Early Stage of Development

Prepared By : Haval Jalal

 Late Fetal Development & Birth
 At 6th month of I.U. life the fetus Wight is about 1000 gm, during last
3 months there will be a rapid growth till it reach about 3000 gm.

 The proportion of total body mass represented by the decrease of head

size from 4 month onward, At the birth the head still half of the body
mass but its longer and narrower to facilitate delivery, this is possible
due to the presence of relatively large un calcified fontanelles, The
lack of growth of the lower jaw also make birth easier.

 Birth is traumatic process, the child iterance in to the new world need
a set of physiological adaptation, For a short period growth ceased &
often there is small decrease in weight ( during first 7-10 days ), Such
interruption in growth produce a physical effect in skeletal tissue
because of orderly sequence of classification, its noticeable on bone &
teeth ( on enamel as Neonatal line) across surface of primary teeth,
which have varied position from tooth to other, it can only seen by
magnification.

 Any disturbance in growth during infancy and early childhood lasting

1-2 weeks or more such as febrile illness ( fever ) will leave visible
record on enamel.
 Infancy & Early childhood
The growth after birth continued by increasing height and Weight in steady rate, 3 circumstances
need special attention :
Premature birth ( low birth weight ): infants with weight less than 2500 gm are in great risk of

problem in the post natal period. Until recent years children bellow 1500 gm did not survive. if the
premature infant survive the neonatal period, the growth will follow normal pattern later on.

Chronic Illness: skeletal growth is a process need energy, 90% of available energy must used for

survival & activity other 10% used for growth .

Any chronic illness alter this balance, and leave less energy for growth, chronic illness reduce the

growth rate while acute illness lead to period of growth cessation.

Nutritional status: for growth to occur, there must be a nutritional supply, Chronically in adequate
nutrition has effect similar to chronic illness, On other hand once a level of nutritional adequacy has

been achieved, additional nutritional intake is not stimulus to more rapid growth .
 Maturation of Oral Function
Principle physiological function of oral cavity are:
Respiration , Swallowing , Mastication , Speech

Respiration: Respiration needs are primary determination of posture of the mandible and tongue.
At birth the newborn need to establish an airway within minutes to survive, to open airway the
mandible must positioned downward and the tongue moved downward and forward , this allow
air to move through the nose and across pharynx.

Swallowing : swallowing occur in last months of fetal life , as fetus swallow amniotic fluid for
activation of immune system,.
The new born infants need to feed on his mother milk, this is done by process of suckling rather
than sucking which is done by stimulation of the smooth muscles of mother nipple by nibbling
movement of lip which lead to squirt of milk, now the infant just need to groove his tongue and
allow milk to flow posteriorly to pharynx as tongue placed anteriorly in contact with lower lip.
This whole process called infantile swallowing which disappear after 1 st year of life
As infant matures, there is an increase in activity of elevator muscles of the mandible, the tongue will be
used in more complex way as diet change to contain solid food, the tongue gather up the bolus,
position it along the middle of the tongue, and transport it posteriorly.
After eruption of primary molar during 2 nd year cup replaces drinking from bottle, the lip activity sized
(relaxed lip)the tongue tip placed against alveolar process behind upper incisors, and posterior teeth
brought in to occlusion during swallowing.
These are all characteristic of adult swallowing.

Mastication: the chewing pattern of adult is quite different from that of children, an adult typically open
straight down, then moves the jaw laterally and bring the teeth into contact , whereas child moves jaw
laterally on opining .

The transition from the juvenile to adult chewing appear to develop in conjugation with
permanent canine eruption about 12 years .

Adult who do not achieve normal function of the canine teeth because of sever anterior open bite
retain the juvenile chewing pattern
Speech
The 1st speech sounds are the bilabial sounds /m/ , /p/, & /b/.

Some what later , the tongue tip consonants like /t/ & /d/ appear .

The sibilant /s/ & /z/ sounds, which require that the tongue tip be placed close to
but not against the palate .

The last speech sound /r/ which requires precise positioning of the posterior tongue
often not acquired until age 4-5.
 Eruption of the Primary teeth
At birth, neither the maxillary nor the Mandibular alveolar process is well developed.
The timing and sequence of eruption of deciduous teeth will be as follow :
tooth eruption
Spacing is a normal characteristic of primary dentition maxillary Mandibular
But its most noticeable in 2 locations called Primate spaces
Central 10 months 8 months
In the maxillary arch located between lateral incisor and
Lateral 11 months 13 months
canines, where as in Mandibular arch the space is between
Canine 19 months 20 months
The canine and 1st molar.
Developmental spacing between incisors is often present. 1st molar 16 months 16 months

These spacing are required for proper alignment of 2nd molar 29 months 27 months
permanent incisors.
Physical Development in the Late Childhood
Late childhood is the period from 5-6 years to the onset of puberty and its characterized by;

1. Physical development pattern of previous period continue but in different rate for
different tissue system.

2. The brain & brain case are as large as they will ever be.

3. Lymphoid tissue thorough the body has proliferate beyond the usual adult level, as
large tonsils & adenoids are common.

4. The growth of sex organs has hardly begun.

5. The rate of general body growth decline from rapid (in infancy) to stabilized at
lower level.