Caring for your child's teeth
by Dr Elizabeth Tan
Don't we all wish to have a set of nice, healthy teeth, so that we could dazzle others with our brilliant smile? Nice teeth are a reflection of our overall well-being. Besides that, strong, healthy teeth help us to chew our food properly and to speak clearly.
Don't we all wish to have a set of nice, healthy teeth, so that we could dazzle others with our brilliant smile? Nice teeth are a reflection of our overall well-being. Besides that, strong, healthy teeth help us to chew our food properly and to speak clearly.
It's not difficult for children to achieve and maintain good oral health. To do that, parents have to safeguard oral health in their babies and encourage this good practice throughout their childhood.
To have a better understanding of how you could go about this for your child, read on for some comprehensive advice and tips from Dr Elizabeth Tan, a pedodontic specialist with The Singapore Dental Health Foundation. Dr Tan obtained her B.D.S. from the National University of Singapore and her M.Sc. (Pedodontics) from Bristol, UK. She currently volunteers at the dental clinic of the Margaret Drive Special School.
Q1) Please give an overall picture of the teething process in a child
The primary dentition is composed of 20 teeth, all of which erupt prior to the permanent dentition. There are 4 incisors, 2 canines and 4 molars each in the upper and lower jaws respectively.
By contrast the permanent dentition consists of 32 teeth: 2 central and lateral incisors and 2 canines which replace the preceeding primary teeth; 4 premolars which replace the primary molars and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd molars all of which erupt posterior to the primary teeth.
In general the sequence of eruption of the human dentition is as follows: