Posts for tag: pediatric dentistry
A child's formative years have an immense impact on their physical, mental and emotional well-being. As a parent you want them to have every advantage possible.
That should include a healthy mouth — actions you take now could determine the long-term soundness of their teeth and gums. Here are 5 things you can do to ensure your child's present and future oral health.
Begin oral hygiene habits early. By early, we mean even before their first teeth appear. Wipe their gums after every feeding with a water-soaked cloth or gauze pad; when teeth appear switch to brushing with just a smear of toothpaste on the end of the brush.
Start dental visits around their first birthday. Early dental visits increase the chances of detecting and treating developing problems before they become worse. And starting may also help your child become comfortable with visiting the dentist — waiting until later increases the chances of anxiety and an aversion to dental visits that might carry over into adulthood.
Adopt dental-friendly home and lifestyle habits.Â Don't allow your child to sleep with a pacifier or bottle filled with sugary fluids, including breast milk or formula: fill them with water instead. Limit their sugar consumption to small amounts and only at meal times. And be sure to “childproof” your home against hazards, especially sharp-edged furniture that could damage teeth if they make hard contact with it.
Teach them to care for their own teeth. Although you'll need to brush their teeth for them in the beginning, be sure you eventually teach them to perform this vital habit for themselves. To ease the transition try modeling the behavior or make it into an activity you can do together.
Partner with your family dentist. Your dental office can do more than prevent or treat dental disease — they're an important resource in helping you manage your child's dental needs at home. They can coach you on brushing and flossing techniques, and provide information to set your mind at ease about concerns like teething or thumb sucking.
If you would like more information on complete oral care for your child, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Dentistry & Oral Health for Children” and “Top 10 Oral Health Tips for Children.”
Regular dental visits are just as important for healthy teeth and gums as daily brushing and flossing. Not only will these visits reduce the amount of hidden or hard to reach bacterial plaque (the main source of dental disease), but they'll also boost the chances problems with teeth and gums are caught early and treated.
A lifetime habit of dental visits should begin around your child's first birthday, but children can be stressed or even frightened by trips to the dentist. This could stick with them, causing them to avoid regular dental visits when they become adults. The absence of professional dental care could prove hazardous to their dental health.
Here then are some things you can do to “de-stress” your child's dental visits.
Begin and sustain regular visits early. By not waiting a few years after age one, your child has a better chance of viewing it and subsequent visits as a normal part of life.
Choose a “kid-friendly” dentist. A pediatric dentist is trained not only for dental issues specific to children, but also in creating a comfortable environment for them. Some general dentists are also skilled with children, taking the time to talk and play with them first to ease any anxiety.
Stay calm yourself. Perhaps you've discovered, often in an embarrassing fashion, that your children are watching you and taking cues on how to act and react. Be sure then to project a sense of ease and a “nothing to this” attitude, rather than nervousness or anxiety. Your child will follow your lead.
Set the example. Speaking of following your lead, your children will intuitively pick up whether you're serious about your own dental health, which could influence them. So be sure you practice what you preach: daily oral hygiene, a dental-friendly diet and, of course, your own regular visits to the dentist. Your actions about your own dental care really will speak louder than words.
If you would like more information on effective dental care for your child, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Taking the Stress out of Dentistry for Kids.”
February marks National Children's Dental Health Month. It’s important for children to form daily oral hygiene habits early, but how do you get little ones to take care of their teeth? Try these tips:
Describe your actions. When children are too young to brush on their own, gently brush their teeth for them, narrating as you go so they learn what toothbrushing entails. For example, “Brush, brush, brush, but not too hard,” or “Smile big. Let’s get the front teeth. Now let’s get the teeth in the very back.”
Make learning fun. Around age 3, children can start learning to brush their own teeth. To model proper technique, play follow the leader as you and your child brush teeth side by side, making sure to get all tooth surfaces. Then you both can swish and spit. After brushing together, brush your child’s teeth again to make sure hard-to-reach surfaces are clean. Note that children generally need help brushing until at least age 6.
Encourage ownership and pride. Children feel more invested in their oral health when they get to pick out their own supplies, such as a toothbrush with their favorite character and toothpaste in a kid-friendly flavor. To boost pride in a job well done, reward your child with a sticker or star after they brush their teeth.
