Childhood Dentist Visits: Why Start Early

It’s important to start early in taking care of your teeth. As a little kid, your body is growing, and as a parent, you want to make sure you incorporate healthy habits in your child so they can become practices that he or she carries through their entire life. By going to the dentist every six months for a cleaning and a check up, you’ll be able to instill dental care practices that will allow them to have healthy oral hygiene. If a child starts bad oral hygiene early, it could affect their adult teeth and later lead to other illnesses. By starting early for dental care, you also won’t have to worry about shelling out money for frequent trips to the dentist to take care of cavities and tooth decay. If you want to get a head start on ensuring your child is seeing a dentist regularly, then schedule an appoint today. We offer restorative dentistry, general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry, and sedation dentistry.

Why You Need To Start Early Childhood Dental Care

When a child is six months old, the primary teeth begin to come in. As the child becomes older at around two and a half or so, they’ll have complete dentition. Since the teeth have less dense mineralized enamel than permanent teeth, they are much more susceptible to get caries in their teeth. For this reason, it’s essential that you begin to help your child brush their teeth regularly as well as impart on them a healthy diet. If a child doesn’t have proper oral hygiene practices imparted on them during the first two years of their life, studies have shown that they are more susceptible to tooth decay and developing more caries, which can harm their adult teeth. It’s essential for the baby teeth to be taken care of, so the permanent teeth that come in will be cared for properly and have the proper alignment.

The Importance Of Dentition As A Young Child

The permanent teeth begin to form as early as zero to three. At around six, the permanent teeth will begin to show. In a person’s mouth, there are 32 permanent teeth, 16 on both the upper and the lower portion of the mouth. When the teeth first begin to show themselves your child will have a risk of caries. Additionally, when teeth are coming in there’s more bacteria in the mouth and can form reservoirs due to caries, which will create an issue with the permanent teeth coming in.

What You Can Do For Your Child’s Dental Care

Your role as a parent when it comes to dental care is to impart your wisdom of oral health into your child. By developing a proper oral hygiene routine, your child will be developed and encouraged through the rest of his or her life. During the first 12 years of your child’s life, they won’t have the necessary mental and motor functions to allow him or her to brush properly, so you’ll need to step in and help them. Parents should take the time to help their child until the second molars have erupted. Prior to this, during the first six years or so help your child develop a natural and proper brushing technique. By brushing twice a day and instilling flossing, you’ll decrease any risk of developing oral diseases while also ensuring the permanent teeth are healthy.

For more information about dental tips and early childhood dental care, take the time to continue reading our blog.