Help, I can’t touch my child’s milk teeth
Mar 15, 2010
LITTLE Jessy has a ‘dancing’ tooth, as his friends tell him. But while he is excited about the possibility of earning some coins from it, his parents are scared of the thought of having to pull it out.
By Irene Nabusoba
LITTLE Jessy has a ‘dancing’ tooth, as his friends tell him. But while he is excited about the possibility of earning some coins from it, his parents are scared of the thought of having to pull it out.
“Danny told me that when it comes out, I will hide it in the wardrobe and an angel will take it and give me money in exchange. I will buy a ball,†Jessie says excitedly.
All this time, his mother is holding her chin, afraid of the parental role that awaits her.
“Don’t worry, I have made an appointment with the dentist to extract it. I fear that he may get hurt,†her husband announces, much to their relief.
Dr Aisha Bataringaya, an orthodontist at the Orthodontics and Paedodontics Unit in Mulago National Referral and Teaching Hospital, says she has encountered many similar cases of Jessy’s parents who will not touch their children.
“I have received clients who say: “Doctor my baby’s milk teeth are shedding off but I fear to pluck them out,†Bataringaya reveals.
However, she advises against hospital visits to remove milk teeth.
“You have to patiently learn how to handle the process. A child has 20 teeth to shed off. How many times will you visit the clinic?†Bataringaya asks.
“Such an experience can affect future dental visits in life. A child may associate dental visits with removal of teeth and pain, thus developing a phobia for the dentist in future,†she argues.
Bataringaya says milk teeth are shed off from six to about 10 years.
While Dr Bruce Musiime, a dentist, says African children tend to shed off their teeth much earlier, with the lower ones going first.
“Some books on teething say between six and 10 years, but our children normally start at four years. My children start at four and five years. The girls are often about six months ahead of their male colleagues in shedding off the teeth,†Musiime adds.
Between the ages of six and nine years, the child has some milk teeth as well as some permanent teeth. This is called the mixed dentition period.
By about 12 years, all the milk teeth should be shed off and replaced by the permanent ones.
Bataringaya explains that as the permanent teeth start emerging, they wear off the roots of the milk teeth. The milk teeth lose their support in the bone, become mobile and eventually fall off.
How does shedding happen?
“Once the permanent tooth starts pushing against the root of the milk tooth, it dislodges. Sometimes the teeth fall out by themselves when the child is eating, while some need minimum effort to get out,†Bataringaya says.
She says parents should encourage their children to keep wiggling the shaking tooth by themselves for at least 10 minutes everyday until it falls off.
Bataringaya says if the baby tooth is slightly anchored, it will fall off without much trouble or pain.
Musiime substantiates that ‘the natural concept’ of waiting to wear them off is the best.
“Dentists only extract when the shaking tooth has become too painful for the child to eat well or when the permanent one erupts before the milk tooth falls out,†he explains.
“There are no major complications with plucking out milk teeth but you should not force them out. It can be painful and cause bleeding,†Musiime says.
Unfortunately, some parents do not take this stage seriously thus paving way for mal-positioning of the permanent teeth.
Apparently, when the permanent tooth starts developing, the tissue anchoring the milk tooth becomes soft to allow it fall out.
After some time, it may harden again in order to anchor the permanent tooth and instead ostrengthen the old one in its place.
Consequently, the sprouting permanent tooth may force its way through another place over or under the old tooth.
“When we see two teeth sprouting from the same area, chances are that the milk tooth was not removed in time, which forced the permanent tooth to sprout through a wrong position in the gum,†says Bataringaya.
Cases that require extraction
Some children prematurely lose their teeth in accidents or due to infections. In such instances, parents are advised to take the children to the dentist because the premature loss of the milk teeth may trigger future dental problems.
An internet site about teeth, www.32teethonline.com says sometimes a milk tooth may have to be extracted due to:
Dental decay before the permanent tooth is ready to replace it.
In such cases the early extraction of the milk tooth may cause the neighbouring tooth to move into the space and prevent the underlying permanent tooth from erupting into its right position.
To avoid this, a dentist may give the child a space maintainer to reserve the space till the permanent tooth is ready to erupt.
Bataringaya says shedding of a milk tooth guides the permanent tooth since it follows in the root.
