What is the most frequent cause of early loss of primary teeth?

• A. Marginal periodontitis
• B. Tooth decay and its complications
• C. Tooth trauma
• D. Dento-maxillary anomalies

Answer: (B)

Early loss of deciduous teeth is most often due to dental caries and the complications that follow, such as pulpitis, necrosis, or infection leading to extraction. Caries is the most prevalent pediatric dental disease, so it drives more premature extractions than other causes. Marginal periodontitis is uncommon in primary teeth, trauma, though important, is not as frequent a cause overall, and dento-maxillary anomalies occur less often as reasons for extraction. So decay and its complications explain the most frequent reason for early loss of primary teeth.