Your child’s baby teeth are temporary, but they should be taken care of with the same level of care as permanent teeth.
Sure, the tooth fairy will eventually see all 20 of your child’s baby teeth, but these temps are, in fact, very important to your child’s on-going oral health and development.
Here are 5 reasons why your child’s baby teeth are so important.
- Baby teeth help align and position permanent teeth – By setting the space for your child’s adult teeth, baby teeth they help guide them into their proper position. If your child loses a baby tooth too early due to tooth decay, the neighboring teeth can drift into that space, giving the permanent tooth less room to come in. This can lead to a crooked tooth or crowd out another tooth.
- Healthy baby teeth protect permanent teeth – Permanent teeth develop very close to the roots of baby teeth. Because baby teeth are smaller and have thinner enamel, they are more susceptible to tooth decay and cavities. If cavities develop and are not treated, this can hinder permanent tooth development and potentially damage the permanent tooth underneath.
- Baby teeth help with your child’s overall health and nutrition – Healthy teeth help your child chew food without any difficulty. But if they experience tooth pain, caused by cavities, this can affect their ability to chew and can also lead to nutritional deficiencies.
- Baby teeth help support your child’s speech – Teeth, mouth and lips work together to form sounds. When your child’s baby teeth are healthy and properly positioned, this helps lead the way for good pronunciation.
- Healthy baby teeth can help your child’s concentration and self-esteem – It’s tough to concentrate when you have dental pain. Tooth decay can interfere with your child’s ability to concentrate in school, or elsewhere. And a hurting mouth, or decayed tooth, can get in the way of your child’s smile, or make them feel less confident.
Baby Well Visits
So, when should your child start coming in? Visiting the dentist at an early age helps your child get used to “visiting the dentist” and it also helps parents get some good oral hygiene tips. The recommended age for a first visit is around your child’s first birthday or sometime after their first tooth has erupted.
Because it’s important to make this first visit a success, we offer a complimentary baby well dental visit for kids between the ages of 1 to 3. Sitting on a parents lap, or going up in down in the dental chair on their own, we’ll make this visit fun. We’ll also look at their existing teeth for decay, check out their bite and verify that there aren’t any problems with their gums or jaw. And we’ll give parents plenty of helpful oral hygiene tips so that they can better manage their child’s dental care.
Schedule a Baby Well Visit for your child today – call (206) 524-1000 or request an appointment online!