Are baby teeth really that important?
This is perhaps the most commonly asked questions about children’s teeth. In fact, parents who have children in the 0-6 year old range often wonder if they even need to worry about their kid’s teeth at all. I would like to stress that this age range is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT times in the care and maintenance of your child’s teeth. Repeat after me: “This age range is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT times in the care and maintenance of my child’s teeth.” You are officially now more informed than 98% of the world.
I want to first dispel a major dental myth that we touched on briefly in the general questions section. You know, the one that says, “They’re just baby teeth, they are going to fall out anyway.” WRONG. Those cute, milk-white, little-bitty, ankle-biting pearly whites are the foundation that will determine whether or not you may have to pony-up $5000 for braces several years from now. Baby teeth are crucial in holding the space in the dental arch for the future permanent teeth. They predict and help guide the underlying permanent teeth into their future locations and thus will have a huge impact on both the appearance and functionality of adult teeth. Extracting them rather than filling them in many cases can cause mild to severe crowding, spacing and asymmetry of adult teeth that may not have otherwise occurred.
Without those baby teeth, we lose many opportunities to prevent later orthodontic problems. Not to mention when you extract teeth, adult or otherwise, you greatly affect the ability to chew. I think it is only fair that we allow our children to experience the delight of eating as we do, but children need to eat for nourishment to allow for proper growth. The ability to chew can limit what a child is able to eat and thus have effects on both their mental and physical development. So, we can see that in most cases it is better to try to save a baby tooth rather than extract it.
Too often parents consider baby teeth “disposable,” since they will fall out anyway. They are far from disposable and almost always benefit the child most by doing what it takes to save them. There are exceptions to this rule. For example, if a baby tooth has a cavity but no infection present, and the tooth is within 6 months of falling out, your dentist will probably recommend the baby tooth not be treated. This makes sense as it would be pointless to waste money on a tooth that will very soon come out on its own. In addition, removal of baby teeth can sometimes actually help prevent braces altogether. While braces may be unavoidable whether you maintain baby teeth or not, you’ll see that there are other extremely important reasons to keep baby teeth healthy. So, with this new paradigm shift in thought of caring for your child’s baby teeth, let’s go into more detail about these curious topics!
Tags: Adult Teeth, Angels, Asymmetry, Baby Teeth, Baby Tooth, braces, Dental Arch, Holding The Space, Nourishment, Orthodontic Problems, Pearly Whites, Permanent Teeth