Early Dental Prevention
The sooner children begin getting regular dental checkups, the healthier their mouths will stay throughout their lives with good dental Prevention. Early checkups help prevent cavities and tooth decay, which can lead to pain, trouble concentrating and other medical issues. Youngsters with healthy teeth chew food easily, learn to speak clearly and smile with confidence.
The Canadian Dental Association says that every child should visit a dentist by age 1 – or as soon as the first tooth appears. This “well baby visit” teaches parents and caregivers how to care for their children’s teeth and help them remain cavity-free. This also allows for children to feel more at ease with the dentist and the assistants. Let’s face it, this is a long-standing relationship and in some cases you see us as often if not more than a family member that lives away.
By coming in early the dentist and assistants are able to see if there are any issues or regular routines that may make for bad habits that can influence your child’s oral health later. For example, pediatric dentists see many young patients with cavities that came from falling asleep with a bottle of milk or juice. The dentist can tell the parent or caregiver:
- Why this causes decay
- The importance of encouraging children to drink milk, water and juice from a cup as they approach their first birthday
- How to brush young teeth.
Tooth decay is a common chronic disease among children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that more than 40 percent of children have decay by the time they reach kindergarten.
If you want to help to avoid these common mistakes for your children please give us a call and we will help make sense of it.