Many parents celebrate it when their babies develop their first milk teeth as a milestone and achievement in their developmental stage. However, these early teeth only remain in your baby’s mouth for certain years and then fall out, allowing permanent teeth to grow. If you have a newborn baby, you may need to know a few things about their teeth.
It is crucial that you are well-educated about the growth patterns of your baby’s milk teeth development and how they influence the growth of permanent teeth. While dental care is usually not started until a baby develops all of their milk teeth, tooth decay can begin as soon as your baby develops their first milk teeth. Visit a pediatric dentist in Fairland, MD, today.
Things you need to know about baby teeth
- Children only develop about 20 teeth.
Do not expect to see the same number of teeth in your baby’s mouth as in adults. Even though your baby’s teeth start growing and developing during the fetal stage, you won’t see the first tooth erupting until your baby reaches the age of 6 months. An entire set of milk teeth will take at least three years to grow fully in your baby’s mouth. A baby has only 20 teeth, while an adult has 36.
- Baby teeth or milk teeth are placeholders for permanent teeth.
Milk teeth grow and fall off, then permanent teeth emerge. However, just because they will eventually fall off does not mean they do not have a purpose. In fact, milk teeth serve an important purpose in your baby’s life. Milk teeth are actually placeholders for a baby’s permanent teeth, and if a child’s teeth fall off too early, that could result in crooked teeth. This is because permanent teeth could come in too early or get in the way of other teeth coming in.
- Baby teeth cause teething pains.
When baby teeth appear, they come out by pushing through the gums, which can be painful for your child. You can expect your child to get irritated, cry, drool, and have some swelling of the gums when their first teeth start growing. Fortunately, there are ways to soothe your child. Breastfeeding has proved effective in calming down babies, and you can even give your baby frozen breast milk cubes for pain relief.
Your child is in their most sensitive stage during their early childhood and should be dealt with correctly. Make sure you choose the best pediatric dentist in town for them.
