Why does your kid need a dental visit for early baby tooth loss?
Dr. D.Sendhil Nathan MDS, DNB Prosthodontics And Implantology
“My kid has lost a tooth while he was playing. Does he require implant?”
“A few days ago, our baby fell down accidentally and two teeth have been knocked down.”
People who bring their little toddlers to our clinic ask queries like this.
Baby teeth are also known as Primary teeth (or) Milk Teeth (or) Deciduous Teeth fall down over a period of time. The teeth shedding process is followed by the eruption of permanent teeth. You have also come across this experience in your childhood.
But most people are not aware of the consequences of the premature and delayed baby tooth loss.
We write this post for those people. In this post, you can get a clear note on the importance of baby teeth, effects of abnormal tooth loss in children along with preventive care to avoid such conditions.
When should a baby tooth fall down?
The teeth eruption begins within 6 months after the baby born. The teeth will last until the permanent teeth develop. The baby teeth take care of things required for proper jaw development as they reserve sufficient space in the dentition for adult teeth.
A baby tooth becomes loose and falls down once the permanent teeth getting ready to erupt. In general, baby teeth shed in the order as they erupted.
In general, 2 front teeth in the lower dentition fall down. Then 2 front teeth in the upper jaw fall down. This is followed by loss of other incisors, first molar and second molar teeth.
Milk teeth loss should occur in this order. Any accidental injuries or dental diseases caused due to vitamin deficiencies lead to premature tooth loss.
Usually, the tooth loss process happens at the age of 6 to 12 years.
Problems associated with early loss of baby teeth
The major issue associated with the premature loss of baby teeth is insufficient spacing for permanent teeth because baby teeth serve as a space holder for permanent teeth.
The root of a baby tooth gets loosen when the underlying adult tooth gets developed and it pushes the primary tooth. The permanent tooth gets erupted within a few weeks following the baby tooth loss. It helps to maintain the space for the adult teeth.
- Crowding– If a tooth knocks down before the adult tooth gets developed, space for the adult teeth cannot be preserved. The chances are higher for space gets occupied or closed when it is left idle for a while. It leads to teeth crowding.
- Facial Deformation – When the tooth space is left unfilled, it decreases the dental arch length which creates an insufficient room for the permanent teeth. This affects the jaw development and also related to facial deformation.
- Speech defects
- Abnormal muscle activities
- Teeth overeruption in the opposite of lost teeth
Similar to premature tooth loss, delayed tooth loss also lead to dentition issues like crooked teeth.
Some kids do not lose any baby teeth even after 7 years. In such cases, the permanent teeth begin to erupt even though they do not have space to appear. As they appear without sufficient room, it causes the teeth to get crowded in the dentition. It is difficult to clean the bacterial depositions on the crowded or crooked teeth.
How can you avoid issues caused by premature tooth loss?
Nothing can replace the filling the space of lost baby tooth with the eruption of permanent teeth.
You need to maintain the space of the lost tooth until the adult tooth gets developed. You can get appropriate solutions or suggestions to do that from an experienced dentist or Orthodontists.
Space maintainer is the dental appliance utilized to treat such tooth loss.
Besides sports injuries and unexpected accidents, certain health issues like diabetes, leukemia, Defective chemotaxis and much more arise due to disturbed immune systems are also linked to early tooth loss. Hence it is essential to feed your kids foods and vegetables rich in vitamins, nutrients to foster their immune level as a part of their oral care.
Early baby tooth loss is effective to obstruct the eruption of permanent teeth. It is important to visit your dentist immediately when your little toddler encounters this issue.
