Normally babies are born without teeth. Some normal newborns may have natal teeth and usually they are not supernumerary teeth (abnormal additional teeth). If you notice that your baby has natal teeth, it is important for the baby to have a dental check up to find out if tooth extraction is necessary.
When New Year is just around the corner, everybody is busy shopping and cleaning their house while two parents came to my clinic with their newborn baby seeking for help. They were worried because their newborn baby had tooth eruption 3 days after she was born. The parents were supers tious, thinking that a newborn baby that has teeth will harm the parents and tooth extraction is necessary in order to prevent this incident.
Shapes of a normal tooth
It is common when I am about to praise the kid for having good teeth the parents would ques on about their children having wavy incisor edge. This wavy incisor edge is normal and termed mamelon. It usually occurs at upper and lower incisors. The newly erupted teeth do not have much wear and tear, thus the mamelon is very obvious, but as we grow up, a ri on in creases and flattens the incisor edge.
It is better to visit the dentist as early as possible
Many parents often ask me when is the best me for their children to see a dentist. Generally, it is better to visit the dentist as earlier as possible. People can bring their kids to the dentist when the first baby tooth erupted. By having an early routine check-up, dentist could diagnose problems and treat them early as prevention is better than cure.
When children reach 1 to 2 years old, they will be curious to the things around them. At this stage, parents should set a good example to their children by going to dentist frequently and bring them along so that they have a head start of what it is all about in dental checkups. Treatment is not necessary during a child’s first visit to the dentist but a general dental examination can be done when your child is ready.
The comprehension of children less than 3 years old is limited. So, during their first dental check-up, the dentist usually just inserts mouth mirror and probe inside the mouth of the child, while trying to build the child’s confidence and patience to cooperate with the dentist. For more advance clinics, the dentist will insert intra oral camera for the children will be able to see the images of their teeth through a monitor or television. This makes the whole process more interesting. If you always bring your child for routine dental check-up, your child is unlikely to get serious teeth problems. With easier and painless treatment, your child will not fear dentist anymore!
