It is highly recommended that kids should be brought to the dentist as soon as their teeth begin to grow in.
While this might seem too early for an infant to even begin comprehending what their teeth are, it is always very beneficial for the parent of the child to learn about what to expect when their child starts growing teeth and how to properly care for their baby teeth. From that point on, it is recommended for children to continue having regular visits to the dentist; once every 6 months to a year.
What is involved with kids’ dentistry?
Kids’ dentistry entails much more than check-ups and cleans, it is a significant component of their young education and growing up. Kids’ dentistry spans from infancy to young adulthood.
Early stages- Baby teeth to adult teeth
The early stages of kids’ dentistry are quite vital to their overall oral health, not only when they are a child but also for when they become adults. From an early age, your child will have the opportunity to become more familiar with the dentist, helping their future experiences in the dental chair to be less intimidating and more of a casual occurrence. They will be taught healthy oral hygiene such as proper brushing and flossing methods alongside their parents, which aims to instil a positive attitude towards dental hygiene and to make it an important part of the daily routine.
It is within the first 15 or so years of your life that your teeth will undergo the most physical changes. This is why children’s dentistry is for the most part, concerned with monitoring the teeth and maintaining their health. Even baby teeth are important to take care of as they are the foundation for permanent adult teeth. If your child’s baby teeth are unhealthy there’s a good chance that their adult teeth will not grow in properly, causing crooked or incorrectly placed teeth. Visiting the dentist regularly while your child’s baby teeth are growing and falling out will allow the dentist to sustain the condition of the baby teeth and also carefully monitor how the adult teeth will grow in.
Once again, regular visits to the dentist will benefit you and your child during their development stages in the sense that this allows for oral health problems to be perceived early on. Issues stemming from improper maintenance and diet are extremely common not only in adults but also in young kids. Early in their life, it can be difficult for kids to understand how skipping brushing your teeth or consuming too much candy can have a lasting negative impact on their teeth. It is also very common for children to not yet have mastered the motor skills to effectively brush their own teeth. These conditions can easily cause issues such as cavities, tooth decay, and mouth diseases. These issues can be easily fixed or avoided with the help of regular dental check-ups and cleanings.
Later stages – Maintaining adult teeth
Usually by about age 13, most kids will have lost all of their baby teeth and grown a full set of adult teeth which commonly shifts the dynamic of their mouth significantly. Most physical oral health issues such as overbites, underbites, crooked teeth, overcrowding, and even speech issues can result from this stage of oral development. During this stage, or following this development is usually when orthodontic treatments such as braces or tooth extractions become applicable.
If your child has been consistently visiting the dentist, your dentist will have most likely predetermined any of these concerns for your child, and therefore, you would have been able to correct this ahead of time or at least begin orthodontic treatment during the earlier stages. Knowing ahead of time that you child needs braces for example, will allow for the orthodontic treatment to be done at the perfect time for their teeth; when their adult teeth have fully gown in and there are still no signs of wisdom teeth, in return saving time on future treatments and possibly saving money on preparational treatments.
Kids dentistry is never insignificant, even if your child is maintaining perfect oral health. Kids’ dentistry will not only help them to create a positive perception of the dentist, and learn how to support a healthy mouth, it will also help target future issues and prepare you and your child for following treatments.
Kids dentistry at Iris Dental
The team at Iris Dental prides themselves in their kids’ dentistry. The Iris Dental team is well experienced in kids’ dentistry and is extremely welcoming to promote a positive experience for your kids at the dentist. Iris Dental offers regular check-ups as well as orthodontic treatment for kids. If you are looking at beginning your child’s dentistry experience, but don’t know where to start, contact us here and one of our team members will discuss the process in more detail.