Dr. Shamala Chandra

One of the landmarks of a child's development during the first year is the eruption of the little white pearls. The first tooth breaks into the mouth, somewhere between six months to one year of life. The entire set is in place in a baby's mouth by about 20 months of life. Though called deciduous teeth as they fall off after a certain period of time, the last of the milk teeth remains in the mouth up to 12 to 14 years of age.

Listed below are some points outlining the significance of milk teeth. It assumes importance, given that many a times, parents ignore injury and/or decay to these with the assumption that these are anyways temporary and a new set will be in place later.

1. Eating: One of the primary functions of the milk teeth is to aid in chewing or mastication and digestion. Though not as strong as their permanent counterpart, they do play a great role in chewing and digesting the food. Children with malfunctioning teeth, especially molars, (missing or decayed) can result into poor nutrition.
2. Speech development: The milk teeth play a critical role in the speech development, and speech abnormalities can be seen in people,  who do not have an effective set of milk teeth. It is common to see children in whom the front teeth in the milk set are not properly positioned, there could be speech problems like lisping.
3. Aesthetics: Needless to say, a good set of white, pearly teeth adds to the beauty of a child's smile. This plays a major role in boosting the child's social behavior including acceptance and confidence levels.
4. Space Maintenance: The milk teeth maintain and preserve the space required for their successors. In case where a lost tooth is not replaced, the space may not be sufficient for the permanent one to erupt, and this may even stop the permanent one from erupting. The result could be a blank space where the milk tooth is lost without the successor erupting into the mouth due to lack of space.

Given the above reasons, it is very important to take good care of the primary or milk or deciduous teeth. Some simple things to do would be:

1. Enforce a regular oral hygiene routine including rinsing after each meal or snack, brushing twice a day, flossing and use of mouthwash
2. A biannual visit to the dentist for oral prophylaxis regular cleaning followed by fluoride paste application if required; this will also reduce the onset of dental caries. Early caries can be identified during these visits   and treated before onset of pain.
3. Chemical sealants may be used if the pits on the teeth are deep and can get decayed easily.

Visit your dentist regularly to know more and to maintain these pearls.