Keep your child brushing for two minutes. According to the American Dental Association, toothbrushing should be a two-minute task. To pass the time, play a favorite song or download a tooth-brushing app designed to keep kids brushing the recommended two minutes. For increased motivation, electric toothbrushes for children often have a built-in two-minute timer as well as appealing characters, lights and sounds.
And don’t forget one more key to a lifetime of good oral health—regular dental visits. If you have questions about your child’s dental hygiene or if it’s time to schedule a dental visit, please contact our office. To learn more, read the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Dentistry & Oral Health for Children” and “Top 10 Oral Health Tips for Children.”
Cavities can happen even before a baby has his first piece of candy. This was the difficult lesson actor David Ramsey of the TV shows Arrow and Dexter learned when his son DJ’s teeth were first emerging.
“His first teeth came in weak,” Ramsey recalled in a recent interview. “They had brown spots on them and they were brittle.” Those brown spots, he said, quickly turned into caviÂties. How did this happen?
Ramsey said DJ’s dentist suspected it had to do with the child’s feedings — not what he was being fed but how. DJ was often nursed to sleep, “so there were pools of breast milk that he could go to sleep with in his mouth,” Ramsey explained.
While breastfeeding offers an infant many health benefits, problems can occur when the natural sugars in breast milk are left in contact with teeth for long periods.Â Sugar feeds decay-causing oral bacteria, and these bacteria in turn release tooth-eroding acids. The softer teeth of a young child are particularly vulnerable to these acids; the end result can be tooth decay.
This condition, technically known as “early child caries,” is referred to in laymen’s terms as “baby bottle tooth decay.” However, it can result from nighttime feedings by bottle or breast. The best way to prevent this problem is to avoid nursing babies to sleep at night once they reach the teething stage; a bottle-fed baby should not be allowed to fall asleep with anything but water in their bottle or “sippy cup.”
Here are some other basics of infant dental care that every parent should know:
- Wipe your baby’s newly emerging teeth with a clean, moist washcloth after feedings.
- Brush teeth that have completely grown in with a soft-bristled, child-size toothbrush and a smear of fluoride toothpaste no bigger than a grain of rice.
- Start regular dental checkups by the first birthday.
Fortunately, Ramsey reports that his son is doing very well after an extended period of professional dental treatments and parental vigilance.
“It took a number of months, but his teeth are much, much better,” he said. “Right now we’re still helping him and we’re still really on top of the teeth situation.”
If you would like more information on dental care for babies and toddlers, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more by reading the Dear Doctor magazine articles “The Age One Dental Visit” and “Dentistry & Oral Health for Children.”
As a parent you’re concerned with a number of issues involving your child’s health, not the least of which involves their teeth. One of the most common is thumb-sucking.
While later thumb-sucking is a cause for concern, it’s quite normal and not viewed as harmful in infant’s and very young children. This universal habit is rooted in an infant swallowing pattern: all babies tend to push the tongue forward against the back of the teeth when they swallow, which allows them to form a seal while breast or bottle feeding. Infants and young children take comfort or experience a sense of security from sucking their thumb, which simulates infant feeding.
Soon after their primary teeth begin to erupt, the swallowing pattern changes and they begin to rest the tongue on the roof of the mouth just behind the front teeth when swallowing. For most children thumb sucking begins to fade as their swallowing pattern changes.
Some children, though, continue the habit longer even as their permanent teeth are beginning to come in. As they suck their thumb the tongue constantly rests between the front teeth, which over time may interfere with how they develop. This can cause an “open bite” in which the upper and lower teeth don’t meet properly, a problem that usually requires orthodontic treatment to correct it.
For this reason, dentists typically recommend encouraging children to stop thumb-sucking by age 3 (18-24 months to stop using a pacifier). The best approach is positive reinforcement — giving appropriate rewards over time for appropriate behavior: for example, praising them as a “big” boy or girl when they have gone a certain length of time without sucking their thumb or a pacifier. You should also use training or “Sippy” cups to help them transition from a bottle to a regular cup, which will further diminish the infant swallowing pattern and need for thumb-sucking.
Habits like thumb-sucking in young children should be kept in perspective: the habit really isn’t a problem unless it goes on too long. Gentle persuasion, along with other techniques we can help you with, is the best way to help your child eventually stop.
If you would like more information on thumb sucking, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Thumb Sucking in Children” and “How Thumb Sucking Affects the Bite.”