The health and maintenance of your child’s oral health will depend on establishing a coordinated effort. A home care regimen should consist of daily brushing and flossing using a fluoride toothpaste and the right type of brush and eating a well balanced diet.
Parents will need to do the actual brushing and flossing up until the child is around eight years old and some supervision is advised until the child fully understands the concept of spitting and rinsing and why it is important. Swallowing a fluoridated toothpaste may cause digestive problems.
Parents are also in the driver’s seat as far as diet is concerned, at least for the first several years of childhood. Dental professionals suggest that parents keep a variety of healthy snacks on hand including plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Serve tap water or milk with meals and strictly limit energy drinks and colas, regular or diet. Parents will lose some control when their child starts school but by then he or she may have become accustomed to a healthy diet and will hopefully choose to stick to it on their own.
The next best thing to prevention is early diagnosis. The earlier you start to schedule regular professional checkups the better. Parents may question the recommendation that they take their child to the dentist as soon as the first tooth erupts. Once you understand however, just how essential the role of the baby teeth is to the proper development of the permanent teeth you will see the relevance.
There is no need to feel hesitant about your child having a dental x-ray. Technology has advanced to the point that the amount of exposure to radiation is extremely minimal. That being said, your Aurora pediatric dentist will only recommend x-rays when he considers it necessary for the earliest possible detection of a potentially serious issue. Authorities agree that the advantages of modern dental radiology far outweigh any risks.
Dr. Patterson and the team at Epic Dentistry for Kids are anxious to work with parents to provide the best combination of home and professional care possible. Call today @ 720-721-3600 in Aurora.