Should baby teeth be filled?
Baby teeth, besides serving all the functions of adult teeth, also serve as space maintainers until the arrival of the permanent teeth. If they are allowed to decay without being filled the parent runs the risk of the tooth abscessing and having to be extracted. If extraction is necessary the adjacent baby teeth, like adult teeth, can shift closing the extraction space and complicating future orthodontic treatment. An equally important reason for filling baby teeth is that a cavity is a source of tremendous numbers of bacteria. There is no other way to eliminate those bacteria but to remove the decay and place a filling.
