In children, milk teeth protect the places of the permanent teeth coming from underneath and act as placeholders before the permanent teeth erupt into the mouth. Milk teeth provide the chewing function in children, and these teeth must remain healthy in the mouth until it is time for them to fall out. There was a certain period of time that each milk tooth had to remain in the mouth, and it could take up to 12-13 years for all the milk teeth to fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth.
At the age of 7-8, the lower milk incisors are the first to fall out and are replaced by permanent incisors. Then, the upper milk incisors fall out and are replaced by permanent teeth. All teeth change at certain periods, and the change of the 2nd milk molar is almost 12-13 years old.
Pedodontics, a branch of pediatric dentistry, is a department that covers the treatment and caries prevention practices of both milk teeth and permanent teeth in the mouth, from infancy until the age of 12-13, when permanent dentition occurs.
In cases where decay is observed in milk teeth, all necessary treatments such as filling, amputation and root canal treatment should be applied, just like in permanent teeth, and they should be ensured to remain healthy in the mouth until the age of fall.
