CHILDREN'S TEETH

CHILDREN'S TEETH 

Children's first teeth perform several important functions.  Apart from providing a pleasing appearance and enabling a child to eat properly, first teeth are necessary for maintaining adequate space for the second teeth growing underneath and for developing correct speech.

So, when the subject of orthodontics is raised a commonly heard statement
is, "It's an expensive business straightening teeth".  Yes, orthodontics can 
be quite expensive, and you can't do much about avoiding this form of 
treatment, if, say, your child has inherited small jaws from one parent and 
large teeth from the other.  Nonetheless, much orthodontic treatment can be
avoided if first teeth are not lost too early.

First teeth appear from the age of six months and by 30 months all 20 are
usually in place.  The very front teeth have to last until a child is five to 
seven years old, and the back teeth until early teenage years. 
Nature ensures that the first teeth are lost at the correct time by initiating a process which causes the roots to slowly dissolve away. 
If you look at a newly shed first tooth it is hard to believe that it once had roots more than a centimetre long.
If the front teeth are lost early, two things may happen: first, the remaining teeth may start to move into the resulting gap causing insufficent room for the permanent teeth; and second, the child may have difficulty in speaking correctly.  Front teeth are necessary for the pronunciation of "s" sounds and their absence can result in a lisp and other speech difficulties.

The early loss of back teeth can have dire dental consequences. 
Although not readily noticeable, this loss can lead to the slow forward movement of the six-year-old molars leading to serious crowding of the permanent teeth.
Correcting this requires orthodontic treatment usually during the teenage
years. The molars appear around the age of six and are right at the back of the mouth.  Appearing so early in life, they are often mistaken for first teeth.
However, they are crucial for proper placement of the permanent teeth and must remain throughout life.  The dentist plays considerable attention to these teeth and much preventive effort is directed at keeping them decay-free and
ensuring that they stay in their correct position.

It is important for healthy teeth that they get a good start.  Naturally, the right amount of fluoride is necessary to ensure a high quality enamel. 
Children living in low fluoride areas need a fluoride supplement (tablet or
drops) until about 15 years old.
 Possibly, one of the main causes of decay in the very young is the bedtime
bottle.  Vitamin C syrup or even plain milk at bedtime can cause massive 
destruction of first teeth.
 When a child is asleep, the fermentable carbohydrates from Vitamin C syrup 
or even plain milk stay against the teeth for hours.  In such circumstances
acids are formed in plaque on the tooth surfaces and begin to dissolve away 
the underlying enamel.
 In many cases the damage is so severe that the child, often as young as 12 
months, has to be given a general anaesthetic to enable dental extractions
and fillings to be done.
A general anaesthetic for one so young is not something that is taken lightly
as there can be a number of difficulties.
Another cause of extensive decay in youngsters is honey, rosehip syrup,
black current syrup or other sweetening agents on a dummy or in the bottle. 
Do not put anything on the dummy! and don't add anything sweet to the bottle
of milk.
Despite popular belief Sugar or other refined carbohydrates are not essential
foods in anyone's diet. Unfortunately they are added to many food products to make them appeal more to consumers, but are proven causes of dental decay!
Complex carbohydrates such as found in grains, potatoes and other vegetables are the ones which play little or no part in tooth decay and yet supply our bodies with all the energy producing food we need.
 

WHEN SHOULD TOOTH CLEANING START?

 Parents often ask when tooth cleaning should begin.  The answer is as soon
as they appear!  A gradual introduction to the cleaning process is usually 
advisable.  Sit the baby on your knee facing away from you and place the 
child's head against your body.  Initially, gently rub the tip of a finger 
lightly against the gums for a minute or so each day.  There may be some 
initial resistance, but perseverence will help.  Do not reinforce bad behaviour by giving in.  Invariably, after two or three days the child becomes used to the procedure and you can move on to using a small, soft toothbrush.  
At the beginning, use only a toothbrush and water. Toothpaste's foaming action can be very unpleasant for small children.  When children are used to having their teeth cleaned, start introducing very tiny amounts of fluoride toothpaste on to the brush.  Your chemist can provide a suitable toothpaste for young children that is not too strong in taste. Children will not have 
sufficient manual dexterity to clean teeth properly. (like many adults) 
So for the first few years, parental cleaning once a day is most desirable.

The daily use of dental floss to clean between the molar teeth is most desireable once the child has his "back teeth".  The daily habit of flossing between all of the teeth can be the most important single preventitive measure anyone can do to maintain oral health for life. 

Too many sweets and too many "sugary" snacks are the major cause of dental decay. Try to eliminate, as far as possible, the number of sugary items
eaten between meals.

Is the effort spent on maintaining decay-free first teeth and young
permanent teeth worthwhile? 

"yes".  Studies in various parts of the world have shown that after the teenage years decay rates do slow down.  It appears that if a permanent tooth can be kept completely free of decay for the first twenty years, the likelihood
of it decaying thereafter is slight.
What about the possibility of a high decay rate once a person is older? 
Adults that begin for some reason to chew peppermints or chew gum regularly
throughout the day, soon start to develop rampant dental caries, particularly
along the gum margins and between the teeth. Therefore ones teeth are always at risk from decay when one eats food containing sugar on a regular basis.