THE IMPORTANCE OF BABY TEETH:

Dental pain can be a nightmare for many but when a kid or child suffers from dental pain it can be an unpleasant experience for both child & parents.
Tooth decay dental cavities are so common in today’s time. According to some studies, the most prevalent form of disease one can find in toddlers & school-going kids. Cavities pain, swelling & gum disease are common manifestations of neglected oral care.
There is always some common belief from parents & guardians of all socioeconomic status that milk teeth are temporary. As a result least importance & care is given to milk teeth.Which eventually leads to dental issues from such a tender age. Most dental issues are completely preventable. Caries are 100% preventable if taken good care of.
Milk teeth are although temporary but of extreme value as they are designed for a specific function.

The main function of milk teeth

1. Help in speech & phonetics: development of speech is a coordination process with help of teeth, tongue & mouth muscles. Premature loss of these milk teeth causes impaired speech eg Difficulty in pronunciation of ch s sh sound in absence of front teeth.
2. Chewing: "mouth is a gateway to your overall health". Teeth play a vital role in eating. Cavities, sore teeth make the eating experience unpleasant as a result of its invitation to a multitude of problems from malnourishment to weight loss.
3. Esthetics or beauty: everyone loves beautiful smiles. It has a great psychosocial impact on one’s life.
4. Act as a guide to the eruption of permanent teeth: Baby teeth or milk teeth maintain space for the eruption of permanent teeth to guide them to erupt in an assigned position & direction. Early loss of teeth leads to malocclusion ( uneven unaligned teeth).
5. Disease-free mouth is essential for the eruption of healthy permanent teeth.

Milk / primary teeth are 20 in number & eruption is completed by 2.5-3year of age.
By the age of 6yr permanent teeth start erupting in a sequential pattern replacing primary teeth gradually till the age of 14-17 years.
Although primary/milk teeth are temporary its importance can't be overlooked. It's mandatory to take good care of it.

You can go through my previous blog on
Taking care of young one’s teeth : Cleaning and Brushing.

Thanks for taking time to read my article. I hope this will help to clear the basic doubts. In case of any queries you can reach me at khadijachikhly@gmail.com