Looking After Your Children's Baby Teeth

Hello Everyone! I trust that you all had a restful Easter break enjoying time in “social isolation” and

eating Easter eggs from your own in-house Easter egg hunts. With the perfect Central Coast

weather on the weekend, I know we did! Following this, I saw a lot of posts on social media about

not just visits from the Easter Bunny but also from the Tooth Fairy! Seems like a double whammy for

some kids!

While on the subject of the Tooth Fairy, I thought we should touch on the topic of looking after your

children’s baby teeth. I often get asked this question:

Primary Teeth (aka “Baby Teeth”): Are they really important?

As they will be replaced with the permanent teeth anyway, many people think and even consider that children's baby teeth aren’t essential. The fact of the matter is, primary teeth (also known as baby/temporary teeth), are very important in every child’s physical and emotional development.

It is very critical to keep primary teeth healthy as they provide kids with these important functions:

1. Assist kids chew food easily and promotes good nutrition
2. Helps kids speak quickly and effectively
3. Provides space in the jaw needed for permanent (adult) teeth
4. Promotes confidence in a child through a beautiful smile (aesthetics)

This is my youngest son, Isaiah. Before he lost his first baby tooth, I took a digital impression of his teeth so we will remember what those cute little teeth looked like! Pretty cool memento, I think!

Primary teeth normally start to develop while the baby is inside the mother’s womb around 6-7 weeks after conception.

The first baby teeth start to appear 6-7 months after they are born. This of course can come out earlier in some cases. All 20 primary teeth will be fully erupted by the age of three. Most of the time during the eruption of primary teeth, babies can feel a bit of teething discomfort or pain. Even though this is a natural process that every child goes through, this can still make your child experience pain, resulting in a cranky baby and frustrated parents.

Here are a few tips you can do to alleviate any teething discomfort:

• With a clean finger or wet gauze pad, gently rub baby’s gums
• Give your child silicone teething toys to chew on
• Provide cold soft food if they can take solid food.
• Provide a small dosage of children’s pain reliever (if none of these no-drug methods work)

Just like their adult counterparts, the permanent teeth, primary teeth can get cavities too. Numerous clinical evidence show that over 50 percent of children will have cavities before they reach 6 years old, so it is very important to provide kids with good oral hygiene as early as possible. You can start cleaning their teeth as soon as the first baby tooth erupts. Use a clean washcloth or small head tooth brush with very soft bristles. Establish a good relationship between your child and your dentist. Bring your child to the dentist as early as possible. This will not just assist your child build confidence but also achieve a healthy looking smile.

Don’t forget…Even though the tooth fairy will come and take the teeth anyway, make sure they are nice and healthy too!

Cheers!

Dr. Rouel Vergara DMD

Your friendly Erina dentist :)

Article by Dr Rouel Vergara DMD

Dr Rouel Vergara DMD – Principal Dentist & Director New Leaf Dentists. Rouel obtained his Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) from the University of the East in 1998. He holds a Certificate in Training and Assessment from Macquarie College in Sydney. He is a member of the Australian Dental Association (ADA and ADA NSW),a committee member of ADA NSW & a mentor for the ADA NSW Professional Transitional Support Mentoring Program.