Though back in your day you just waited for your baby teeth to run their course, fall out naturally and cash them in with the tooth fairy, there are still many reasons to have your children’s baby teeth extracted. Here are three things you may not have known about primary teeth, or baby teeth extraction:
A few teeth too many
Having too many teeth for your mouth, or too large of teeth may seem like a problem that only adults have. However, it is very common that many children’s mouths can become overrun with their baby teeth, especially if they aren’t losing their baby teeth on par with when they should be. These baby teeth that are simply hanging around can greatly alter the incoming path of the adult teeth coming in beneath them and cause their smiles to be crooked even before the adult teeth emerge.
A swing and a hit!
With how active your children are, and especially how reckless they can be, you’re already well aware that injury can be part of the equation when they are playing. After any sort of trauma to your child’s mouth, your orthodontist will let you know the extent of the damage to the baby teeth and if some might need to be removed. Since pulling teeth is not ideal, your orthodontist will ensure that paths are maintained with dental space maintainers that can attach to existing adult teeth. These spacers will help the surrounding adult teeth maintain their current growth pattern which can really improve the chances of a straighter smile.
Rot and Decay
Getting your children to brush their teeth is hard. You provide light up tooth brushes, toothpaste that tastes like bubble gum and floss that tastes like skittles, but still some teeth go untouched by their attempts at dental hygiene. While many parents shutter at the bill they get when they are paying for fillings or crowns for teeth that may fall out in the subsequent weeks or months, it is something that needs to be done for the best of your child’s smile. However, some orthodontists will insist that a tooth is too far gone due to widespread decay and will need to be extracted. This extraction may seem like just a cheap fix, but in reality it may be the best method for preventing infection that can cause abscesses to form at the root of the baby tooth and affect how the permanent tooth will grow beneath it.
Request a free consultation today to ensure that your child’s adult smile will be as healthy and perfect as possible!