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Taking Your Child To A Family Dentist: 3 Reasons It's Important To Monitor The Condition And Development Of Baby Teeth

Dental hygiene and condition plays an important part in everyone's lives. Improper dental development and growth can result in more serious and severe issues later on. As a result, it's vital that you remember to schedule regular dental visits and appointments for your child. The appointments should preferably be with the same dentist so that they have all of the records necessary to make an informed decision. You should see the first baby teeth emerge by the time that your child reaches 6 to 12 months of age, and their baby teeth should continue to erupt and develop until they are about 3 years old. While baby teeth will eventually fall out, this article will look at 3 reasons why it's important that your child's baby teeth are monitored and cared for.

Baby Teeth Reserve Space for Their Adult Counterparts

For adult teeth to emerge, they need to have sufficient space available in the jaw bone. Baby teeth are there to basically reserve and take up space, so that the jaw bone doesn't deteriorate before the adult teeth have time to develop and erupt. When a tooth is missing, the jaw bone will fail to receive the stimulation that it needs. This causes the jaw bone to deteriorate, which can then either make it difficult for the adult teeth to erupt later on, or it can cause the adult teeth to erupt in a misaligned manner. This can cause issues like TMJ or even teeth misalignment, like an overbite.

The family dentist will need to periodically x-ray the teeth and the jaw bone to make sure that the adult teeth underneath are developing and that the baby teeth are stable based on the amount of roots that they have. In addition, the family dentist will monitor the condition and health of the jaw bone should a baby tooth get knocked out. .

Baby Teeth Are Required and Needed for Development of Speech

You'd be surprised at just how important teeth are for speech. Without your teeth, you would be incapable of producing certain sounds. This prevents you from enunciating and pronouncing words properly. Your child's family dentist will closely monitor the condition and health of the baby teeth throughout your child's development to ensure that they have proper speech development.

In the event that your child's baby teeth are not erupting soon enough, it might delay your child's speech development. The family dentist will monitor and keep track of whether your child's baby teeth are erupting at a normal rate and order. If they aren't, they might recommend surgical or orthodontic interventions if the tooth is not immature.

Baby Teeth Aid in Maintaining and Supporting Normal Growth of Facial Structures

Your jaw bone and your teeth actually affect and influence the growth and development of facial structures. A family dentist is not only well-versed on the anatomy of teeth, but they are also familiar with how teeth affect the development and growth of normal facial structures. If they spot any anomaly, they will confer with the condition and state of the baby teeth to determine whether there are any underlying issues that need to be addressed.

In the event that there are underlying issues, a family dentist will be able to act appropriately and quickly to nip the problem in the bud. They can prevent more serious developmental conditions or situations from developing. They can also help to ensure that your child's facial features are developing proportionately and in an aesthetically pleasing type of way. 

Conclusion

Your family dentist is not only responsible for caring for your child's baby and adult teeth, but they can also play a huge hand in monitoring other areas of development as well. It's wise to make sure that your child has a family dentist that they feel comfortable with visiting on a regular basis, as young children tend to require more dental attention and care. Check out websites like http://www.cresthillfamilydental.com for more information.


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