During the life of the milk teeth the child should be taken to the dentist at least once a year, better once in six months, for all defective teeth must be properly and promptly cared for. Inexpensive but sanitary fillings should be placed in all decayed teeth, for the roots of the first teeth are very soft and infection readily spreads to the jaws and the permanent teeth and serious trouble often begins thus early.
If dentition is seriously delayed, investigation should be started concerning the general condition of the child, for this delay often accompanies ill health.
When the child is six years old, the mother should be watchful, for it is at this time that the first permanent teeth appear just behind the last molar of the milk teeth. They do not replace any of the teeth present, and many times they come through and decay without receiving any attention. It is seldom necessary to assist these milk teeth as they come through the gum, and should the gums become highly colored and swollen it is not wise to lance them, for if the teeth are not ready to come through immediately, the gum only toughens the more and makes the real cutting still more painful.
This is the time to cut down the baby's food as well as to look for other digestive disturbances, for the number of stools may increase and vomiting may occur, and by reducing the quantity and quality of the food and encouraging abundant water drinking, much trouble may be avoided. Under no circumstances urge the baby to eat when he refuses his food, when the gums seem swollen and red during the teething time. You will find that he will enjoy orange juice, pineapple juice, or prune juice. All of these digestive symptoms are simply the result of "feeling bad," and if heavy food of his regular feeding is greatly diminished he will get along much better than if fed his regular allowance of food.
APPEARANCE OF THE TEETH
The normal child has:
Six teeth at one year.
Twelve teeth at one and one-half years.
Sixteen teeth at two years.
Twenty teeth at two and one-half years.
When the child is six years old the first permanent tooth appears just back of the last of the milk teeth. By the time he is seven, the four central teeth, two above and two below, are out and the new ones begin to appear. The order of their appearances is as follows:
| Four first molars | 6 years |
| Four central incisors | 7 years |
| Four lateral incisors | 8 years |
| Four first bicuspids | 9 to 10 years |
| Four second bicuspids | 10 to 11 years |
| Four canines | 11 to 13 years |
| Four second molars | 12 to 15 years |
| Four third molars | 17 to 25 years |