What happens if Milk Teeth Cavities are not treated?
A common question we get from parents is, “Since that tooth is just going to fall out anyway, can’t you just let the cavity go instead of going through all the trouble associated with filling it?”
There may be some considerations that getting a cavity filled or treated would be a waste of money because baby teeth aren’t even permanent teeth, but it’s important to understand the long-term problems that come from lack of treatment.
Primary, or baby teeth, are of a different consistency and thinner than adult teeth. Therefore, they require more attention when it comes to brushing, flossing, and oral care. Cavities can quickly progress into very large cavities and can cause the need for baby root canals and crowns. If untreated, this can form into dental infections, causing pain and swelling.
It’s also important to help children keep their baby teeth as long as they can because they help guide the development and positioning of your adult teeth. Primary teeth that must be pulled or are so infected they fall out can create orthodontic problems, which accentuate the need for braces or other orthodontic procedures. This can make your child need longer orthodontic treatment or even make children who didn’t need braces be forced to get braces to correct their smile.
Besides the impact that baby teeth can have on the placement of permanent teeth, there are other consequences of leaving cavities untreated in baby teeth. These include:
Impede strong nutrition: Not treating cavities can cause eating to be painful and uncomfortable. Children that experience pain when eating will avoid wanting to eat and will start to affect their overall nutrition. Some healthy foods can naturally be hard, including apples, carrots, and celery. However, if a child is unable to eat these hard foods because of pain in the mouth, they will start to lose essential nutrients that are important for their overall health.
Affected Speech: Untreated cavities can also lead to problems with speech. Teeth are a part of speaking and can affect the sounds that children can make when speaking. However, if they have cavities and have teeth rot and fall out, it can begin to cause speech impediments that will affect the child’s ability to speak properly and can have lasting effects on their confidence in public speaking and communicating with others.
Self Confidence and Appearance: Discolored or missing teeth can lead to children developing a poor self-image of themselves. If they feel that their smile or teeth don’t look healthy or white, they may begin to refrain from smiling and wanting to show their teeth. This lack of confidence in their appearance will have a lasting effect on their belief in themselves and their social lives.
Spreading Infections Across Other Teeth: Cavities can and will spread to other teeth if untreated. It is commonly thought that cavities are unlike other diseases or infections, that they cannot be spread. Cavities surely can and will spread to other teeth in the mouth if untreated. Cavities can also be spread to other people! It is important to treat cavities, so they not only destroy a tooth but that do not set off other cavities in the mouth.