“We conduct a panaromic x-ray to see how far the sprouting permanent tooth is. If it is already rooting, we let the natural process take its way. If it was lost too early, we then fit the space maintainer. Otherwise, after premature loss of the milk tooth, the gum hardens making eruption of the permanent tooth take longer than it should have because it pushes through a harder surface,†she notes.
Dentists have observed that most parents do not mind about the loss of their babies’ milk teeth yet this may pave way for future orthodontic problems.
If the baby has an infection, it can spread to the whole mouth and entire body. This presents itself through fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Nonetheless, mal-positioning of permanent teeth is not always a result of premature or delayed loss of milk teeth.
Make a good dental beginning
On her website, www.theorthodontist.org, Bataringaya says it is good to consult the dentist when a child is six months because this is when the first milk teeth are expected to emerge.
Regular visits to the dentist every six months, or whenever any dental problem is observed will give adequate preventive care to the child.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,†she notes. “If there are any cavities it is good to undertake the treatment at an early stage.â€
“This makes the child’s first experiences with the dentist positive. A child gets used to the idea of visiting the dentist before any treatment is administered,†she says.
Bataringaya notes that you and your child will get instructions on the proper care of teeth and the importance of a proper diet.
Parents take dental issues for granted
However, she regrets that some parents do not care about the milk teeth and hygiene, on assumption that they are useless because they shed off.
“Some parents give children sweets indiscriminately. You are forming poor lifestyles on their way to expensive dental care in future,†she adds.
Bataringanya notes that there are cases where a fine tooth is extracted by a dentist.
“Such mistakes could be avoided with preventive measures like counselling against thumb-sucking, detecting tooth problems and dieting. It also helps address paediatric dental problems before they become gross with consequent costly treatment.â€
Well, even when she advises against taking your child for a mere milk tooth removal, it is a good time for you to make the initial visit.
Otherwise, Bataringaya advises parents not to force the tooth out. It is painful for the child and can be traumatic, especially when accompanied with heavy bleeding.
“Milk teeth shed off naturally. There might be some bleeding but don’t worry, let them bite onto a piece of gauze or rinse their mouth with some salty water. Understanding the process can be pleasurable for both parents and the child.â€
I can only hope this article is a stitch in time to make Jerry’s maturity a pleasurable process for his parents.
LITTLE Jessy has a ‘dancing’ tooth, as his friends tell him. But while he is excited about the possibility of earning some coins from it, his parents are scared of the thought of having to pull it out.
“Danny told me that when it comes out, I will hide it in the wardrobe and an angel will take it and give me money in exchange. I will buy a ball,†Jessie says excitedly.
All this time, his mother is holding her chin, afraid of the parental role that awaits her.
“Don’t worry, I have made an appointment with the dentist to extract it. I fear that he may get hurt,†her husband announces, much to their relief.
Dr Aisha Bataringaya, an orthodontist at the Orthodontics and Paedodontics Unit in Mulago National Referral and Teaching Hospital, says she has encountered many similar cases of Jessy’s parents who will not touch their children.
“I have received clients who say: “Doctor my baby’s milk teeth are shedding off but I fear to pluck them out,†Bataringaya reveals.
However, she advises against hospital visits to remove milk teeth.
“You have to patiently learn how to handle the process. A child has 20 teeth to shed off. How many times will you visit the clinic?†Bataringaya asks.
“Such an experience can affect future dental visits in life. A child may associate dental visits with removal of teeth and pain, thus developing a phobia for the dentist in future,†she argues.
Bataringaya says milk teeth are shed off from six to about 10 years.
While Dr Bruce Musiime, a dentist, says African children tend to shed off their teeth much earlier, with the lower ones going first.
“Some books on teething say between six and 10 years, but our children normally start at four years. My children start at four and five years. The girls are often about six months ahead of their male colleagues in shedding off the teeth,†Musiime adds.
Between the ages of six and nine years, the child has some milk teeth as well as some permanent teeth. This is called the mixed dentition period.
By about 12 years, all the milk teeth should be shed off and replaced by the permanent ones.
Bataringaya explains that as the permanent teeth start emerging, they wear off the roots of the milk teeth. The milk teeth lose their support in the bone, become mobile and eventually fall off.
How does shedding happen?
