article: Zhang Yanwen
(Photo by Citizen 4474 @ flickr)
Reader's question: Is it related to deciduous tooth decay? If you are four or five years old and have to change your teeth, do you still need to install braces?
Dentist reply:
Generally speaking, treatment is still required if the baby teeth are lost. If the tooth replacement stage has reached, it should be judged based on the strategic position of the deciduous tooth and the time when the permanent tooth should be germinated.
Dirty teeth sprout from the child about six months old, change teeth at the age of six, and they will not be completely replaced with permanent teeth until they are twelve years old. In the past decade, in addition to the functions of both beauty, chewing and pronunciation, the baby teeth are more importantly, they are the "positioner" of constant teeth, guiding the constant teeth to grow to the correct position. If the deciduous teeth fall off early or have to be removed, other teeth will move their positions and occupy the original growth space of the permanent teeth, resulting in misalignment in the future. In severe cases, teeth may not grow.
Children have tooth decay and do not have to wear braces. When the tooth decay is mild, the dentist will fill the teeth; if the nerves have already been decayed, the root canal treatment must be performed (commonly known as "nerve extraction"). At this time, braces are often needed to prevent the second tooth decay; if the tooth decay is so decayed that the root of the tooth is gone, the teeth have to be removed.
In order to retain the position of permanent teeth growth, the doctor will install a "space maintainer" for the child after the tooth is extracted. If the front teeth are removed, for pronunciation and aesthetics, a denture will be installed on the outside of the space maintainer.
Because children have relatively small teeth, their cavities will be much faster than those of adults. In principle, seek medical attention as soon as you find a child’s tooth decay, so as to avoid lengthy treatment after the decay becomes bigger.
However, the germination time of each permanent tooth varies. If the teeth are close to growing, it may not be necessary to install a space maintainer. However, treatment is necessary. Ignoring the child's tooth decay may not only cause oral infection, but also may also cause cellular tissue inflammation.
(Consultation: Nutcracker Dental Clinic Children's Dentist Du Peishan, Taipei Chang Geng Children's Dentist attending physician Chen Liping)
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