Stephen Ratcliff Family & Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington Cares For Teeth

Stephen Ratcliff, Family & Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington Cares For TeethFamily and cosmetic dentists are concerned with your oral health and thus care about the condition of your mouth and all of your many teeth. At Stephen Ratcliff, Family & Cosmetic Dentistry we recognize that your teeth help you both eat and speak. You use your teeth to tear, scrape, and chew food, as well as to form words with your tongue. Teeth are an important part of your oral health and Stephen Ratcliff, Family & Cosmetic Dentistry located in Arlington, Texas wants to help keep your mouth and teeth healthy.

Your family dentist will tell you, we humans have two sets of teeth in our lifetime. The first set are your ‘primary teeth’, which many folks often call ‘baby teeth’. Baby teeth typically start to come in at about 6 months old. An average healthy mouth for an Arlington resident has a total of 20 primary teeth by about age 5.

Your primary teeth will eventually fall out and new teeth known as ‘permanent teeth’ will grow in. Permanent teeth typically begin to come in around age 6, but every person is unique and it could be a little earlier or later. By about age 13 an average healthy mouth should have 28 of the total 32 permanent teeth. The last four permanent teeth may or may not come, but typically come in between the ages of 17 and 21 if they do. Because of the late age that these last teeth come in, they are commonly called ‘wisdom teeth’.

Many adults in the city of Arlington have their wisdom teeth pulled out because these teeth can be problematic to your oral health, such as crowding a mouth. Other adults may not have these teeth pulled out because they are not causing problems. If you are concerned about the state of your wisdom teeth you can visit our local Arlington office and we can help you make a decision.

Caring for all of your teeth whether you are young and have 20 primary teeth or are an adult and have 28 to 32 permanent teeth is important for your overall health. Visiting your Arlington family dentist regularly and brushing and flossing daily are great ways to care for your many teeth. Stephen Ratcliff, Family & Cosmetic Dentistry located in Arlington, cares about your oral health and can be reached by phone at 817-274-7875.