Baby Teeth: Important Reasons Why They Matter
Baby Teeth: Important Reasons Why They Matter
A lot of people ask: why do we invest time and money caring for baby teeth?
One of the biggest misconceptions we hear all the time is “Why do we need to keep the baby teeth? Just take them out. They’re going to fall out anyway.”
The truth is they are there for many important reasons. Baby teeth or primary teeth are important as your child learns to chew solid food and pronounce their first words. Your baby’s first teeth must stay as healthy for as long as possible. That is, until the jaw is ready to shed them and accommodate adult teeth.
Think of baby teeth as placeholders. Taking care of baby teeth is vital for a transition to properly spaced and healthy permanent teeth. The longer we preserve them, the better it’s going to be for your child.
For Good Nutrition
Baby teeth help with proper mastication or chewing for good nutrition. Your little one uses primary teeth to safely chew solids until permanent teeth are ready to emerge underneath the gums. The adult teeth then occupy the spaces that have been saved for them.
Without proper care, baby teeth could get knocked out or extracted too early due to cavities even before the adult teeth are ready to “erupt.” This could affect your baby’s nutrition. In that case, your family dentist would recommend inserting a space maintainer to hold the space and guide the adult tooth to find its place.
For Speech Development
Baby teeth also help with healthy speech development. They work together with the mouth and lips to help your child pronounce their first words. Basically, those cute little teeth control the air going in and out of the mouth as your child learns to speak. This is why perfectly healthy primary teeth are needed for producing more difficult sounds as your child grows with more needs and wants.
For Esthetics, Self-Confidence, and Social Skills
Baby teeth also help with esthetics as well. They keep the upper and lower face exactly the way they should look during important stages of growth and development.
Maintaining a healthy set of primary teeth helps with the development of the upper and lower jaws and the arches. It also maintains the space so that the adult teeth don’t end up in the wrong spaces and cause crowding. Maintaining the first set of teeth will help your child avoid underbites or overbites and different dental health issues.
Investing time and effort in caring for them will benefit your child in many decades to come. Your little one won’t go through the pain and discomfort that come with infected teeth. Your child will be able to sleep soundly, eat well, and join their friends at the playground or school with a confident smile.
Healthy baby teeth are essential for a strong mind and body. When they become adults, your child will be thankful for having perfect adult teeth. A beautiful smile will allow them to express themselves with confidence. They will be capable of bonding successfully with different people and doing more things they set out to achieve.
Baby Teeth Matter in Ancaster
These are all really important things to consider if you are on the fence about bringing your child to a family dentist. It’s really important that your child is seen earlier rather than later, so we can preserve the baby teeth and keep everything healthy as long as possible.
Learn about our child-friendly dental care options for your baby when you visit Smiling Dental at our locations in Hamilton, Ancaster, Dundas, and Stoney Creek.
