In the article, we consider milk teeth in adults. For what reasons do they not fall out and what to do with them? Milk teeth are a sign of childhood. However, there are cases when one or more of these teeth are found in an adult. Absolutely everyone faced a situation when teeth start to fall out, this is completely normal.
However, sometimes they do not undergo replacement and remain in humans and in adulthood. This phenomenon is unexpected for many, but, as practice shows, it cannot be called rare. About milk teeth in adults will be described in more detail below.
What are the main differences?
Temporary and permanent teeth have approximately the same structure - they have a crown, root, and neck. Inside the crown is a cavity that is filled with pulp (soft tissue). Channels run along the entire root - nerve fibers, blood vessels are located in them.
That is, permanent and temporary teeth have almost the same shape, but there are certain differences between them:
- Life time.
- The number in the dentition.
- Chemical composition.
- Root length.
- Sizes.
Temporary teeth of the jaw row for their size are designed for the body, which is in a pace of constant growth. After all, it is known that the jaw of a child or adolescent is smaller than that of an adult.
The size
To make life comfortable, and milk teeth to not press each other, not to provoke soreness, not to cause inconvenience in the process of chewing food, not to damage adjacent tissues, nature has chosen a much smaller size for them.
In addition, the length of the roots of milk teeth is shortened, and the chemical composition is different. This is due to the replacement mechanism. It should be traumatic and relatively painless.
The child has only 20 milk teeth. They are divided into large molars, fangs, and incisors. After a permanent bite has formed, a person erupts 32 teeth. Some of them have 28, since wisdom teeth (four eights) do not grow in all.
Reduced service life
Temporary teeth have a reduced service life, as they differ from permanent ones in chemical composition, are more susceptible to various diseases and pathologies, and are less resistant to carious lesions. It is with these properties that the widespread recommendation to limit the use of large amounts of sweets by children in order to avoid caries and other diseases is caused. Compliance with this advice can extend the life of primary teeth.
Thin enamel layer
The enamel layer of temporary teeth is much thinner than that of permanent teeth, they have a fairly pronounced bluish tint. In addition, small enamel rollers are present on the neck of the milk tooth. Their roots are wider, their cavities are thinner. But why, taking into account all the factors, milk teeth remain in adults?
Dental change rate, probable abnormalities
Normally, temporary (milk) teeth are subject to crowding out when permanent rudiments form. As the child grows, the rudiments of the teeth change with his body. At the same time, their crowns begin to come into contact with the roots of the milk. This is what marks the change of teeth.
Due to crowding, the root begins to absorb and dissolve. This continues until the temporary tooth manages to stay in the gum. After this, the mechanical effect causes it to loosen and subsequently fall out. This frees up space for the growth and eruption of a permanent tooth.
As a rule, the process of tooth change begins at the age of 5-8 years. Under standard conditions, it lasts up to 12-14 years.
Can there be milk teeth in adults? If the child does not have the rudiments of the permanent, and temporary begin to fall prematurely, then this situation is considered abnormal. If no rudiments are formed at this point, milk teeth do not fall out. They are called persistent.
In some cases, the roots of temporary teeth begin to dissolve earlier than intended. The crown of an adjacent permanent tooth can affect this. In this case, the replacement begins much later, or if the rudiment of a permanent tooth is absent, it does not occur at all. Then the temporary tooth remains in place for a long time. Here's how baby teeth remain in an adult.
Reasons for deviations
Specialists in the field of dentistry identify a number of factors, because of which there is no change in the bone organs of the jaw row. Among them:
- The impact of adverse factors on the mother's body during her pregnancy. In this case, the process of formation of the rudiments of permanent teeth may not start in the unborn child, or this process begins much later than usual.
- Periodontitis (chronic, acute inflammatory processes in the oral cavity).
- Glandular pathology. Violation of metabolic processes in the body, in particular, calcium deficiency.
- Mechanical jaw injuries in childhood.
- Maxillary osteomyelitis.
- Hereditary predisposition.
Why don't milk teeth fall out in adults? In addition to the above reasons, it sometimes happens that the rudiments of permanent teeth are formed, but can lie deep enough without touching the roots of the milk. This situation arises due to improper position or lack of space.
Possible problems
If the rudiments of permanent teeth are present, the following problems may occur:
- Incorrect growth direction, abnormal position.
- Excessively deep occurrence of the rudiment of a permanent tooth. In this case, there is no contact of the crown of the permanent tooth with the temporary root. Therefore, the replacement process does not begin.
Due to the effects of the described factors, one or more temporary teeth may remain in humans. What to do if milk teeth have not fallen out in an adult?
The need for extraction
How great is the need to remove a baby tooth in adulthood, should be determined by a competent dentist who carefully studied the x-ray.
If it is well preserved, and at the same time there is a normally formed rudiment of a permanent tooth, then it is not recommended to be removed. In such cases, the replacement begins later, and therefore the prosthetics service may not be needed in the future.
When a permanent tooth is incorrectly located in the jaw, due to which it cannot erupt after removing an adult molar tooth in an adult (who is in good condition and has a whole root), dentists also advise delaying the extraction.
Removal is necessary in the following situations:
- A temporary tooth has damage, can cause inflammation, trauma to the oral cavity, jaw.
- The rudiment of a permanent tooth is developed enough to erupt, but milky interferes with this process.
- There is not enough space on the jaw so that the adjacent teeth are correctly positioned (if the anlage is absent or lies deep enough).
- Milk tooth has a small size, looks aesthetically unpleasant.
- Temporary tooth is very loose (at the same time it has 3-4 degree of mobility).
Dimensions and aesthetics in themselves are not an indication for extraction of a milk tooth, but dentists take them into account if further prosthetics are expected. This is due to the fact that simple extraction can cause the movement of the entire dentition and subsequent problems of an orthodontic nature. If your doctor advised you to remove milk teeth from an adult, what should I do?
If a permanent tooth is removed, a prosthetics procedure is always recommended, and it is advised not to postpone it. With dairy, the situation is somewhat different. If a sufficiently well-developed germ is located under the temporary tooth, the elimination of the interference will allow it to erupt on its own without any intervention.
In some cases, patients are recommended to wear braces that have a specific design and are designed to stimulate the process of eruption of a permanent tooth. This approach is used, as a rule, if the primordium has a deep occurrence. When it is completely absent, the only way out is prosthetics or implantation.
Indications for the restoration of a temporary tooth
Are milk teeth treated in adults? With the advent of lumineers and veneers, problems of aesthetic nature (small size, ugly shape) in adult patients began to be solved with the help of restoration.
If we are talking about chewing molars and premolars, then we can recommend installing a crown. But it is important to understand that the patient himself must make every effort to maintain such a “special” tooth. He, like everyone else, needs thorough hygiene, as well as protection. To protect the enamel from bacteria, fluoridation or remineralization can be performed.
If the milk tooth has a whole root, and there is no permanent germ under it, while it is healthy and strong, then doctors recommend that you refuse to remove and resort to restoration. In this case, the difference between the deciduous teeth in adults and permanent teeth will not be noticeable to others. They can serve long enough.