Why does my child need his/her baby teeth filling?

People used to think of baby teeth as a disposable asset. Dentists believe that it is as important to maintain baby teeth as it is for second teeth. They serve a number of important purposes beyond the obvious. Their continuing presence in the mouth helps the jaws to grow correctly in order to be ready to receive the second teeth in due course. Additionally, if they are lost early, the spaces that they originally occupied in the arch tend to close as the remaining teeth on either side drift together so that when the second teeth try to come through, there is not enough space left.

And who wants to see a child with a row of black stumps?

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