Pediatric Dentistry is an important element
for the overall health of a child. Most general
dentists have not received the proper training
to provide dental care to children. In addition,
their offices tend to not be kid friendly and
can make the visit “scary” or even
unpleasant. Pediatric Dentists have been trained
to manage children’s behavior and deliver
the highest quality of dental care for children.
It is true that baby teeth do fall out. However,
if a baby tooth is lost prematurely due to cavities,
the adult tooth underneath is not ready to erupt.
Thus, the surrounding teeth will shift and possibly
block out an adult tooth requiring your child
to receive extensive orthodontics.
Your infant receives his/her first tooth between
6 months to 1 year. This is an average, so your
child may be early or late. It is important to
brush your infant’s teeth and gums. You
may use a toothette, washcloth when no teeth are
present and an infant toothbrush after he/she
receives teeth. It is recommended that you use
infant toothpaste without fluoride because infants
do not know how to spit. It is recommended that
the mouth be cleaned after each feeding. This
can be done with just a wet washcloth or gauze
if you are not at home. Most importantly, children
should not be nursed to sleep or put to bed with
a bottle of milk, formula, juice, or other sweetened
liquid. There is evidence to show that children
who are put to bed with the bottle are more likely
to develop cavities (especially on the top front
teeth) than children who are not put to bed with
a bottle. If your infant cannot fall asleep without
the bottle, it is better to him/her to sleep with
only water in the bottle. Infants should be weaned
from the bottle and/or nursing at 1 year of age
and begin seeing a pediatric dentist to establish
proper habits to allow for a healthy, happy smile
for life.
Children encounter fluoride 2 ways: topically
from toothpaste and mouth rinses and systemically
from the water supply. The fluoride in toothpaste
and mouth rinses helps to make the teeth already
in the mouth stronger against tooth decay by getting
incorporated into the enamel. The fluoride from
the water supply gets ingested into the body and
deposited into the enamel of the developing permanent
teeth that have not erupted into the mouth yet.
Thus, these teeth will already be stronger against
cavities when they grow into the mouth. If you
do not have fluoride in your water supply or if
you use only bottled water, your child may need
a supplement. It is important that parents ensure
that the child takes his/her fluoride supplements,
as they provide protection for and srenghten the
enamel of the your child’s adult teeth.
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