Do you have young children who still have a mouth-full of baby teeth? Though these teeth will be falling out in a few years, the baby teeth, or “primary teeth”, are still an important part of a child’s oral health. Always be sure to treat baby teeth in the same way you would treat permanent teeth.
First of all, baby teeth are essentially your child’s “training wheels”. The oral hygiene he or she is trained to use on these teeth are likely to carry over to their permanent teeth. A failure to encourage good brushing and flossing will foster bad habits that will be hard to break. Meanwhile, your child is using these early teeth to learn how to speak and chew; if he or she experiences pain in the oral cavity, it can lead to problems that last into adulthood.
Further, as the permanent teeth begin to come in, they are being guided into place by the baby teeth they are replacing. If these teeth have been allowed to rot, or if the nearby gum tissues or bone structure have been neglected, they could come in crooked. Talk to our International District dentist for more information on how to foster good oral health in your children.