There is an idea out in the world that dental care for children is much less important than for adults. The reason for this? Baby teeth are temporary. Why bother to repair something that’s going to fall out and get replaced anyway?
In fact, dental care during childhood and the tween years can have a much greater impact than most people realize. There are three principal reasons for this.
1. Twelve Years Is a Long Time
It is true that baby teeth will eventually be replaced. However, this doesn’t happen until the tween years. Most children are almost teenagers before the last of their adult teeth are truly in place.
Different types of teeth will be replaced by permanent teeth at different ages. Some start as early as age six or seven, but the last of them don’t usually happen until eleven or twelve. Twelve years is a long time to live with a broken or infected tooth, especially when that infection may be causing severe dental pain.
Just as with adult teeth, treatment is necessary to both relieve pain and keep any infection from spreading.
2. The Health of the Baby Teeth Directly Affects the Health of Adult Teeth
This principle applies to quite a few aspects of dental health:
- Infections in baby teeth can spread to the developing adult teeth below them. Timely care can end up saving more than just one tooth.
- Baby teeth guide in the adult teeth. If they are missing or overcrowded, the adult teeth can arrive with similar crowding issues.
- Building habits is vital. Children who are accustomed to good oral hygiene and regular dental visits have an easier time maintaining these habits as adults.
Keeping baby teeth healthy and well looked-after is a great investment in the future of your child’s teeth.
3. Adjustments are More Effective on Young Teeth
Children go through a lot of changes while they are tweens, and their teeth are no exception. During this time period, everything is shifting around. This makes it the ideal time to do any alignment adjustments.
As mentioned above, misalignment or crowding of baby teeth can affect the adult teeth. Thus it is also true that well-aligned, properly-spaced baby teeth can give adult teeth a much better chance of being the same.
So why not do it while the mouth is still flexible, and not set in its ways? A little bit of prevention now can save a lot of effort and correction later.
Come See Us About Dental Care For the Whole Family
Dental care is vital for people of all ages. If you have any questions about your child’s teeth, or any of your care options, get in contact with us today.