from growing. No parents want their children to have unsightly crooked teeth!

Better digestion of food: Chewed food mixes with fluids in the mouth for normal digestion. However, lack of teeth allows improperly chewed chunks of food to pass which upsets normal digestion. Chewing on badly decayed and abscessed teeth is uaually painful and bothersome. This often leads children to choose soft, mushy foods and to avoid foods needed for good health or growth.

Infection is dangerous: Never leave abscessed baby teeth or infected roots as space holders for the permanent ones. There is danger that the infection could spread poison into the blood stream, affecting such vital organs as the heart, liver and kidneys. Remove the bad teeth immediately. The space can be held open by a space maintainer.
Good teeth aid speech: Normal speech depends on complete dental arches to allow the tongue to form certain sounds. For example, the "s" sound forms from air, directed by the tongue, passing between the upper and lower front teeth. Early loss of baby teeth frequently leads to bad speech habits which often persist.

A happy childhood: Every child has a right to enjoy himself. A well-adjusted child means freedom from teasing and ridicule arising from physical deformity. Disfiguring gaps, crooked teeth and decayed pieces of baby teeth mar a child's appearance - setting him apart from others and exposing him to ridicule.

What to Do?:

• It's never too early to start oral hygiene. Babies' gums should be wiped morning and night with moist cotton wool or face cloth to remove milk curds. When a tooth comes out, start cleaning using a clean cloth or baby toothbrush. As more teeth grow, use a soft toothbrush softened with water, toothpaste can start at age 3.
• Brush after every meal and snack. Rinse with water after brusing - and always after eating if you can't brush. After the night brush, give only plain water to drink. Don't undo the hard work of brushing. Otherwise, make it clear that you have to brush his teeth again.
• Teach a toddler how to brush his own teeth but supervise closely. Go over his teeth again for cleanliness. Make brushing time fun with songs, games and praise. Brush after every meal at home. If that's not possible, brush every morning and night. Children with a full set of milk teeth should brush for at least a minute. Teach proper brushing techniques to cover every part of the teeth. Be generous with praise. Children will learn to take pride in their clean teeth and sparkling smile.
• Cut down drastically on sweet, sugary foods, especially the sticky kind. Avoid them between meals and before going to bed. Instead, eat fresh fruit, raw vegetables, cheese, peanut butter, milk and unsweetened fruit juices. Baby should drink from a cup to prevent coating teeth and gums with milk or other fluids. Fruit juices are acidic and damage the teeth. Give only in dilute form or give water after every drink to rinse his mouth.
• The approximate age for the first tooth is 6 months and by the age of 3, a child should have his full set of milk teeth. From then, schedule routine dental appointments for him to get extra cleaning, treatment or other dental care. Visit the dentist regularly from age three to allow early discovery of cavitites or bite disformities.
• Do all you can to get your community to fluoridate its water supply. This is an inexpensive way to prevent about two-thirds of tooth decay in baby and permanent teeth. Use a toothpaste containing flouride.

 

 

 

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