Preventive dentistry begins with the eruption of the first tooth (6 months - 1 year). The priority of preventive dentistry is to keep the milk teeth healthy that play an important role in the child’s growth. Milk teeth preserve the space of permanent teeth, guide permanent teeth eruption, provide the development of the jawbones and help the child to have a healthy diet.

After the eruption of milk teeth, a regular visit to the dentist every 6 months is very important. Thus, oral hygiene habits from early ages can be gained and problems that may occur in future can be prevented.

There are 20 milk teeth and all of them have fully erupted approximately by the age of 3. The first visible permanent teeth are first molars and they erupt usually at the age of 6 . First molars have a very important role in chewing efficiency and due to the fact that they are positioned in back and won’t be replaced by the permanent teeth, they have to be monitored by the parents carefully.

The applications performed to preserve milk teeth and newly erupted permanent teeth are: Fissure Sealants, Fluor Applications, Space Maintainers.

 

Keywords: pediatric dentistry, pedodontics, preventive dentistry, milk teeth, permanent teeth, jawbone, healthy diet, oral hygiene, fissure sealants, fluor application, space maintainer