What are deciduous teeth and permanent teeth

Deciduous teeth and permanent teeth are two different types of teeth, and are also the two types of teeth that appear in a person's lifetime. Deciduous teeth are the teeth that appear during infancy, while permanent teeth are the teeth that grow after the replacement of old teeth. Generally speaking, after permanent teeth grow out, human teeth no longer have the ability to regenerate. Next, I will introduce you to the relevant knowledge about deciduous teeth and permanent teeth!

Deciduous teeth, also known as milk teeth, are the first set of teeth in life. There are 20 deciduous teeth in this set, and it takes about 2 years for all of them to grow out. Children begin to grow their first tooth 6 or 8 months after birth, and all 20 teeth grow out when they are around 2 years old. The function of deciduous teeth is to be responsible for chewing during infancy. As children grow up day by day, they need more nutrients and the types of food they eat gradually become similar to those of adults. Some of these foods are relatively hard, and some contain crude fiber. If they are chewed with their deciduous teeth, it will be difficult and inadequate. Therefore, when children reach the age of 6-7, their deciduous teeth begin to fall out and permanent teeth begin to grow out. When they are around 12 years old, all the deciduous teeth will fall out, and new teeth, namely permanent teeth, will grow from the gums to replace the deciduous teeth to chew food.

2. What are permanent teeth?

Permanent teeth are the second set of teeth in life and also the last set of teeth in life. If there is a problem with this set of teeth, resulting in tooth loss, there will be no more teeth to replace them (in order to meet the needs of life, people have to make dentures to replace missing teeth). Some people have 28, 29, or 30 permanent teeth, while others have 32 teeth, so 28-32 teeth are normal. Permanent teeth stay in the mouth for a long time. It can be said that from the time children change their teeth to adulthood and even to old age, permanent teeth are used to chew food. Permanent teeth begin to appear in the mouth at the age of 6-7, and it takes about ten years for all 32 teeth to grow out, that is, by around the age of 20. In special circumstances, it may be released later. For example, wisdom teeth (third molars) may often have difficulty erupting due to insufficient space, causing the eruption time to be delayed or resulting in various different positions, which are medically called impacted teeth. Impacted teeth can erupt later than the age of 20; in some people, they can be completely buried in the jawbone and never erupt throughout one's lifetime; in some people, they can be congenitally missing.

3. How to distinguish between deciduous and permanent teeth

(1) Tooth color: ① The crowns of deciduous teeth are generally whiter than those of permanent teeth. ②The enamel of permanent teeth is well calcified and translucent, which allows the yellow dentin to pass through, making the crown of the tooth yellow. ③The glossiness of permanent teeth is better than that of deciduous teeth.

(2) Tooth volume: Permanent teeth are larger than deciduous teeth.

(3) Crown shape: The corners of the crown of deciduous teeth are relatively rounded and blunt.

(4) Dental X-ray: When it is difficult to distinguish between deciduous and permanent teeth clinically, they can be distinguished by taking X-rays and observing the tooth germs in the jawbone.