- Culture and Extension
Academic gives lecture on the importance of taking care of baby teeth in children
The talk by the specialist in pediatric dentistry will be held in the ULS Exhibition Hall and admission is free.
There are several departments at the University of La Serena that are looking for ways to take knowledge out of their classrooms and deliver it to the community. This is the case of the Dentistry program, which together with the Extension Directorate, since 2013 has provided an annual conference cycle dedicated to addressing different topics on the importance of taking care of oral health. On this occasion, the institution's pediatric dentist and academic, Paula Arriagada, will offer the conference “Why it is important to take care of baby teeth in children,” on Tuesday, September 23 at 11:30 a.m.
The importance of addressing this issue lies in the fact that in general the population is quite ignorant about it. Oral health, especially in baby teeth, seems not to be so relevant since they are temporary teeth; However, the academic stressed that it is very important “to be able to clarify concepts and to be able to talk at this conference with people who are interested, to be able to slightly improve the health and quality of life of our children,” stated Paula Arriagada.
When advancing the topics to be discussed at the conference, the ULS academic emphasized that adequate hygiene must be maintained, habits must be created from a young age and, as far as possible, periodically attend the dentist. “Baby teeth have many functions, we can even say that they have more functions than permanent teeth, because apart from the functions that we all imagine and know about these teeth, which are chewing to be able to eat and nourish ourselves properly, We can also name many others, such as phonation, which is also a function of permanent teeth and temporary teeth, that is, the correct pronunciation of words. At this age, children begin to learn to speak and it is important that they have all their baby teeth or else some sounds will escape and they will not be able to speak correctly.”
Likewise, the speaker listed other important and sometimes unknown functions of baby teeth. "For them it is also important to have a nice smile and it also helps them with their self-esteem, to socialize because children begin to socialize and it is important for them to show their smile and be able to talk to everyone, apart from that there is a very important function that it has. relationship with maxillofacial growth, the growth of our maxillary bones, both upper and lower, and that depends directly on the presence of baby teeth,” he explained.
At the same time, the rapporteur will provide impressive figures on the percentage of cavities in boys and girls under 6 years of age and the commitment of the Dentistry career to the country's dental goal of the Ministry of Health.
“We at ULS are supporting this challenge to improve the oral health of our children. If we take proper care of these baby teeth, we can perfectly have children without cavities. It is proven that children without cavities in their baby teeth will be adults without cavities in their permanent teeth, it is as important as that. Indeed we need to pay more attention to this, give it real importance. Cavities can be controlled without depending so much on the dentist, but rather on the measures that we take as daily habits,” Arriagada concluded.
This conference will be held in the ULS Exhibition Hall, located at Benavente 950, in La Serena, with free admission. For more information, go to the Extension Center, located at Prat 446, call 2204171 or contact email