If My Child Has Cavities, Can't I Just Wait Until They Fall Out... After All They Are Baby Teeth?

Most parents wonder if their child needs to be seen by the dentist when they haven't yet gotten their permanent teeth yet. After all, they think, those teeth are only there temporarily and will fall out as soon as their child gets their adult teeth.
This is a major No No. You have to realize that cavities involved, weather it is on primary (baby) teeth or permanent (adult) teeth, are still composed of bacteria. And bacteria has a way of eating away the tooth and jumping from one tooth to another. So just to simplify this even more, lets look at what are the possible problems that can accur from cavities growing on baby teeth.


Cavities can eat their way all the way to the pulp of the baby tooth and cause a lot of pain. After all, baby teeth are no different than permanent teeth as far as their composition. They still have enamel, dentin, pulp and roots. So if the cavity is big enough, they will cause pain

1. When a cavity is formed, it has a way of deforming the tooth. The teeth may seem darker with visible holes and odor.


2. Cavities are bacteria that can jump from one tooth to another. This means that if a baby tooth with cavities are not restored, the bacteria from the baby tooth has a way of infecting the teeth around it, which may even involve permanent teeth if the child has a mixed dentition. This meanse, at around age 6, kids start erupting their first permanent teeth while still having their baby teeth. All the way until age 11-12, the kids still have a mixed dentition. So from age 6 to 12, the cavities from baby teeth have a way of infecting the adult teeth as well.


3. Cavities that have involved the pulp of the tooth may cause pulpal infection and abcess. This means that the baby tooth is no longer fixable and it needs to be taken out. This may cause two problems. One, the infection under the baby tooth may deform the newly forming adult teeth right underneath it. And two, if a space is now open where the tooth was removed due to infection, the teeth might shift and cause problems when the adult tooth is about to erupt. So if there is no space left, the tooth may erupt sideways or even get impacted and never come out.
   

Therefore, it is a big NO NO to wait for baby teeth to come out on their own. They still will fall out on their own, there's no question about that, but the damage will be all done by than.

So make an appointment for your child for an intial check up and reutine recalls at Adult and Kid's Dental Care. Call (818)881-6761 for an appointment.