Tooth Eruption
Tooth Eruption is the process by which teeth emerge and become visible in the mouth. The Smile Town Team will guide you and your child through each stage of his or her baby teeth and adult teeth eruption.
There are many reasons that a child's teeth growth and development should be monitored by a dental professional. Children's mouths go through dramatic changes between the time they start teething, and when the full set of adult teeth are in place.
During this process, a dentist will be able to monitor your child's growth and development, and identify and treat potential problems. Visiting the dentist regularly throughout childhood helps ensure that children's teeth grow in strong and healthy, with a minimum of problems.
Baby Teeth
Some people believe that, since baby teeth eventually fall out they're really not that important. However, baby teeth play an important role in your child's healthy oral development that should not be taken lightly.
Healthy baby teeth allow your child to chew and digest food properly. This in turn allows your child to best absorb all the important nutrients he or she will need to grow and thrive, and become a healthy, robust teen and adult.
Baby teeth also function to guide emerging adult teeth into the correct positions. If baby teeth fall out too early due to damage and decay, the result may be that the adult teeth do not grow in properly. A dentist can help your child stave off dental decay, and can provide space maintainers in cases where baby teeth fall out too early.
It's also important to bring your child in for an orthodontic consultation by the age of 7. An orthodontist will be able to determine whether orthodontic intervention will be needed, and in some cases, will be able to begin treatment early by prescribing things like headgear or palatial expanders.
These types of treatment will prepare your child's mouth for future orthodontic treatment, and may even lessen the extent of the treatment needed when your child is older. > Learn More
Adult Teeth
Adult, or permanent teeth, are the teeth that your child will have for the rest of his or her life. It's vitally important that a dentist regularly monitors their growth as they emerge, in order to identify and prevent potential problems.
Some problems that can occur during the eruption process of adult teeth include
Loss of Space: Blocked Molars
Sometimes, the eruption of permanent teeth can be blocked by other primary teeth that are not yet ready to fall out. This makes teeth harder to clean, thereby heightening the risk of cavities. While this problem can often self-correct, in some cases, orthodontic intervention is necessary to facilitate the eruption of the blocked teeth.
Impacted Teeth
Impacted teeth are teeth that are growing in the the wrong direction. This is often caused by lack of space or narrow jaws. With early supervision by a dentist, potential impacted teeth can be identified and intercepted before they become a problem.
Ectopic Dental Eruption
Permanent teeth can also sometimes grow in the wrong position in the mouth. This issue, if not detected and intercepted, can damage adjacent teeth and supporting gum and bone tissue.
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