There’s nothing like the excitement that comes from seeing a baby’s first tooth poking through the gums, or a few years later, seeing those precious baby teeth replaced by “grown up” teeth after you enjoy the temporary toothless grins of your child. While losing teeth is a rite of passage for school-aged children as they head towards a full set of permanent teeth, it’s important to give your child the best chance for a lifetime of healthy teeth so that permanent teeth remain intact and healthy. Bringing your child to a dental practice offering pediatric dentistry services is a good place to start.
Dentistry Services For Children
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that all children make their first trip to the dentist’s office within six months of the first tooth erupting, or by the child’s first birthday. Although at this point there isn’t much that is done while your child visits the dentist, these early visits give the dentist a chance to inspect the teeth and gums to ensure that everything looks healthy and that teeth are growing in as they should. It also gives your child an opportunity to become comfortable with visiting the dentist, before they have any reason to be afraid.
Once the stage has been set with your child’s first visit to the dentist, it is recommended that you stick to a routine schedule of visits. At first, it may be recommended that your child come only yearly, but this schedule will eventually shift to the recommended interval of every six months, during which time a professional cleaning should be performed and a thorough check of the teeth and gums will occur.
Some parents choose to bring their children to a pediatric dentist or a dental professional that specializes only in seeing children under a certain age. However, many family dental practices offer pediatric dentistry services, meaning that they are experienced with treating children of all ages and offer a child-family environment. If you choose a family practice, you and your child can visit the same dentist, which may make both you and your child feel more comfortable. Additionally, as the child grows up, he won’t feel like he’s outgrowing the environment at the dentist’s office, which may sometimes be the case for older children that have been exclusively seeing a pediatric dentist.
Of course, dental visits alone aren’t enough to keep your child’s teeth and gums healthy. It’s important to have your child stick to a routine dental hygiene program that should include brushing teeth at least twice per day and flossing daily. It is up to parents to teach children how to brush and floss properly and to ensure they are performing the task for a long enough period of time to be effective. When children are young, parents may have to be responsible for this daily task and should still supervise at first as children become more independent by doing it themselves.
Watching what children eat and drink can also help to protect the health of their teeth. For example, babies should not be put to sleep with a bottle because the sugars in formula, milk or juice can bathe the teeth and result in decay and cavities. Sweet, sticky candy should be avoided when possible and care should be taken to clean teeth well after sugary snacks and drinks.
By starting early in a child’s life with a focus on proper dental hygiene and routine dental care, you can give your child the best chance for a lifetime of healthy teeth.
For more information about the pediatric dentistry services offered by Park Dental Care, call 718-274-1515.
