Caring for baby teeth
Why is it important to treat cavities in childhood?
1. Avoid pain and infection
2. Maintain chewing function
3. Promote proper speech development
4. Preserve space for permanent teeth: Losing a baby tooth early can lead to problems with dental alignment.
5. Prevent bad habits – If a child experiences pain, he or she may avoid chewing properly, developing bad eating habits.
6. Avoid future complications – An untreated cavity can spread to permanent teeth, causing more serious problems.
7. Teach good oral hygiene – Taking care of teeth in childhood helps create a positive habit for oral health in adulthood.
It is important to take care of baby teeth because they are essential for the development of permanent teeth and for the child's chewing and speaking.
- Permanent dentition development
- Baby teeth maintain space for the permanent teeth that will erupt.
- If a baby tooth is lost, the neighboring teeth tend to close it, preventing the permanent tooth from coming out correctly.
- The early loss of baby teeth can cause problems with the alignment of the permanent teeth.
- Chewing and phonation
- Baby teeth are necessary for correct chewing and phonation. The early loss of baby teeth can cause malocclusions.
- Prevention of cavities
- Baby teeth can decay, causing acute pain and abscesses. The structure of baby teeth is more fragile than permanent teeth.
- The decay process in children is faster.
- Prevention of infections
- Carious lesions must be treated as soon as possible, to avoid the risk of losing the tooth.
- Inflammatory foci can extend systemically, risking causing very serious pathologies. Prevention of trauma.
- Children are continuously exposed to the risk of dental trauma