“Once the permanent tooth starts pushing against the root of the milk tooth, it dislodges. Sometimes the teeth fall out by themselves when the child is eating, while some need minimum effort to get out,†Bataringaya says.
She says parents should encourage their children to keep wiggling the shaking tooth by themselves for at least 10 minutes everyday until it falls off.
Bataringaya says if the baby tooth is slightly anchored, it will fall off without much trouble or pain.
Musiime substantiates that ‘the natural concept’ of waiting to wear them off is the best.
“Dentists only extract when the shaking tooth has become too painful for the child to eat well or when the permanent one erupts before the milk tooth falls out,†he explains.
“There are no major complications with plucking out milk teeth but you should not force them out. It can be painful and cause bleeding,†Musiime says.
Unfortunately, some parents do not take this stage seriously thus paving way for mal-positioning of the permanent teeth.
Apparently, when the permanent tooth starts developing, the tissue anchoring the milk tooth becomes soft to allow it fall out.
After some time, it may harden again in order to anchor the permanent tooth and instead ostrengthen the old one in its place.
Consequently, the sprouting permanent tooth may force its way through another place over or under the old tooth.
“When we see two teeth sprouting from the same area, chances are that the milk tooth was not removed in time, which forced the permanent tooth to sprout through a wrong position in the gum,†says Bataringaya.
Cases that require extraction
Some children prematurely lose their teeth in accidents or due to infections. In such instances, parents are advised to take the children to the dentist because the premature loss of the milk teeth may trigger future dental problems.
An internet site about teeth, www.32teethonline.com says sometimes a milk tooth may have to be extracted due to:
Dental decay before the permanent tooth is ready to replace it.
In such cases the early extraction of the milk tooth may cause the neighbouring tooth to move into the space and prevent the underlying permanent tooth from erupting into its right position.
To avoid this, a dentist may give the child a space maintainer to reserve the space till the permanent tooth is ready to erupt.
Bataringaya says shedding of a milk tooth guides the permanent tooth since it follows in the root.
“We conduct a panaromic x-ray to see how far the sprouting permanent tooth is. If it is already rooting, we let the natural process take its way. If it was lost too early, we then fit the space maintainer. Otherwise, after premature loss of the milk tooth, the gum hardens making eruption of the permanent tooth take longer than it should have because it pushes through a harder surface,†she notes.
Dentists have observed that most parents do not mind about the loss of their babies’ milk teeth yet this may pave way for future orthodontic problems.
If the baby has an infection, it can spread to the whole mouth and entire body. This presents itself through fever, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Nonetheless, mal-positioning of permanent teeth is not always a result of premature or delayed loss of milk teeth.
Make a good dental beginning
On her website, www.theorthodontist.org, Bataringaya says it is good to consult the dentist when a child is six months because this is when the first milk teeth are expected to emerge.
Regular visits to the dentist every six months, or whenever any dental problem is observed will give adequate preventive care to the child.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,†she notes. “If there are any cavities it is good to undertake the treatment at an early stage.â€
“This makes the child’s first experiences with the dentist positive. A child gets used to the idea of visiting the dentist before any treatment is administered,†she says.
Bataringaya notes that you and your child will get instructions on the proper care of teeth and the importance of a proper diet.
Parents take dental issues for granted
However, she regrets that some parents do not care about the milk teeth and hygiene, on assumption that they are useless because they shed off.
“Some parents give children sweets indiscriminately. You are forming poor lifestyles on their way to expensive dental care in future,†she adds.
Bataringanya notes that there are cases where a fine tooth is extracted by a dentist.
“Such mistakes could be avoided with preventive measures like counselling against thumb-sucking, detecting tooth problems and dieting. It also helps address paediatric dental problems before they become gross with consequent costly treatment.â€
Well, even when she advises against taking your child for a mere milk tooth removal, it is a good time for you to make the initial visit.
Otherwise, Bataringaya advises parents not to force the tooth out. It is painful for the child and can be traumatic, especially when accompanied with heavy bleeding.
“Milk teeth shed off naturally. There might be some bleeding but don’t worry, let them bite onto a piece of gauze or rinse their mouth with some salty water. Understanding the process can be pleasurable for both parents and the child.â€
I can only hope this article is a stitch in time to make Jerry’s maturity a pleasurable process for his parents.