If your young child is suffering from a lack of tooth growth or severe dental decay, then you will be happy to know that you can have your child fitted for dentures. While dentures tend to be associated with older people, children who have a need can absolutely be fitted for dentures. In fact, dentures can greatly improve many aspects of your child's life.

Causes of Tooth Loss in Children

There are three main causes of tooth loss, or missing teeth, in children:

1. Oligodontia
2. Anodontia
3. Severe dental decay

Oligodontia is a condition where a person's body does not make all of the correct teeth. It is defined as a condition where at least six teeth are missing due to a congenial disorder.

Anodontia is a similar genetic disorder where none of the primary or adult teeth grow as they are supposed to.

In addition, some children suffer from severe enough dental decay that they must have many of their teeth removed. When this is the case, then dentures are necessary to allow the permanent teeth time to grow into their proper locations.

Advantages of Denture Use in Children

There are many advantages of denture use in children, including:

• improvement of speech impairment
• easier time chewing and eating
• increase in self-esteem

Additionally, dentures are often used to improve a child's ability to gain weight and have proper nutrition. Without being able to chew normally, it is very hard for some children to get all of the nutrients that they need from food.

Disadvantages of Denture Use in Children

The disadvantage of using dentures in children is that they will need to be able to care for their dentures, or you will need to do it for them. Additionally, since most dentures in the past have been designed for adults who are no longer growing, fit can be a problem in children. Children's dentures often require more than one fitting session to ensure they are comfortable.

Your Child's Dental Clinic Experience

When your child goes to the denture clinic to get their dentures, the first thing that will happen is that the clinic will take impressions of the teeth to make models from. The procedure is painless. 

Once the models have been made of your child's teeth, then the denturist will make the dentures and work with your child to fit them just right in their mouth.

Conclusion

By wearing a dental partial or complete set of dentures, your child can greatly improve their health and appearance. If you have any questions about dentures for your child, then you should contact a licensed denture clinic such as Hillhurst Denture Clinic.