A healthy person should have 28 or 32 teeth in the oral cavity. This amount depends on whether wisdom teeth have already grown or not. But what are all teeth called correctly? And what is a molar tooth? The answers to these questions are far from everyone. But still, it’s worth understanding these and many other issues in order to have an idea of the health of your own teeth and the structure of the oral cavity.
What kind of teeth are molars?
These teeth have many names : chewing, molars. Undoubtedly, the latter is the most faithful and most frequently used in dentistry. The logical question is, molars - what kind of teeth? Finding them in your mouth is very easy - these are the largest teeth in a row. From English, “molar” is translated as “molar”. Indeed, molars are molars, despite the fact that they appear as early as childhood.
The most recent molar tooth in each row is the wisdom tooth. It can erupt at the age of 40, and it may not come out at all. In any case, this will be the norm. Also, 2 more teeth in each arch of the dentition, which precede wisdom teeth, are called molar teeth. That is, there should be from 8 to 12 molars in the oral cavity, depending on whether the wisdom teeth have erupted. Children under 6 years old have only 8 molars, and they are dairy. That is, from 6 to 12 years, these teeth will fall out, and in their place there will already be permanent molars.
Structure
These teeth differ even among themselves. The structure of molars of the upper and lower jaw has significant differences. The first molar tooth is the largest. The rest are smaller than the first, the sizes are reduced from the first to the third. The molar of the upper row has a more powerful root than the molar of the lower: at the upper 3 roots, in the lower row, 2 roots. The tooth of the second molar in the area of the crown is much smaller than the first. Nevertheless, all 3 molars on each dental arch have a powerful crown, as they are intended for chewing, grinding food.
On the crown of the molars of both the upper and lower rows, tubercles are located: normally, from 3 to 5 on each tooth. The tubercles of the upper molars are sharper and more prominent, especially for the buccal tubercles. Lingual is more rounded. And the lower molars can be noted lower and blunt tubercles. True, unlike the upper molars, the lingual tubercles of the lower ones are just more pointed and protruding compared to the buccal tubercles.
As for the size of the teeth, molars of the lower row are larger than similar teeth of the upper. Only wisdom teeth can differ in shape and structure. These molars can have both 2 and 3 roots. And the shape of the crown can be varied. In this way, wisdom teeth differ from everyone else: they are inconsistent, and it is impossible to predict what shape they will be.
Teeth-molars and premolars: what is their difference
Usually, these teeth are confused by parents who do not understand why, when milk molars fall out, after them premolar come out, not root, but? The explanation for this phenomenon is very simple: the oral cavity grows, and the molars come out behind the milk molars. Premolars are located behind the fangs and are much smaller than the main ones. The first premolar has 2 roots, and the rest have 1. There are 8 total premolars in the oral cavity: 4 on each jaw.
Unlike molars, premolars are not present in the milk bite. Children have too small jaws to accommodate such a large number of teeth. Although premolars are considered the smallest molars, it cannot be said that they are very small in size. Premolar is also intended for grinding and chewing food. They look more like fangs in shape, only their crown is much wider than that of fangs. On the crown of the premolar there are 2 tubercles.
At what age do molar molars appear?
The teething of molars in a small child is surely remembered by each parent. After all, these teeth come out much more painful than the rest, not counting the fangs. There are only 8 molars in the milk bite (2 on each dental arch of the upper and lower jaw). They are located immediately behind the fangs, but cut much earlier than them.
The first molars begin to erupt mainly after the child reaches one year old. Like all other teeth, they come out in pairs. The very first, as a rule, a molar in the lower jaw is cut. A molar tooth in the upper jaw should come out after it. The first milk molars should normally erupt before the child reaches 18-20 months. Moreover, in the same period, fangs, the most painful teeth, can begin to come out. Therefore, the age of 2 years is considered the teething time of the most severe teeth.
As for the second milk molars, they appear after about 2 years, sometimes a little earlier or later. Normally, these teeth cut through up to 2.5 years. But not always a deviation from the norm is any pathology. Earlier or later eruption of molar teeth may be due to genetic predisposition or heredity.
When are milk molars replaced by indigenous ones?
