Everyone thinks that small children’s teeth which are primary teeth are not important as they shed away permanent teeth that will erupt later. It’s wrong because the primary teeth are very important as they guide the permanent teeth. For this, there is a separate specialisation in dentistry called pediatric dentistry. This department completely deals with all the diseases and disorders and the maintenance of children’s oral health.

The children should be taken to the dentist from an early age so that they will know the importance of maintenance of teeth throughout their life. Even dentists tell them what to eat, how to eat and what to do after eating and guide them and this type of education to the children is very important so that at some point of time they will start listening to all the tips and slowly even they start following them.

Dentists who specialise in paediatric dentistry are even qualified in behaviour management and child psychology.

These specialists can also handle children who are mentally ill and disabled.

If the primary teeth decay they should get treated and not be left thinking that they are just primary teeth because the tooth bud below it may be affected and early shedding of primary teeth affects the permanent teeth eruption.

If the primary teeth are shed before the shedding age, then it will take so much time for the permanent teeth to emerge and within this time the teeth adjacent to them may drift into the space left there and teeth will grow irregularly and close or narrow the space existing there. This will create problems when permanent teeth erupt, by creating space issues and ultimately all the teeth will be irregular and both physically and function wise also they get wasted.

What are the common dental-related problems

Tooth decay

In most children, the common dental problem is tooth decay. As children don’t know how to maintain oral hygiene, and they don’t clean their teeth after a meal, this tooth decay is very common among children. Even brushing techniques should be made for children to learn.

Nursing bottle caries

Small children who suck the milk bottle have a habit of continuously sucking the milk bottle and at one point even they sleep in the sucking bottle and the milk and sugars in it may become stagnant in the teeth area for more hours and the bacteria starts acting by releasing acids. When this continues daily, the children’s teeth get decayed easily.

Thumb sucking

This is mostly seen in children, some children while sleeping also keep their fingers in sleep and someday and night they keep their fingers in their mouth and go on sucking. This is a very bad habit as it causes the jaw and the other bones over there to extend to the front. Even the anterior teeth due to forces start to tip towards the lip.