Why Do Baby Teeth Matter?

For many that visit their Eugene dentist, they might be looking at the child’s teeth and saying how the baby teeth are super important. But why is that. It’s important to understand why you need to keep in touch with the oral health of a child, and why baby teeth matter so much. This will also help a child properly clean them, since often they take this for granted, and that can even have a big impact on the future oral health, even when the adult teeth come in. so how does this help? Well, you’re about to find out.

Now, baby teeth form healthy habits. They typically emerge at about 6-8 months or so, and often they require diligence by the parents to keep the teeth healthy and with less cavities. Often, this is started by the healthy habits that you form, and this will continue to bring forth preventative habits, which saves them from the pain and expensive future dental problems that can come about.

Now, keeping up with oral health can prevent tooth decay and periodontal disease, which can actually alter the way a person speaks. During the developmental years, the way the child speaks has long-lasting effects. That’s how they will speak for a good chunk of their life, so it’s very important.

Now, remember that the baby teeth are also placeholders for the adult teeth that come in later on. You should make sure that the child keeps up with the teeth and gums before the adult teeth emerge in order to smoothly and safely do this. You should definitely keep this in mind, since it can help to prevent periodontal disease, and not only that, it forms healthy habits for life, and it’ll make it a lot easier on you as well.

Now, there are a few ways to help take care of baby teeth, and here they are. The first, is you should always use a soft-bristled toothbrush that has a small amount of non-fluoride toothpaste once a day when it’s time for bed. You should make sure that it’s fit for the infant as well, since this will help to eliminate bacteria from the teeth. They’re the culprit that causes tooth decay, and it’ll help to get the child used to the concept of brushing as well.

Now, what type of toothpaste is best for children? The answer, is the non-fluoride stuff. Wait until they’re at least 3 or so before you do use a fluoride, since if you swallow this, it can be quite dangerous.

Finally, if you want to bring in your child, you should do so when they turn about a year or so old. Often, a child might not even have baby teeth by this point, which isn’t a problem. In various cases, some teeth emerge later than others, and if that happens, that’s totally fine. However, bringing them in will allow the dentist to look into any other health issues, plus it’ll allow them to form a bond with the child, and it’ll show the child that the dentist isn’t all that bad.

For a child, if they are still not showing teeth, that’s totally fine. What you want to do is get one of those warm wash clothes and literally just wipe down the mouth. This will help to get any germs, and you should make sure that the cloth is very soft. This in turn will allow the child to have a healthier mouth, and it gets the child familiar with the process of this, which in turn will allow the child to have even better oral health as a result.

In this, you can see that your child’s oral health does matter, and you should definitely be keeping up with this. Talk to your Eugene dentist if you have any further questions, for they can help you with anything. Most of all, remember that baby teeth set you up for the future, so you will need to make sure that you do take care of them in an adequate way. Remember you’re having to prepare for life, and for a child, forming the habits now will make it easier.