For children aged five or six, losing their baby teeth may be more important than learning to play the piano, roller-skate, or study arithmetic. This is because the new permanent teeth that grow in will almost last them a lifetime and are related to their diet, appearance, and even psychology. The health care and maintenance during the tooth-changing period are very important as they directly affect whether the child's future teeth will be neat and beautiful. Therefore, parents should strengthen care during this period so that their child can have a good set of teeth.
Note 1: Whether the baby teeth are retained or lost prematurely
There is a certain time and order for baby teeth to fall out. If they should fall out but do not, it is called retention of baby teeth, and the consequence is often that the permanent teeth cannot erupt in the normal position. Most children start losing their baby teeth at the age of five or six, some start from the age of four, and some may not lose their first baby tooth until the age of seven. Tooth loss usually starts with the two lower front teeth, followed by the two upper front teeth. The most common situation is that the lower permanent incisors erupt inside the baby teeth, and the upper permanent incisors erupt outside the baby teeth, looking like double-layered teeth. What should you do in such a situation? You should take your child to the hospital as soon as possible to have the retained baby teeth extracted, making room for the permanent teeth to erupt.
If the baby teeth fall out before they should, it is called premature loss of baby teeth, which often causes the adjacent teeth on both sides to tilt towards the missing tooth gap, making the gap smaller, causing the permanent teeth to erupt in a wrong position due to insufficient space. In this case, a space maintainer (custom-made by the hospital's dental department) should be worn in the gap of the baby teeth to prevent the tilting of the adjacent teeth and maintain the proper eruption position for the permanent teeth until they erupt.
Note 2: Whether there are difficulties in the eruption of permanent teeth
If the baby teeth fall out too early, the child gets used to chewing and licking with the gums, which makes the gums thicker and hinders the eruption of permanent teeth. Therefore, if your child has reached the age of changing teeth but the permanent teeth have not grown out, you should take your child to the hospital for a check-up in time to get help from the doctor. Lack of calcium in children is also an important reason for the delayed eruption of permanent teeth, and parents should timely supplement calcium for their children.
When changing teeth, the permanent anterior teeth erupt from below or inside the baby teeth, and the erupted permanent teeth are the size of adult teeth. Mild crowding and twisting are normal and can be self-adjusted with the eruption of neighboring teeth and the growth and development of the jawbone. As long as it is not reverse occlusion (i.e., underbite), orthodontic treatment is generally not required, but regular observation is necessary, and it should not exceed half a year. If the teeth are still misaligned after all the baby teeth have been replaced, timely medical consultation should be sought to avoid delays in treatment that could make correction difficult.
Note 3: Prevention and treatment of deciduous molar caries
During the tooth-changing period, deciduous molars are prone to cavities. If cavities cause root tip diseases, it can affect the growth and eruption of the succeeding permanent teeth. Therefore, timely treatment and prevention of deciduous molar caries should be noted, and the mistaken notion of "baby teeth will eventually be replaced, so it doesn't matter if they are damaged" must be avoided. Doctors warn: Baby teeth should be preserved as much as possible until the permanent teeth erupt. If baby teeth fall out too early, it often leads to insufficient space for the eruption of succeeding permanent teeth, causing malocclusion.
Note 4: Eat more chewy foods when changing teeth
When children are around six or seven years old, permanent teeth begin to erupt sequentially, replacing the original baby teeth. Some children have permanent teeth that have already erupted, but the baby teeth refuse to "give way", forcing the permanent teeth to grow out from the inside of the baby teeth, forming "double-layered teeth", causing the permanent teeth to be misaligned.
There are many reasons for the retention and late shedding of baby teeth, the most common being that children eat food that is too refined, failing to fully utilize the physiological stimulation of the teeth. The main function of teeth is to chew food, and chewing food promotes the growth and development of the roots of baby teeth as well as their natural absorption and shedding.
Therefore, as children grow older, they should be encouraged to eat more chewy foods to maintain good stimulation of the baby teeth, promoting timely shedding. When both the child's front teeth and back molars have erupted, you can give them more celery, corn, apples, etc., to ensure a smooth transition during the tooth-changing period, allowing the child to have a healthy and neat set of teeth.
Shanxi Milk Powder Network http://www.sxnfw.com
Consultation hotline: (0351) 3657370
Address: Room 101, Unit 7, Building 38, Xiangtang New Village, North Construction Road, Taiyuan City
Relying on the advantages of distributors, Shanxi Milk Powder Network offers products through formal channels, reasonable prices, and strict management, mainly operating imported brands, wholly-owned brands, and high-end domestic brand milk powders.
QQ: 1376408854 1834362344