Children begin to shed their baby teeth at about the age of six to seven years old. Shortly after baby teeth fall out, the secondary teeth erupt to take their place. The shedding and replacement process continues until about the age of twelve. In most cases, the secondary teeth erupt properly. However, problems sometimes occur as the secondary teeth begin to erupt.

If your child's baby teeth have started to fall out, check that their adult teeth are erupting properly. Some children experience tooth eruption issues that might require dental treatment. Here are some of the most common dental eruption issues that affect children.

1. Discoloration

If your child's adult teeth appear more yellow than their baby teeth, don't be alarmed. Adult teeth contain more dentin than baby teeth. Dentin lies just below the enamel layer and is yellow in color.

If your child's adult teeth have some patchy discoloration, such as yellow, white, or black markings, this is an esthetic issue. Tooth discoloration may occur because of medication, genetics, illness, or trauma. Your dentist can treat tooth discoloration early with composite bonding or crowns.

2. Impaction

Adult teeth sometimes struggle to erupt. Adult teeth may also erupt in the wrong place or only erupt partially. Dentists call this problem "impaction." The two main teeth that suffer impaction are wisdom teeth and canine teeth.

To help an impacted tooth erupt fully, your dentist may extract the baby tooth blocking the adult tooth. Dentists also use braces to help impacted teeth erupt. Sometimes, a dentist may wait and observe. In time, the impacted tooth may erupt without any help from your dentist.

3. Spacing issues

Baby teeth hold the space for the adult teeth to erupt. Once the baby teeth fall out, the adult teeth erupt into the spaces the baby teeth left behind. Sometimes, there is either too much space or not enough space. If your child's jaw is too small to accommodate incoming adult teeth, the adult teeth may overlap. Too much space between adult teeth after an eruption can leave large gaps between teeth.

With early orthodontic treatment provided by a pediatric dentist, you can correct spacing issues before they worsen.

4. Missing permanent teeth

If your child loses a baby tooth and an adult tooth doesn't erupt in its place, your child may have a fairly common condition known as hypodontia. Hypodontia means that one or more adult teeth have not developed in the jawbone. To treat this issue, your child's dentist can place a dental bridge with a false tooth. Dental bonding is also an option to fill the space.

If an adult tooth doesn't erupt when it should, the tooth might be delayed. Your dentist may use a spacer to hold the space until the tooth begins to erupt.

To avoid tooth eruption issues, take your child to see a pediatric dentist. Pediatric dentists specialize in treating dental issues in children.