When you reach the age of tooth eruption, or have you not erupted for a long time?
Normally, the first baby teeth erupt from about 6 months of age, and 20 baby teeth erupt around 2 and a half years of age.
From 6~7 years old to 12~13 years old, baby teeth gradually fall out and are replaced by permanent teeth, which are generally 28-32 permanent teeth.
If you reach the age of tooth eruption and still do not erupt for a long time, then parents should pay attention, this may be a child with congenital missing teeth.
01. What is congenital edentulism?
If some or all of the normal teeth fail to develop and form during the germ formation process, it is called congenital edentulism.
In addition, tooth gaps, tooth deformities, etc., are common clinical manifestations of congenital edentulism, and even in severe cases, jaw bone development, body hair and sweat glands will be abnormal.
02. What are the causes of congenital edentulism?
(1) Genetic factors
Edentulism occurs in parents or grandparents, and most tooth loss and total tooth loss are often associated with genetic disorders, such as hereditary ectodermal hypoplasia.
(2) Maternal gestational illness
Maternal metabolic disorders, nutritional disorders (eg, calcium, iron, protein deficiencies), or endocrine disorders during pregnancy can cause edentulous inconsistency.
(3) Systemic diseases
Systemic diseases such as tuberculosis and rickets can destroy or stunt the development of tooth germs, and may also cause congenital tooth loss.
(4) Other factors
Environmental factors such as trauma, fractures, and surgeries during germ development may also terminate or affect the occurrence of teeth.
03. What are the conditions of congenital edentulism in children?
Individual tooth loss: congenital absence of one or more teeth, usually without constitutional symptoms;
Multiple tooth loss: congenital absence of 6 or more teeth (excluding third molars), usually with systemic abnormalities or partial manifestations of syndromes, usually ectodermal dysplasia.
04. What are the classifications of congenital edentulism?
According to the number of missing teeth, congenital missing teeth can be divided into the following 3 types:
Mild loss, defined as the absence of 1 or 2 teeth;
Moderate loss, defined as the absence of 3 to 5 teeth;
Severe loss, with 6 or more permanent teeth missing.
05. What are the harms of congenital missing teeth?
Due to the severity of the child's edentulous symptoms, most of them are edentulous or have only a few conical teeth:
Seriously affect oral functions such as appearance, chewing, swallowing, and pronunciation;
Seriously affect the development of the jaw and temporomandibular joint;
It seriously affects the child's mental health and normal social interaction.
Therefore, early restoration of congenital missing teeth in children is extremely important.
06. How to treat congenital missing teeth?
The treatment of congenital edentulism often requires multidisciplinary treatment of dentistry, such as prosthodontics, orthodontics, orthognathic surgery and oral implantology.
Between the ages of 4-12 years, considering that tooth loss will affect the child's chewing function, the oral chewing function can be restored through removable partial denture restoration.
After the age of 12, after the eruption of permanent teeth is completed, it can be repaired through orthodontics and implants.
If there is a severe skeletal deformity, it is necessary to wait until the age of 18 years after the growth and development is completed, and the deformity will be corrected by orthognathic surgery, and then the oral function and appearance will be restored through implants.
In short, if you find that your child always does not change his teeth, he should go to the dental hospital as soon as possible to find out the cause and treat it in time.
If there are oral health issues or concerns
A dentist should be consulted promptly and receive professional treatment