When Should I Take My Child to the Dentist? A Guide to Early Dental Care
Are you concerned about when you should take your child to a dentist? Many parents confront similar challenges because they think their child does not need early dental care when they have no teeth. Unfortunately, it is a mistake you must avoid making and take your child to the dentist near me at the earliest to ensure they receive early dental care.
You can carry your kid to the dentist at a young age, but most dental experts suggest taking them within by six months of the emergence of their first tooth but no later than their first birthday.
Dental Care for Babies and Toddlers
During your first meeting with the dental office in Stockton, CA, the dentists will likely surprise you with information on baby bottle tooth decay, infant feeding practices, teething, mouth cleaning, finger sucking, and pacifier habits.
While you may not realize it, babies and toddlers can develop tooth decay when put to sleep with a bottle of milk or juices containing sugars because the mouth bacteria feed on the leftovers in their mouth to create unnecessary complications. In addition, pacifier and finger-sucking habits can make children develop misaligned teeth to need orthodontic treatments later. Therefore the sooner you take your child to the dental office in Stockton to learn about dental care for children, the better for their dental and overall health.
Common Dental Issues in Children: Causes, Prevention, and Treatment
Cavities are a familiar problem in children’s teeth. This is because children are not diligent with their dental hygiene practices and favor sugary and starchy foods, also selected by the mouth bacteria.
Cavities on children’s teeth are easily preventable by supervising their dental hygiene routine until seven or eight and ensuring children have inhibited access to sugary and starchy foods by giving them fruits and vegetables in their lunchboxes and limiting access to juices only at meal times
Children with cavities on their teeth will require restorations like fillings, dental crowns, extractions, and space maintainers to ensure their remaining teeth do not drift out of position to create misalignments in their mouth. However, taking your kid to the Stockton dental office helps you obtain information on how to care for your child’s teeth from early to prevent complications that require intensive and expensive treatment.
Preventive Dentistry for Kids: Building Strong Teeth and Healthy Smiles
Preventive dentistry for kids helps build strong teeth and healthy smiles. However, it is not dissimilar to preventive dentistry for adults. It entails caring for the teeth and gums appropriately at home and visiting pediatric dentistry in Stockton, CA, at six monthly intervals or as the dentist recommends.
Preventive dentistry for kids helps prevent tooth decay, cavities, gum disease, enamel erosion, et cetera. The six monthly visits to the pediatric dentist help the professional examine and clean your child’s teeth and identify issues developing in their mouth. If your child requires restorations like fillings or other therapies, the dentist recommends fixing issues with their teeth before the problem aggravates.
Children are susceptible to developing cavities on their teeth regardless of the preventive measures suggested by the dentist or the supervision at home. Therefore dentists recommend in-office fluoride treatments to strengthen tooth enamel, making it resistant to the mouth bacteria responsible for eroding tooth enamel.
By six or seven, children develop molars with deep fissures and pits. In addition, children with inadequate brushing and flossing habits find it challenging to clean the molars encouraging the bacteria in their mouth to feed on food particles trapped in them, resulting in cavities. To overcome the problem, dentists recommend applying dental sealants on children’s molars to make the tooth surfaces smooth and easier to clean to prevent the entrapment of food particles from inhibiting mouth bacteria from damaging them.
Besides the above, the pediatric dentist suggests controlling the child’s diet and getting them to brush and floss twice daily using fluoride toothpaste and getting them custom-created mouthguards to ensure safety from accidental impacts on their months when playing in school.
Children need early dental care from the time their first tooth erupts. Early dental care ensures they do not lose teeth prematurely, need space maintainers, and plan for orthodontic treatments later. In addition, it prevents considerable expenses easily avoidable by providing them with early dental care to ensure they have strong teeth and a healthy smile.
If you are still pondering when you should take your child to a dentist, we suggest you schedule a free consultation with Quail Lakes Dental Care with your child for the information you need. The meeting will help you ensure how to care for your child’s teeth from infancy until adolescence.