Milk teeth in children begin to be replaced with permanent teeth from about 5 years old. And the first to appear are the molars. The child’s teeth change in the opposite order from how they appeared. Native molars are not replaced by any teeth: they appear on empty places, which are formed due to the growth of the jaw. So molars - what are the teeth in a row? These are the latest teeth, which are located immediately after the milk molars. The first molars are also sometimes called six-year-olds, because by this age they are already beginning to appear.
Milk molars, in turn, fall from 9 to 12 years. Indigenous premolars erupt in their place. These teeth appear immediately after the fallen milk, that is, approximately at the age of 10 to 12 years. On average, by the age of 14, a child does not have a single deciduous tooth, but there are also rare exceptions in dental practice when deciduous teeth do not fall out before 18 years of age or even later. If the teeth begin to fall out before 5 years, this is an occasion to consult a dentist, since early tooth loss can be associated with trauma, malocclusion, deliberate loosening or neglected caries.
Do molar molars need to be loosened?
The one that appears after the age of 1 year, the molar is a milk tooth. Of course, one day he will begin to loose and fall out. Often parents, when they find out that a child’s tooth starts to loose, offer to loosen it so that the tooth falls out faster. But is it possible to accelerate the natural process of tooth loss? Could this be a problem with the oral cavity in the future? It is unlikely that parents think about this. After all, they were taught in childhood that the tooth must be loosened and pulled out.
Dentists argue that it is impossible to loosen milk teeth deliberately. Indeed, if you accelerate the process of tooth loss, the process of growth of the jaw may slow down and the molar will come out completely out of place. It happens that the problem of crowding or curvature of teeth in adulthood is associated precisely with improper actions during tooth changes.
This also applies to milk molars. In no case should you stagger them to speed up the process of falling out. The maxillofacial apparatus of the child prepares itself for a change of teeth on its own and this natural process cannot be disturbed.
How to understand that radical molars will erupt soon?
Symptoms of early teething of molars are somewhat different from teething. Indeed, when milk teeth appear, gums swell, salivation increases, children become restless, can sleep poorly, refuse to eat. Sometimes even a runny nose due to reduced immunity against the background of teething. In rare cases, babies even have diarrhea. But, when it comes to molars, there is one main symptom - the growth of the jaw and the appearance of free space behind milk molars. It is on this free spot that the molars will erupt.
In addition, a very important symptom is the appearance of gaps between the teeth - trems. They are needed so that the molars are evenly located in the oral cavity, without curvature and crowding. The absence of these trems is fraught, in addition to unaesthetic, malocclusion. In this case, the child will have to straighten his teeth with the help of braces or a lingual braces. And of course, an important symptom is the natural loosening of milk teeth, which occurs due to resorption of the roots.
Teeth change actions: how to help your child move the process easier
It often seems to parents that the process of changing milk teeth to molars for children is very painful. However, this is not the case. If you do not interfere with this process, the roots of the milk teeth gradually dissolve and the teeth may fall out even without assistance. Or, when it seems that the tooth is completely hanging, you can easily get it.
In order to disinfect the oral cavity during the period of decay of milk teeth, it is necessary to explain to the child that it is necessary to rinse the mouth. Rinses can be made with a special tool, a decoction of chamomile or even plain warm water.
Sometimes it happens that after tooth loss, the place in which it was previously located (the hole) bleeds. To get rid of this, it is necessary to attach a cotton swab to the hole or it is better to ask the child to clamp it with his teeth. It is undesirable to eat and drink for 2 hours after tooth loss, provided that the hole is bleeding.
You should immediately consult a doctor only if the loss of milk teeth is accompanied by high fever, swollen gums and severe pain. Indeed, normally a change of teeth occurs almost asymptomatically.
Prevention of molar loss
When all the molars of the child erupted, it is very important to properly care for them. After all, if you lose a molar, a new one will not appear in its place. To do this, parents must teach children the proper oral hygiene.
First of all, you should always remember that teeth need to be brushed 2 times a day: in the morning and in the evening. It is better to use a toothpaste containing calcium and fluoride.
And during the day, especially after each meal, it is better not to neglect rinsing. You can also rinse your mouth with ordinary warm water, the main thing is to remove food debris from the mouth so that they do not clog between the teeth.
The child is better not to eat a lot of sweets and refuse sodas. Eating these unhealthy foods can lead to the destruction of tooth enamel.
It is better to introduce foods rich in calcium and vitamins into the baby’s diet. Calcium is essential for healthy teeth and gums. And tooth health depends in many respects on gum health.