Why Baby Teeth Matter
Wichita, KS
Info on Baby Teeth provided by Dr. Healy
, Dr. Martin
, and Dr. White in Wichita, KS at Tiny Teeth Pediatric Dentistry
 Baby teeth matter and play a vital role in shaping your child's future dental health. Many people are unaware that baby teeth are actually responsible for guiding adult teeth into their correct position.
That is one reason there is a misconception that baby teeth don't really matter or need to be cared for. Give your child the best start in their oral health and schedule an appointment with us at Tiny Teeth Pediatric Dentistry to find out more.
Because they begin to fall out when a child is around six years old, many parents do not realize how important baby teeth are. However, here at Tiny Teeth Pediatric Dentistry, we cannot stress enough how much baby teeth matter.
Yes, they will eventually become loose and fall out so they can be replaced by permanent teeth, but they do serve several important functions before that occurs.
Why Are Baby Teeth Important?
Not only do baby teeth provide a crucial service to the health of your child by aiding in chewing and speaking, but they also help space out the permanent teeth. When an infant loses any teeth too early, the other teeth can shift into the empty space that is left there. As the milk teeth act as placeholders to guide the adult teeth into the correct position, it could lead to crooked teeth and an overcrowded mouth.
That's why taking care of oral hygiene during infancy is essential as this formative stage will benefit your child right through into adulthood. As well as contributing toward healthy tooth alignment, baby teeth are also important for the following reasons.
Nutrition and Health
If your child is in the process of growing and developing, it's important that they are able to digest food as efficiently as possible. This helps them grow at a rapid rate while also ensuring they receive all necessary nutrients through their diet for proper growth too.
With missing teeth, it is harder to chew foods properly and could mean your child is missing out on the full nourishment that they need.
Your Child Needs Strong Baby Teeth to Eat
It is important to note that baby teeth can get cavities, and they can become loose and fall out if your child suffers from gingivitis (gum disease).
If your child does lose a baby tooth earlier than they should, we will likely need to place a spacer in their mouth in order to keep the surrounding baby teeth in the right positions and help the adult tooth come in correctly. Without a space maintainer, the other teeth will try to shift into the missing gap.
Stimulating Normal Development of Facial Bones and Muscles
Teeth serve many purposes. They are not just for chewing your food. They actually have a lot of influences on the shape and development of your child's face, as well as their future health. For example, if teeth are misaligned it can lead to lifelong facial abnormalities that may cause disorders in the future like temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) or sleep apnea later in life!
Baby Teeth Are Important for Spacing
Another reason why baby teeth matter so much is that they serve as a guide for your child's permanent teeth. The adult teeth tend to follow the baby teeth when they come in, so they erupt in the correct place and line up as they should.
If your child is missing a baby tooth, the permanent teeth beneath it may end up coming in at an angle or otherwise misaligned. When one tooth is out of alignment, it can force the teeth on either side to come in at different angles, too, which in turn causes a chain reaction that leads to a misalignment of most or all of the teeth.
Sometimes, the misaligned tooth even must be removed via surgery. When teeth come in at improper angles it is easy for them to become impacted. Impaction can lead to pain, gum swelling, infection, and the need for oral surgery in order to be extracted.
Speech Development
The way that your child talks could be affected by misaligned teeth. Although this doesn't affect all children, crooked teeth can force your child to hold their tongue in a way that affects how they form words, resulting in problems with their speech development.
When you speak, your tongue touches certain parts of your mouth in order to make specific sounds. One place your tongue touches is the back of your teeth, especially the upper front teeth. If your little one did not have baby teeth, it would be very difficult for them to learn how to make these sounds.
Self Esteem
Smile and the world smiles with you. It's been shown that people who smile are more successful in life. Studies show that people tend to suffer from low self-esteem if they aren't confident about how their teeth look. This may contribute to psychological distress such as depression. This is just one of many reasons why dentists encourage dental care for young kids - so they can avoid these problems later on down the line!
When Should My Child Start Seeing the Dentist?
There is no doubt that one of the most important times to take care of your child's teeth is while they are still in their infancy. If you want them to have a head start on life, make sure that as soon as their first tooth pops through it gets all the dental attention that it needs.
Start bringing your child in for regular visits once they get their first tooth. This usually occurs between six months of age to one year.
When children start seeing us early on, it helps them get used to dental visits and forming a good habit of dental hygiene and the importance of regular dental exams and cleanings.
We'd Love to Meet You Here at Tiny Teeth Pediatric Dentistry
Discover more about why baby teeth matter. Schedule an appointment for your child with us at Tiny Teeth Pediatric Dentistry. Call our office at (316) 202-9629. |
