By Dr. Bertrand R. Stuart DDS
WITH proper eating habits, most children will not experience any problems with their baby teeth. Even though baby teeth eventually come out, they do perform vital functions. These teeth, also called deciduous teeth, are space holders for the second set of teeth (permanent) and help ensure the development of a healthy bite. Baby teeth are also critically important for proper speech development. Some baby teeth are actually still in place to the ages of 11-15 years old.

Some parents ignore decay in baby teeth because they eventually fall out. It is important, however, to have the decay removed and tooth filled with a non-amalgam material. Those baby teeth play an important role and should be kept in good health.

When the baby teeth come in, there are often gaps or spaces between them. Parents get very upset and think that there is a problem, or that dental work may be necessary. Do not worry. This is a normal phenomenon and actually serves to decrease the odds of the permanent teeth crowding.

It is good practice to have your dentist evaluate your child’s bite as the permanent teeth come in. If permanent teeth are going to need orthodontics, it is better to address the problem at an early age. A good orthodontist can fit a seven or eight-year-old with a functional device that can stimulate bone growth and correct the bite with minimum of trauma. The longer you wait, the more difficult the correction becomes.

An increasingly common dental practice for children, is to apply a sealant to fill in grooves in the teeth to prevent tooth decay. This is done at an early age on the premise that bacteria can get trapped in these grooves and cause tooth decay. There is nothing wrong with sealants if they are used to fill unusually deep grooves only. But to indiscriminately seal off all the teeth as a preventative measure may amount to unnecessary dentistry.

One of the biggest problems I see with children has little to do with their teeth. They simply do not like to go to the dentist, or are afraid of dentistry. This often contributes to delayed visits and poor dental care later in life. So, at my office, we decided to combat this problem by instituting a ‘getting-to-know-you’ program for kids. Parents are encouraged to start bringing their toddlers with them during their regular dental visits and have them see their parents’ teeth being treated. This makes them realize that it’s nothing to be afraid of. They often ask that I take a look at their teeth. Having a toddler ask the dentist, or their parent, to let the dentist examine their teeth is an excellent start. It helps to get used to someone looking into their mouth, and they become comfortable in the dental office, in a non-threatening manner. On subsequent visits, we may brush or clean their teeth for them, or just let them get used to the idea of dentistry.

If your dentist does not already have a program like this, ask him to provide this service for your child. These early visits can go a long way towards fostering a lifetime of good dental habits.

It is not uncommon for a child to have a tooth knocked out. If you are around when it happens, immediately put the tooth in a glass of milk. The milk replicates a nourishing environment for the cells of the tooth.

Traditional dental practice would call for a root canal and re-implantation of the tooth. However, because of all the problems associated with root canal, it may be wise to consider some other option first. Children’s systems are amazingly resilient and if the tooth is reimplanted as absolutely rapidly as possible, the blood and root system might simply reconnect themselves. The homeopathic remedies, Anica and Hypercum, will encourage time and nature to take care of the problem. The worst that might happen is that the tooth could get an abscess and cause pain, in which case, you would have to go back and have a BioCalex root canal.

I like to always give the body an opportunity to heal itself. This is the method I would use if it were my child, and this is what I would recommend to a patient. However, I do not have any clinical experience with this procedure. Fortunately, my children never knocked their teeth out, and I have not had any of my young patients lose one either. Although I have enquired, I have not been able to find a single dentist who has tried this procedure. Kids are so amazingly resilient that I recommend you give my option a try. Why limit nature’s options?

Thanks to modern bonding materials and techniques, a chipped tooth can easily be repaired. The missing part is simply restored with bonding. If it is a severe chip and the nerve is exposed, try not to resort to a root canal. For my patients, I would apply homeopathic calendula on the exposed nerve. I might also remove some of the nerve tissue and then cover it with a dental base material and seal it with a bonded composite. I would continue to treat it homeopathically and give it a chance to heal.