Baby/milk teeth or deciduous teeth are important because they are what the child chews, speaks and smiles with. We believe that these teeth

should be reserved until the natural exfoliation; the deciduous teeth play a very important role in the proper alignment, spacing, and occlusion of the permanent teeth.

When second deciduous molars are lost prematurely, this can be detrimental to the alignment of the permanent teeth.

A space maintainer is inserted to take the place of the “baby tooth” until the permanent tooth is ready to emerge, the space maintainer is a small metal device or plate that encircles the tooth keeping the space to be saved. It will hold the space until the permanent tooth is ready to erupt, stopping the other teeth from tipping or drifting into the empty space. If teeth on either side of the open space encroach upon the empty space, there may not be room for the permanent tooth.

The new permanent tooth may erupt out of its proper position and can affect positioning of other teeth. If teeth become crowded and out of alignment with each other, then the teeth are maloccluded. Malocclusion “bad bite” will make teeth difficult to treat, have greater chances of becoming diseased, and later might require orthodontic treatment.

Whether you’re a parent, guardian or grandparent, I know that having children means you stay busy. I also know, with three kids of my own, that dental health can be easily overlooked with everything else going on. Children’s oral hygiene, is extremely important and understanding the basics of children’s dental and oral healthcare is the first step in helping your child establish a lifetime of healthy habits at an early age. One of the best ways to educate children about dental health and maintaining good oral hygiene is to familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of children’s dentistry.

We would like to see children as young as the age of 2 years so they can get familiar with us and the practice. We find this a very important step in overcoming any fear that may develop later.