The Importance of Baby Teeth and Why Kids Dental Extractions Should Be a Last Resort in Greensboro, NC

To many parents, it may seem like no big deal that when they get the news that their child’s baby tooth needs to be extracted. After all, that tooth was only temporary, and a permanent tooth will eventually come in. Unfortunately, this type of thinking is incorrect. Extractions, even with baby teeth, should only be the last resort when there is nothing that can be done to save the tooth. Dr. Sona Isharani, DDS, and the team at Triad Pediatric Dentistry in Greensboro, NC, understand this. Dr. Isharani will only perform a kid’s dental extraction when it is necessary and safe to do so.

Let us examine why baby teeth should be carefully cared for. Just because they will eventually fall out does not mean they do not have an especially important role to play and should only be extracted when absolutely necessary.

Baby Teeth Provide a Pathway

Baby teeth, also called primary teeth, are critical for the proper development of the muscles and bone in a child’s lower face. Baby teeth provide and maintain the right spacing in the jaw necessary for the eventual eruption of permanent teeth. When a child loses their primary teeth naturally, this is ok as the adult teeth will have the correctly sized pathway to come in but, if extracted early, the space provided may not be large enough for adult teeth to erupt from properly.

Speech and Smile Development

One of the obvious functions of a child’s teeth is for them to be able to chew food properly. What may be overlooked by those who do not know that baby teeth play a significant role in a child’s speech development and being able to properly pronounce specific letters. Losing even a single baby tooth early via extraction could cause compromised speech.

As a child grows, if they are missing teeth, they may be self-conscious about it, and it could lower their self-esteem as they see other children with full sets of teeth. This can also happen if primary teeth begin to discolor due to neglected oral hygiene.

Baby teeth play a large role in a child’s life. Dr. Isharani, when necessary, is available to perform extractions of these teeth. You can rest easy knowing she will make sure it is absolutely necessary before doing so and will perform the extraction with extreme care. For an appointment with Dr. Isharani, please call (336) 804-8668.