Your child’s overall health depends on healthy teeth and gums. It is why your child’s pediatrician will discuss the need to develop good dental habits for your child even before their first tooth erupts. You must schedule an appointment with the pediatric dentist near you from infancy or when the first tooth erupts at age one. The dentist will likely recommend your child receive fluoride varnish treatments at their office to help prevent tooth decay.
You may express surprise at the dentist’s recommendation wondering how a young child can develop tooth decay with merely one tooth in their mouth. Unfortunately, tooth decay affects everyone regardless of age, and having a preventive measure to avoid decay is a better option than spending money on expensive treatments for dental cavities. Your child may require the treatment a couple of times every year or every three months, depending on their risks of developing this condition.
Your child’s pediatrician also has the training to apply fluoride varnish. However, if you take your child to a pediatric dentist as suggested by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the child can receive fluoride treatments at a dental office.
What Exactly Is Fluoride Treatment?
A dental treatment that helps prevent tooth decay, slow it or even prevent it from worsening is available from fluoride varnish. Fluoride varnish contains fluoride, a mineral that strengthens tooth enamel. It helps if you remember treatments of fluoride varnish cannot entirely prevent cavities. Instead, fluoride treatments help prevent decay when your child also brushes with the recommended amount of fluoride toothpaste, flosses regularly, as a healthy diet, and gets regular dental care.
Benefits of Fluoride Treatment
When your child receives fluoride treatments in Lincoln, NE, the fluoride application on their teeth helps strengthen tooth enamel, making them better placed to fight tooth decay. However, the application by itself will not prove beneficial unless your child is following the recommended dental hygiene practices and you refrain them from frequently snacking on sugary and starchy foods and beverages.
Children without fluoride on their teeth often report lost school time due to cavities causing pain when eating, sleeping, or performing other regular activities. Fluoride treatments, besides strengthening the enamel to prevent cavities, are also an affordable method of avoiding dental problems in your child’s mouth. An investment of $ 10-$ 30 for fluoride treatments from the Lincoln pediatric dentist helps your child avoid unnecessary dental problems and saves you a tidy sum preventing the need for regular dental treatments at higher prices from other dental professionals.
Fluoride Treatments at Home
If you don’t want to visit dental offices for quarterly or half-yearly fluoride treatments for your child, you could be encouraged to consider purchasing over-the-counter fluoride rinses for your child. However, you help yourself and your child by not indulging in such habits until you receive a recommendation from the child’s pediatric dentist to provide fluoride treatments at home.
Your child regularly brushes fluoride toothpaste, they receive the recommended quantity of fluoride children need every day. Children also receive topical fluoride by drinking tap water available in most communities in the US. Therefore there is no need for you to look for home-based fluoride treatments for children unless your child is at high risk of dental cavities and the dentist recommends the treatment.
The Fluoride Treatment Application Procedure
The application procedure for fluoride treatments is pretty straightforward. When you visit Dr. Rebecca Scott with your child for your child’s treatment, the varnish is painted on the top and sides of each tooth of your child with a tiny brush. After hardening, your child may feel the varnish with their tongue but may not be in a position to lick it off.
Fluoride treatments are painless and completed within a few minutes. However, if your child is crying before or during the procedure, they make it easier for the doctor to complete the application with ease because children’s mouths are always open when they cry. The dentist may request you hold your child on your lap when applying the varnish.
After getting fluoride treatment for your child, ensure that you do not give them scorching foods but let them have a cold or warm soft foods or beverages. Do not allow your child to brush or floss for at least 4 to six hours. Besides the minor restrictions after getting fluoride treatments, your child must continue maintaining appropriate dental hygiene practices, getting sufficient fluoride, and regular care from an experienced pediatric dentist to keep their teeth and gums in healthy condition.
After reading this article, if you think your child benefits from fluoride treatments, please schedule an appointment with Lincoln Children’s Dentistry to provide them with an excellent barrier over their teeth to strengthen their enamel and prevent cavities.
