Written by: Dr. Chantal Kengo, Specialist Pedodontist
In the health sector, the well-proven rule is, it is better to prevent than cure, and this of course, is just as relevant when it comes to oral health.
So for all of us, and particularly children, regular dental checkups are the key to healthy teeth.
As a matter of fact, children aged 6 to 8 undergo an important change in terms of mouth development and teeth growth. They move from having baby teeth to having a mix of baby and adult teeth. And these adult teeth will then stay in the child’s mouth forever.
This major mouth transformation of the child will most of the time create position problems and cavities for which professional attention will be needed.
The major changes
- The child will replace his 8 front teeth; the 4 upper and the 4 lower baby incisors with permanent incisors.
- The child will also undergo the growth of 4 molars behind his baby molars (2 up and 2 down). These teeth are called: the 6-year-old molars. Molars are the teeth located at the back of the mouth.
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| Dr. Chantal Kengo, Pediatric Dentist |
Regular checkups should take place every 6 months and during this key childhood period, they will allow the Pediatric Dentist:
- To prevent wrong bites (malocclusions)Indeed, the 8 new permanent incisors are much larger than the baby ones. That will create a lot of position problems as these new teeth won’t have enough space for all of them to fit properly.The Pediatric Dentist will therefore intercept these wrong positions in order to prevent malocclusions.
- To prevent cavitiesThe 6-year-old molars arrive silently and without pain, as they don’t replace any teeth. They are very prone to damage and as a matter of fact, children may not include these teeth (the teeth are too far back) in their brushing routine if they are not taught to do so.
