Many young people have their teeth adjusted with braces. It was also the time most likely to have experience with tooth decay in a person’s life, but nowadays, the decade of the 70’s exceeds this period for decay potential.
During the 2-9 year old period, the child has only deciduous (baby) teeth. Baby teeth are fragile. Enamel is the protective outer coating of teeth, and it is thin on baby teeth. This means that if a cavity starts, it gets big quickly.
With the increased care that goes into teeth these days for the young people, a full complement of teeth will be even more common in the years to come for the 80+ crowd than it is today.
Decay potential is increasing during this period of life. Root exposure and often sensitivity would also be expected to increase.
This is the period when salivary flow typically begins to decrease.
This period is marked with the more noticeable darkening of the colour of the teeth and small cracks (called craze lines) beginning to become much more visible.
By the 30-40 year old period, most of us have started a regular pattern of flossing, so this period is very similar to the 20-30 period except that old fillings are starting to wear out and have to be replaced.
The early part of this period is overshadowed by the body’s attempt to erupt Wisdom Teeth into the mouth.
When a filling falls out, the tooth should be looked after without delay to avoid further damage.
I have to get a tooth out, what do I need to know? Extraction is something that nearly everyone will have to undergo on at least one occasion in a lifetime.