Teeth are very important parts of our body. Their health is of paramount importance for general well being. Care of teeth should be done throughout the life to increase their longevity.

Besides helping in chewing the food, they also help in proper bone growth of the jaws and provide beauty to our faces and smile. A well aligned and white dentition is the desire of every person.

Dental caries and gingivitis are the 2 most common diseases of teeth and gums, which lead to bad breath, pain and discomfort, swelling, changed colour of the teeth and their unsightly appearance. Studies have proved that there is a link of gingival disease to the heart diseases.

There are 2 sets of teeth in the life of human being ie milk teeth and the permanent teeth. Parents wait eagerly for the eruption of first teeth of their child and are very happy to see it.

But if they do not take care of the teeth of their child, then these joyous moments do not last long, as their child shows the signs of distress with the diseased teeth.

A child gets his all milk teeth from 6 – 30 months of his age, and they are present in the mouth till 11 – 12 years of age.

Although their life in the mouth shorter as compared to permanent teeth, but the function allotted to them by the nature is non-comparable.

Thus, care of milk teeth as important as the permanent teeth.  Never think that since the milk teeth are temporary, they are not of much use.

Baby teeth are softer & smaller than the permanent teeth, and catch cavities easily. These cavities progress faster to damage the tooth and reach the nerves of teeth, causing a lot of pain and swelling.

Main functions of baby teeth, besides chewing and giving your baby a beautiful smile, is to prepare the jaws to receive permanent teeth by helping in jaw growth, and to maintain the spaces for bigger permanent teeth in the jaws.

If a baby tooth is lost early, then the spaces may get reduced or lost, leading to entrapment of the permanent tooth in the bone, which later on gives much more trouble.

So the onus of protecting the beautiful teeth of their beautiful child lies with the parents.

The cavities formation in children is known as early childhood caries ECC. It is of 2 types: 1. Nursing bottle caries, which occurs in children when the parents put a milk bottle in the mouth of a child and put him to sleep with the bottle.

The milk gets pooled near the teeth and leads to cavities. Such cavities are mainly seen on the upper front teeth. 2. Other type of caries is called Rampant caries, which may involve multiple teeth in any part of the mouth.

It also involves those areas of teeth which are generally considered to be resistant to the caries.

How cavities are formed: Cavities are formed on the tooth when the foods having carbohydrate eg sugars, biscuits, chocolates etc get rotten up by the bacteria, who lead to formation of strong acids on the teeth and lead to eating away of the tooth minerals.

Problems with the caries: Cavity formation leads to discolouration of tooth, unsightly appearance, discomfort and pain to the child.

If nerves get involved, it leads to much pain and swelling. Psychological fear sets in the mind of child when he has to encounter the injection during the treatment and / or extraction.

Frequent visits to dentist lead to time and money loss.

Benefits of dental care: It leads to maintenance of the health of teeth; & beauty and smile. Child does not develop psychological fear to injection and dentist.

Saving of time and money is an added advantage. Regular general check-up visits help to create a positive rapport between child and the family dentist.

Following are the simple measures which parents can take to keep their child’s teeth healthy.

Do not give the milk bottle to the child when he is in sleep.

Avoid giving chocolates, biscuits, sweets and other sticky foods to the child.

If your child insists for chocolates etc, then ask him to brush immediately after eating it.

Brush the teeth regularly two times every day, preferably with fluoridated tooth paste.

Supervise the brushing of your child if he is able to handle the brush himself.

Visit the dentist as soon as first tooth of your child appears in the mouth.

Take your child to dentist for regular check up every 6 months.

Use fluoridated water and salt in the food. Fish have a good amount of fluorides, which can also be a part of regular diet.

Remember, prevention is always better than cure. So take care of the teeth of your child, and keep SMILING.

The author is an
Orthodontist and dental surgeon,
KFH, K
goyalsandeep2000@rediffmail.com