From Baby Teeth to Wisdom Teeth: A Lifelong Guide to Dental Health
Dental health is important at every stage of life. This guide provides tips for maintaining healthy teeth and gums from babyhood through old age.
Smiling is a universal language and healthy teeth and gums are important at every age. They can make all the difference in all areas of your life. Understanding what to listen to and what not to listen to in a world where dental rules are being thrown out by non-professionals and businesses just after a pretty penny can be daunting and confusing. Understanding what advice to take on board can be daunting but this is where we come in, finally putting all the rumours to rest and establishing a lifelong guide to optimal dental health.
First, Let’s Get Back To Basics
Tooth development is a fascinating topic that you might not already know about. Baby teeth, also known in the dental world as primary teeth, begin to form at the very beginning of development (in your mother’s womb). How fascinating! They only start to show out the gum around the age of six months onwards.
As children begin to grow, their dental needs change, from using soft baby brushes to losing and growing their permanent teeth. The dental hygiene routine changes. Parents must introduce their children to the best dental health practices as soon as their children develop teeth. This includes brushing twice a day, attending regular dental checkups at Cheltenham dentists and also educating them on why we have to do this.
Paediatric dentists specialise in dental care for children and here they can give parents the official recommendations to keep their children’s teeth healthy even during the awkward transition phases.
Hitting around the ages of six onwards, the transition starts from their primary teeth to their permanent teeth. Proper dental hygiene routines are crucial to ensuring that their teeth are healthy throughout their teens and into adulthood. All things recommended by their local dentist, including brushing twice a day, flossing and mouthwash, should be instilled in your child to prevent cavities, gum disease and any other dental issues.
No matter what age you are, as long as you’ve got your permanent teeth, all the things that are good and crucial for optimal dental health should be maintained for a perfectly healthy smile. If you believe that your parents might have missed a step or that you didn’t receive any help, seek out professional dental guidance.
How To Care For Your Permanent Teeth
Let’s dive into what exactly goes into maintaining a perfect, healthy smile that stands the test of time.
As we enter adulthood, the responsibility to maintain oral health is now just down to you. You no longer have your parents looking over your shoulder and watching you get all the steps right so it’s all down to you to ensure you’re getting all the right steps done to avoid all the common issues that can follow.
Common issues include:
- Tooth decay
- Tooth cavities
- Tooth loss
- Sensitive teeth
- Cracks in teeth
- Discolouration
To avoid this, you should brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, floss daily to remove any plaque from places your toothbrush cannot reach and use mouthwash to remove any bacteria in your mouth. Maintaining this routine, along with any individual and personalised advice from your dentist.
Wisdom Teeth: What, When and How
They typically make an appearance between the ages of 17 and 25, but the timing can vary. The arrival of wisdom teeth can be mysterious and for people who don’t have room for them, it can be uncomfortable.
They can cause a variety of issues, such as pain, swelling, inflammation and even infections at the back of the mouth. In some cases, you might find it difficult to eat and if there is no room for them, you will have to seek to get them removed at your dentist to prevent any issues with overcrowding, moving your teeth, damage and so on.
Understanding this about your wisdom teeth is crucial for dental health. You can put in place preventative measures to ensure it never gets infected.
Tooth Replacement For Older Adults
Tooth loss is common when you reach later adulthood, but be thankful your dentist has developed options for you to combat with several tooth replacement options, such as dentures, implants and bridges.
Dental implants are permanent teeth that are a solution for missing teeth. They are usually recommended when you have one tooth missing; they are implanted into the jaw bone and provide a stable foundation for a crown or bridge.
Dentures are removable appliances that consist of artificial teeth attached to a gum-coloured base. They are usually custom-made to fit your mouth and are an option if you have a lot of teeth missing.
Bridges are semi-permanent teeth that need to be replaced every 5-10 years to replace one or more missing teeth. They are a popular choice and provide a stable and durable solution but you might not always qualify for one, and this is something you would need to discuss with your dentist.
Each of these tooth replacements needs maintenance, cleaning and care in its own unique way, so it is best to ask your dentist for the correct care before and after the procedure.
Photo by Quang Tri NGUYEN on Unsplash
