Roper
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Baby teeth, also known as deciduous teeth, milk teeth, or primary teeth first form shortly after a baby is conceived, in the embryo stage. They rest below the surface of the gums until a baby is 6 to 12 months old. In total, people have 20 deciduous teeth, 10 on top and 10 on bottom. The last of the deciduous teeth, the second molars, come up between the ages of 22 and 33 months. Primary teeth serve very important functions. To be healthy, it is essential that children eat solid foods. Of course, teeth are necessary for this. Teeth are also important in speech. Without teeth it is impossible to form good speech habits and to talk properly. The reason that we don’t just grow one set of teeth and keep them is because teeth don’t grow in size. An infant or toddlers mouth is not large enough for a full set of permanent adult teeth. The reverse is also true. An adult’s mouth is too large for a set of baby teeth. Deciduous teeth are also important because they act as placeholders for the permanent teeth, so they push up straight and in place. If a child loses a baby tooth before the permanent tooth is ready to come up, a dentist will place a metal “space maintainer” in the child’s mouth until the permanent tooth come up. Around the age of 6 years, after our most rapid growth occurs, the permanent teeth begin to push out the baby teeth. Most children have lost all of their primary teeth by 12 years of age.
 Posted 5129 day ago
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