Early Dental Visits of Your Child – Why and How
Children must get their routine dental checkups as early as possible. The earlier it starts the healthier mouths they enjoy all their life. When routine checkups start early the higher are the chances of preventing caries, cavities or tooth decay. A decayed and diseased tooth can be severely painful. Little ones with healthy teeth not only bite down and chew food easily but also speak with greater clarity.
According to oral health experts all over the world every kid must start visiting a dentist regularly right from age 1. It is even better to take for the first visit as soon as the first tooth pops out the gum. This visit is more meant for the parents and caregivers than for the tiny patients themselves. It teaches how to take proper care of their overall mouth to keep them free from cavities.
How do toddlers get cavities? Most cases of tooth cavities in children come from falling asleep with a bottle of milk or juice. As a responsible parent when you are aware how a feeding bottle leads to cavities you take the necessary precautions to prevent it. It is important to encourage every child to drink from a cup as they are about to complete a year. It can be any kind of drink, plain water, milk or juice it is important that they start skipping the habit of using a feeding bottle by that age. it is also important to teach the tiny ones how to brush their baby teeth properly.
It is important for mothers to note, you should not give in to the demand of breast feeding at night time to help your child go to sleep easily after the first few teeth have come out. Tooth decay is the most common health issue among children even in the advanced countries of Europe and America. According to statistics almost 2 out of every 5 children develop cavities in the teeth by the time they are admitted to kindergarten. And the problem is totally preventable with a little care and consciousness at the right nick of time.
Time is utmost precious in the present times and everybody is busy; every parent is busy on several aspects at a time. As a result, proper dental care of their little ones often take the back seat. But this just has to be avoided. Every child must be taken for regular dental checkups right from age 1. The first visit is mostly used to get a child feel what it likes to be sitting in the dentist’s chair. On the other hand, it educates the parents on how to take sound care of a child’s mouth. The consecutive visits thereafter play an important role in raising the child’s consciousness to maintain oral health and hygiene. In course of time as the child transforms into a matured and responsible adult, he or she is more resistant to various oral health issues. Thus, the early dental checkups for a kid is utmost important. Usually after running a thorough examination of the mouth dentists talk at length with the parents to explain the current state of conditions. They also provide an overview of the expected developments in the tiny mouth the next 6 months to a year.
Customary oral health checkups and children
Snacking or drinking in the middle of the night raises the chances of cavities in any child. Make sure your tiny ones are safe from those bad habits. As you already know a child must learn drinking from a cup or glass and not from a feeding bottle by the age 1. By the time he or she becomes 2-year old the routine checkups in every six months should kick in. in between 4 and 6 years of age a child must have the first round of x-rays done to his or her mouth. This is because by this age they become vulnerable to cavities in between the teeth.
Cavities when detected reveal the fact that the kid is exposed to harmful bacteria in the mouth. Only harmful bacteria are responsible for tooth cavities. A change in regular diet often proves effective in eradicating the problem. And for that you need an expert’s advice. Other than dietary habits if there is any other reason behind formation of cavities a child dentist can point that out too for the parents.
By the time your baby turns into a toddler and reaches the age group between 6 and 12 years the permanent teeth start erupting. At this stage the focus must be on preventive dentistry to avoid caries of tooth cavities. Dentists usually recommend a sealant to their patients aged between 7 and 9. Sealant is nothing but a type of plastic resin that bonds to the chewing surface of the teeth. The molar teeth are ones that sit at the back and those are most prone to caries. Sealant is bonded mostly with the molars in the mouth as a pre-emptive measure to avoid cavity formation. Due to presence of the sealant harmful bacteria cannot thrive in between the valleys of the teeth.
A child’s first visit to an orthodontist
By the age 7 the regular dentist seeing your child is likely to suggest taking him or her for an orthodontic examination. Previously the first orthodontic check-up was suggested by the time a child developed all the permanent teeth which is around the age 12 or 13. Modern dentistry has improved a lot and with that many existing approaches and practices have been replaced. Most children wait until their teens to wear braces. But orthodontic dentistry is more about improving the jaw growth than straightening the teeth to make one’s smile more beautiful. Early orthodontic visits prove helpful identifying skeletal deformities that lead to crooked teeth. Thus, achieving a beautiful smile later on in life becomes easier.
Well, the story boils down to the basics at the end. Brushing the teeth twice a day properly using a fluoride toothpaste, properly flossing the teeth every day preferably at night before going to bed, cutting down on sugary intakes where diet is concerned and routine dental checkups – these have to be followed to keep the teeth and the gums, strong, healthy and free of diseases. In order to boost the morale of young patients to visit their dentist again toys are usually gifted. These are the bonuses that cannot be ignored under any circumstance.
Preparing your child for his or her first dental appointment
Are you disturbed about how to prepare your little one for his or her first dental visit? There is nothing to be worried about. Let us explore few handy tips in the following section that makes your task easier.
- Be crisp – parents unknowingly speak a lot more than necessary while preparing their children for the first ever dental visit. They speak more to provide a clearer picture but for the takers this strategy often backfires. The more parents talk the scarier or confused a child gets. Let your child find out on his or her own what the visit is all about in course of time.
- Positivity has no better alternative – Parents with poor oral health usually consider their kids too will have diseased teeth and gums. One has to let this negativity go and go for ever. Never ever talk about fear to your children under any circumstance. This helps develop a negative mindset about dentists and dental visits.
- Hold on to your dignity – a large number of parents play nuisance with their children during the latter’s first dental visit. Parents either keep repeating the instructions the expert gives or meddles up unnecessarily time and again during the check-up. A highly recommended dentist in London says this confuses the child more than anything else. It also prevents building of the bonding between the dentist and the young patient. As a doting and responsible parent, you must speak when and where it is required.
Follow these tips and set the foundation of a sound dental health and wellbeing for your little one that would last the rest of life.
