Tooth decay leading to pain, swelling and sleepless nights is a very agonizing experience for the child and parents alike.
Baby teeth are important because:
• It helps the jaw bones to grow and develop properly.
• Provide proper space for the eruption of permanent teeth.
• For proper chewing of food, and normal digestive processes.
• For learning speech sounds and proper language development.
• Child's self-esteem and well being.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
- Do nothing
Many of us share a same thought.Why we need to spend time and money to save it? It will falled out and replace by a new set of teeth eventually. However, untreated and infected teeth will cause recurrent episodes of pain, tooth infection, difficulty in chewing, poor nutrition. Quality of life will be affected.
- Filling
Catch the decay early and get fillings done, before the infection reaches the pulp or nerve in the roots.
3. Root canal treatment
It is a safe and predictable procedure.
Upon completion of root canal treatment for primary teeth, the restoration of choice for a back tooth is a stainless steel crown and, for a front tooth, a composite tooth-colored resin.
4. Extraction
If a tooth can’t be save and need to extract , space maintainer may be required to maintain the space for the permanent teeth to erupt properly.
Early extraction of milk teeth will cause crowding and eruption problems in the permanent teeth. They guide the permanent teeth during their eruption and aid in proper speech. A properly maintained set of milk teeth ensures that there is enough space for the permanent teeth to erupt thus maintaining aesthetics of the child as he/she grows up.
Things to remember
• Healthy baby teeth are important for the development of adult teeth.
• Early treatment of decay may prevent the need for major treatment.
• Don’t put your baby to sleep with a feeding bottle.
• Start cleaning your baby’s teeth as soon as the first tooth appears. At 18 months, start using low-fluoride toothpaste. At six years of age, children can use standard fluoride toothpaste.
