Baby Teeth & Eruption

If you’re a new parent and your first born is going through teething phases or even have a second or third child that has begun teething and your first never did, you may be confused and lost as to how you should help them cope with their teething.

First off, teething occurs when an infant's first baby teeth begin to emerge through the gums. This is also known as tooth eruption. Teething may start as early as 3 months or as late as 12 months. As you know, this is a wide time frame considering how much your infant will grow mentally and physically over this period of time.

What you need to know is that baby teeth are very important in early child development, as they prepare a child’s mouth by finding a healthy place for their permanent teeth to grow down the road. And since baby teeth are in your child’s mouth for 8 to 10 years, it’s quite important that proper care is maintained in order to pave the way for a healthy adult mouth. You may have also heard baby teeth referred to as primary teeth or even deciduous teeth.

Something to remember is that the first baby teeth will begin coming in around 3 to 6 months old. And the last of the 20 baby teeth should be in by 3 years old. For reference, the very first permanent or “adult” tooth should start to come in around 6 years old.

The other reasons that baby teeth are so important include helping your child to eat and chew food more easily, speak more clearly and efficiently, and hold space in their jaws for adult teeth that are growing in under the gums.

Some of the side effects of this period of time of teething, though, may include restlessness, a loss of appetite, irritability, and even an increase in drooling. In order to sooth your child during these times, you can help them cope with teething by gently rubbing their gums with your finger (make sure it’s clean!), or you can opt to use a small cool spoon or moist gauze instead.

The other thing to remember is that baby teeth are just as prone to cavities as any of your own permanent teeth. In fact, more than half of all children will experience cavities in some capacity before they turn 5. Just make sure to teach them proper oral hygiene at a young age. Instilling it while they’re younger will help to ensure that they take care of their teeth when they get older.

How to prepare for a tooth extraction

Tooth extractions are no fun, but sometimes you need to make sure that you’re prepared for them. Often, they’re done to help offset some health problems, and for many, additional steps might need to be taken if you’re not careful. However, there are a few simple steps that you can take in order to ensure that stuff is less taxing once you’re all healed, and you can do this all beforehand.

Now, why might you need one of these? Well, a decay, or even an infection be so far along that even a filling or root canal won’t fix the problem, and extraction is the only way. Gum disease might have loosened a tooth to the point where you need it. If you’re preparing for braces, teeth which are crowding the mouth might need to be taken out. Finally, wisdom teeth might have to be removed, since they might become impacted or infected.

So how do you get prepared for this? Well, just like any surgery, there are always risks for something, even if your dentist has taken the risks to prevent this, there is a chance as always that the bacteria might come into contact, which is why those that are vulnerable to infection might need to get antibiotics before.

But you should make sure that if you do have a damaged heart valve, congenital heart problems, an impaired immune system, liver disease, an artificial joint, or even history of endocarditis, you make sure that you tell your dentist this, since they might not give you that antibiotics. There is always that chance that if they do, it creates a negative effect, so it’s imperative that you make sure you tell your dentist everything.

Now, before the procedure, you don’t eat or drink for either hours before, and you do go to the dentist with a mouth that is clean, so that it’s easier for the dentist to get all of those teeth, or even just one tooth, out of your mouth with the least amount of pain.

Now, when you do get an extraction, you’re going to get some kind of aesthetic. Now, sometimes they’re just local ones, and even so, you should have someone pick you up. For the much larger and more powerful anesthetics, you will need someone to take your home. Plus, it’s safer, since the last thing you want to do is drive after all of that.

Now, if you have to get one, you should always ask your dentist about the procedure if you have any questions, along with what to expect. The dentist will tell you everything, and they will work to make you as comfortable as you can be before, during, and after everything happens. Let’s face it, the dentist is a scary place, so it can be a bit nerve-wracking to get one, but if you’re smart, you’ll be able to get the answers that you need from just a simple set of questions, which is always nice.

Now, if you do experience problems, you should always see your dentist. Typically, after you go in for one of these, you’ll be in a ton of pain once the drugs wear off. It’s natural. That’s how it happens, so you’re going to feel the sting of it. but, by making sure that you take care of yourself beforehand, and you do the necessary actions, you’ll be able to take care of your smile, and your oral health as well, thereby making it much better. Take care of yourself, your oral health, and the like by making sure that you see the dentist.

This article discussed what you do when you see the dentist. The dentist is never a fun place to go, but if you take your time, learn how you’re going to fare during your procedures, and the like, it’ll make everything easier for you. do this now, and you’ll feel way comfier once you actually get the procedure done without any problems. You’d  be surprised at all that this could do, and the difference that it makes, so definitely talk to your dentist beforehand of what it is that you’re getting too.