Dr Kim Nguyen on Losing Baby Teeth

Baby teeth, which are called deciduous teeth, start to be lost when there is an adult tooth, called the permanent teeth, coming through to take its place.

They are lost in the same order that they erupt in the mouth. This usually begins with the lower front teeth then the upper front and then back first molar teeth and so on. Some kids can lose their first baby teeth as young as age 4 or 5 and others can start as late as age 7 or 8. The dentist can assist parents in advising at what stage their child is at in terms of natural tooth loss.

Most are lost by the early to mid-teen years to allow for permanent teeth to grow into place. The final wisdom teeth, also known as third molars, however can take up to age 21 to erupt in the mouth and can even sometimes be absent altogether or otherwise impacted.

At Seymour Dental, we understand the first wiggly tooth is an exciting event that marks an important milestone. Most of the time when the tooth falls out it doesn’t hurt but we do help patients who worry and just can’t wiggle that baby tooth out at home, or have a stubborn baby tooth that just doesn’t come out.

Losing baby teeth too early – Premature tooth loss

Sometimes kids can lose baby teeth before the permanent adult tooth is ready to erupt such as due to:

• Deep decay into the nerve of the baby tooth that cannot be restored
• Abscess from infection of the tooth and its surrounding tissue
• Trauma/accidents

When this happens it is important to keep the space that would have been maintained by the lost tooth, to allow the adult tooth to erupt when it is time for it grows. The dentist usually recommends a space maintainer to achieve this. It is a custom-fit metal spacer that is glued to adjacent teeth to keep the space and prevent problems with crowding in the future that might require treatment with braces.

Now for something completely different!

Next week: Fungal Infections of the Mouth