Baby teeth, more important than you think ! As we all know, a person grows two sets of teeth in total during his life – milk teeth and permanent teeth. Milk teeth are the first set of teeth that erupt in humans and are an important part of the chewing organ of children, with 20 teeth in total, 10 on the top and 10 on the bottom. The first tooth erupts at 6 months of age, and all 20 teeth erupt at about 2.5 years of age, and are gradually replaced by permanent teeth between the ages of 6 or 7 and 12 or 13. So we can see that the small milk teeth actually have to work for us for more than 10 years, if you do not protect it during the period, but will have a lot of bad effects on themselves! The role & impact of baby teeth Chewing Food processing plant Baby teeth are an important part of the child’s chewing organ. During childhood, children grow fast and have a strong metabolism, so they need a certain amount of nutrition and enough sleep every day to protect their growth and development needs, so it is very important to “eat well” and “sleep well”. Only with healthy milk teeth, to play a normal chewing function, to eat, fully chew food, to facilitate digestion and absorption, enjoy the pleasure of eating (ha ha). The children’s ability to chew is greatly reduced once the teeth are not good, and eating is naturally affected. The food is not fully chewed, resulting in large chunks of food into the stomach, the stomach burden is increased, indigestion or something will come, seriously affecting the growth and development of children. Stimulate jaw and facial development Healthy milk teeth, generally left and right balanced chewing, in the process of eating and chewing can give functional stimulation of the bones and muscles of the jaw and face, so that the jaw and facial development is normal. If a child has a toothache on one side, he or she will be reluctant to use that side of the teeth to chew and will instead use the other side of the teeth to chew, causing “lateral chewing”. The lack of normal stimulation on one side of the jaw and face will lead to asymmetry between the left and right side of the face, resulting in a “big and small face”. Aids to pronunciation During the period when the milk teeth start to erupt and the milk tooth row is an important period when children start to learn to speak. A complete row of milk teeth is very important for children’s normal pronunciation, especially for the upper front teeth. When the upper front teeth are missing, it is like a leak, and it is difficult for children to pronounce labiodental and lingual sounds well, which seriously hinders the habit of speech. Healthy body and mind A healthy smile is so beautiful White and healthy teeth are very important for children’s appearance and physical and mental health, especially the upper front teeth. If the upper front teeth are missing prematurely or become black due to decay, it will affect the beauty and be ridiculed, and the children’s small self-esteem will be hit, and they will not dare to laugh in front of everyone and affect the communication, but it will cause very bad stimulation to their young psychology. When most of the teeth are missing, the face will be sunken due to the lack of support, much like a little old lady without teeth, and naturally, they cannot show a happy smile ~ the “guide” for the eruption of permanent teeth Under the root of each milk tooth there is a germ that inherits the permanent tooth. When the baby teeth fall out at the replacement age, the permanent teeth have to grow in the original position of the baby teeth. The permanent teeth will erupt in the normal position because the baby teeth are the “guides”. If the baby teeth are lost early or delayed, the permanent teeth will “lose their way” and find another way to grow out, and the teeth may grow crooked and untidy. TIPS FOR BABY TEETH HEALTH From the fourth month of pregnancy to the first year of life is the period of calcification of baby’s milk teeth enamel. During this period, it is important for mamas to take care of calcium supplementation and refuse to smoke or stay away from second-hand smoke. Studies have shown that frequent or passive smoking during pregnancy can cause malformations in the jaw, face or mouth of the fetal baby, leading to many dental problems and periodontal diseases. In addition, during pregnancy must be careful with drugs, because many drugs are harmful to the fetal baby’s oral and dental development, if you do need to take drugs must follow medical advice. Try to take breastfeeding The baby’s powerful sucking action of breast milk is conducive to normal jaw development. If artificial pacifiers are not used properly, it is easy to cause facial and jaw abnormalities. When artificial feeding is necessary, choose a pacifier designed to imitate a nipple and adopt the correct posture. Train your baby to use cups and bowls to eat as early as possible to avoid forming a dependency on bottles. In addition, breast milk can inhibit bacteria from multiplying on the teeth and prevent tooth decay. Mummy takes the lead in treating worm teeth Mummy suffers from worm teeth, and babies are also very prone to worm teeth. Because, worm teeth are bacterial infections, mama may infect them by feeding and watering her baby. Control baby’s sugar After weaning, you should add grains and cereals, dairy products and vegetables and fruits to your baby’s daily diet to maintain a balanced nutrition. Try not to add sugar to milk; drink more plain water and less sugar-rich drinks. And provide your baby with foods that have some hardness to practice chewing, such as apples, baby carrots, cucumbers, corn, etc.. Especially fresh fruits, the longer you chew, the more saliva will be secreted, and the increased saliva will clean the teeth and enhance the chewing function at the same time. Regular checkups Avoid your baby from doing finger sucking, lip sucking, tongue spitting and other actions frequently. Especially after the age of 4, make sure to completely correct the habit of sucking on a soother. If your baby has early loss of milk teeth, you should quickly bring him/her to the hospital to have the teeth gap maintained so as not to affect the development and eruption of permanent teeth; if you have anti-jaw, crowded teeth and misaligned teeth, you should also go to the hospital early to correct them as soon as possible. In short, you should check your baby’s teeth frequently and once you find a problem, you should go to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible. Never delay and delay!