Many parents have a challenging time judging how much dental care their child needs. Parents understand children are chronically affected by tooth decay and cavities. Reports show many children with cavities are missing school because they cannot eat, sleep, or indulge in everyday activities. Parents want to ensure they don’t have a child with lots of cavities needing treatments from pediatric dentists frequently.
Parents who understand the importance of pediatric dental care spare the time to learn the best practices that children must follow from a young age. It is the ones that don’t frequently visit dental offices with their children to treat dental issues when they should have learned how children must care for their dental health.
When Must Children Start Brushing Their Teeth?
Proper dental care begins even before your child’s first tooth erupts. It is when you must run a clean, and damp washcloth over the child comes to remove any harmful bacteria.
Taking your child to the children’s dentist in Lincoln, NE, gets you the information you can brush your child’s baby teeth with an infant toothbrush using water and a tiny dab of rice-sized fluoride toothpaste to ensure the child doesn’t swallow it.
When the child’s two teeth start touching, parents must begin flossing between them. In addition, your child should learn to spit while brushing by age two. Children mustn’t be given water to swish and spit because it makes swallowing toothpaste easier.
By age three, children and use a pea-sized grain of fluoride toothpaste, and children below eight require supervision during brushing because they are likely to swallow toothpaste.
When Must Children Visit a Pediatric Dentist?
Children must visit a pediatric dentist when their first tooth erupts but no later than their first birthday, recommends the American Dental Association. During the first visit, the Lincoln pediatric dentist explains proper brushing and flossing techniques and examines your child’s mouth as they sit in your lap.
Early visits to a pediatric dentist enable the professional to detect problems early and help children get accustomed to visiting dental offices without fear as they get older. Pediatric dentists are trained to manage various dental health issues of children.
If your child is at risk for cavities or other problems, pediatric dentists start applying topical fluoride in their office. Fluoride strengthens the tooth enamel helping ward off familiar childhood diseases like dental cavities.
How Do Pediatric Dentists Prevent Cavities?
Pediatric dentists like Dr. Rebecca F Scott are aware cavities occur when bacteria in food remaining on the teeth are not brushed after eating. The bacteria deposit toxins on the teeth to soften the enamel until a cavity forms. A cavity is permanent damage and can merely be restored because the tooth enamel cannot repair itself.
The doctor has treated many young patients with cavities and believes a child with lots of holes is at risk of dental health issues besides overall health problems. The doctor suggests appropriate methods to keep cavities away from children’s mouths.
How to Indulge in Pediatric Cavity Prevention?
If you want to become involved in pediatric cavity prevention, you must teach your children the following:
- Good Oral Health Habits Are Best Started Early: Get your children to twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and floss without exceptions.
- Get Sufficient Fluoride: Using fluoride toothpaste strengthens the enamel making it challenging for the acids to penetrate the tooth. Many towns have fluoridated water, but some don’t. If your water supply isn’t fluoridated, inquire with your dentist about topical fluoride treatments or supplements. Do not look for fluoride supplements available over-the-counter because they can cause fluorosis leaving stains on your child’s teeth.
- Restrict Or Limit Some Foods: Sugary and starchy foods, juices, and gummy vitamins can erode tooth enamel making your child susceptible to cavities. If your child favors these foods, get them to rinse their mouth or brush their teeth after eating to wash away the sugars. Apply the same theory to any sweetened liquid medicines and have the children brush and rinse their mouths after having them.
As your child’s permanent teeth emerge, dentists help with cavity prevention by applying dental sealants to the child’s molars to prevent bacteria from settling into the difficult-to-reach crevices of the teeth.
Remember, brushing and flossing alone aren’t sufficient as cavity prevention measures. Parents who are at high risk of tooth decay or gum disease pass on the genetic condition to their children, who also become prone to the problems. A visit to the children’s dentist in Lincoln is essential every time your child complains of tooth pain because it could indicate a cavity needing treatment.
