The mouth is the first segment of the digestive system and an airway for the respiratory system. It also contains taste buds and facilitates speech production. The oral cavity is a short passage lined by the lips, hard palate, soft palate, cheeks and tongue. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay The oral cavity includes the tongue, 32 teeth, gums, uvula, and openings for three pairs of salivary glands: the parotid , the submandibular and sublingual glands. The pharynx is the area behind the mouth and nose. The oropharynx is separated from the mouth by folds of tissue on either side, which are the anterior pillars of the tonsils. Behind these folds are the tonsils. These masses of lymphoid tissue grow until puberty and then involute. The nasopharynx is continuous with the oropharynx, although it is located above the oropharynx and behind the nasal cavity. It contains the pharyngeal tonsils or adenoids. By age 2.5 years, children normally have 20 baby (or primary) teeth. These teeth are lost between the ages of 6 and 12 and replaced by permanent teeth. Establishing a dental practice during early childhood provides the opportunity to have a significant impact on a patient's oral and general health. Early dental evaluation helps prevent dental disease and helps optimize oral health throughout life. Additionally, implementing early dental visits helps build a practice by not only providing a new source of patients, but also promoting patient retention by encouraging lifelong care. Although it has previously been recommended that the first dental visit be scheduled at age three, unless a pediatrician recommends an earlier evaluation, dental disease can occur much earlier. Eight percent of children aged two have at least one decayed or filled tooth, and more than 40 percent of children develop tooth decay before the age of five. Early childhood caries (ECC) is a disease that, when severe, can affect growth, cause pain and infections, and have lasting adverse effects on the quality of life of patients and parents.2 In In these cases, a visit to the dentist at the age of three is often too late. for prevention and interventions needed to treat ECC are both costly and invasive. The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends that the first dental visit take place within six months of the first tooth erupting or before the age of one. The visit not only allows screening for dental caries, but also preventive advice and anticipation advice regarding oral hygiene techniques, diet, exposure to fluoride, non-sucking habits. nutrition and injury prevention. Although the need for early examination has been advocated, the protocol is not routinely practiced because parents are largely unaware of it and many dentists have limited experience or interest in performing an oral examination of the infant. Establishing a dental practice during infancy involves two elements: history taking and physical examination followed by caries risk assessment and preventative advice. Medical and Dental History Taking the medical/dental history of the mother and child is a good opportunity to develop relationships with the parents and learn. on their dental knowledge and expectations. Relevant questions should evaluate the data..