Pediatric Dentistry – Learn How to Maintain Good Oral Health For Your Kids
Our oral health is of utmost importance. And we must learn to take care of it from childhood itself. Just like whatever we do during our childhood influences our life in future, similarly our maintenance of oral health as a child determines how healthy it will be in the future.
For children, tooth decay or damage is one of the most common problems. Children aged between 2-5 years are the worst affected with tooth decay. If left untreated this leads to worsening of the condition and even affects the permanent set of teeth. That would mean a lifetime of bad oral health. Now you know how important it is to maintain oral health from childhood itself. The pediatric dentists are specialized to look after the dental health of children and guide them how on how to maintain their oral hygiene.
As parents you are the first people responsible to take a proper care of your child’s oral health. You must teach them to cultivate good oral habits. Prevent your children from consuming too much of sweets and chocolates. Your responsibility of taking care of your child’s tooth begins from the very first appearance of his tooth. When the child is at an infant stage try wiping the teeth with a clean and damp cloth on a regular basis. Now with the growing of more teeth you can start using a toothbrush with soft bristles. Fluoride tooth pastes are generally not recommended until 2 years of age. So you can look for non-fluoride toothpaste for your baby. Take the opinion of a pediatric dentist in this case. It is also not advised for a child below six years of age to use a fluoride mouth rinse.
Fluoride is required to prevent teeth cavities. To know exactly how much fluoride your child requires for the good health of his teeth, visit a pediatric dentist. After your child has passed the age of two you can brush his teeth with very little fluoride toothpaste. The brushing must be done twice a day but after every meal a thorough cleaning of the mouth is extremely essential. Drinking of fluoride containing water also helps in preventing cavities and tooth decay. Your pediatric dentist would be able to correctly advice you on this.
If your child consumes too much of fluoride it might cause appearance of white spots in the permanent teeth. Be very careful about deciding the amount of tooth paste your child is using. It should not exceed the size of a pea. Your child should also not swallow the tooth paste. Instead you should teach him to spit the tooth paste out properly and rinse the mouth thoroughly.
A very small child obviously wouldn’t be able to handle a tooth brush and know how to brush. It is advisable that you consult the pediatric dentist to know the proper technique of brushing your child’s teeth. Take your child for regular check ups with a pediatric dentist.