Is it normal for deciduous teeth to have roots?

When children reach the age of five or six, their deciduous teeth will fall out one after another, and permanent teeth will appear. We often find that when children lose their baby teeth, it is very simple and not painful. The baby teeth often fall out with a touch and no roots are found. However, when some deciduous teeth are reluctant to fall out, if you extract them you will find that these teeth have some small roots. So, do deciduous teeth have roots?

Deciduous teeth have roots or no roots. Deciduous teeth exist in the mouth for a long time and perform chewing functions. At this stage, they have roots. However, we see that fallen deciduous teeth have no roots or incomplete roots.

This is caused by physiological resorption of the roots of deciduous teeth. Before the deciduous teeth fall out, the roots have already been absorbed. The location where the root surface of the deciduous teeth begins to absorb varies depending on the position of the permanent tooth germ. For example, in the case of incisors and canines, the permanent tooth germs are adjacent to the lingual side of the deciduous tooth roots. Therefore, the normal physiological absorption of the deciduous incisor and canine roots begins from the lingual side. In the deciduous molar area, the permanent bicuspids are between the root furcations, so the root resorption of the deciduous molars begins on the inner side of the root furcation.

The absorption of the roots of deciduous teeth is a gradual process. First, it is due to the development of permanent tooth germs in the jaw, which move toward the occlusion direction. At this time, pressure is applied to the connective tissue between the permanent tooth germ and the deciduous tooth root, causing the local blood vessels to become congested and gradually transform into granulation tissue. At the same time, osteoclasts are differentiated to absorb the roots of deciduous teeth. After the cementum and dentin are absorbed, the pulp also transforms into granulation tissue and participates in the absorption process. As the tooth roots are absorbed, the deciduous teeth gradually become loose; after most of the tooth roots are absorbed, the teeth become more loose; at the same time, the gingival epithelial tissue also proliferates under the deciduous tooth roots, forcing the tooth roots to separate from the surrounding tissues and fall off.

It can be seen from this that normally developed deciduous teeth do not have roots. If deciduous teeth have roots, it should be due to dental problems such as caries, which causes the roots to not be well absorbed. So if you find that your child has no roots when losing his or her baby teeth, this is normal and there is no need to worry.