Prevention Tips For Children
The growing set of teeth in your child should be regularly monitored to ensure proper development and strengthening. As soon as the first tooth appears, it is best to start visiting a dentist or an expert at Hinsdale Dental on a regular basis to catch infections and other complications early on. Additionally, any hindrances in proper development of teeth should be addressed immediately. To help you deal with the changes in your child, here are some helpful tips of preventive dental care for children.
Prevention Tips
Teething Habits. When your child is teething, you may notice that their gums have become sore. This is a normal reaction to new teeth and you can relieve this irritation by allowing your child to suck on teething products or massage their gums gently with a small spoon or finger. Pacifiers are ideal options for infants under 4. After that age, they should be discouraged from using pacifiers or sucking thumbs as they hamper with teeth development.
Milk Teeth and Permanent Teeth. Look out for primary teeth or milk teeth in your child. By the age of three, your child should ideally have grown about twenty primary teeth that are gradually replaced by 28 permanent teeth as they grow older. This replacement occurs till the age of 12. The health and strong development of primary teeth is important to ensure that the subsequent permanent teeth are also strong.
Important: If primary teeth are poorly spaced out or shift in the wrong direction, chances are high that permanent teeth follow the same pattern. To prevent this from happening, your dentist will use space maintainers to correct the positioning.
Brushing. For infants, you can use water to thoroughly wash their delicate teeth and gums. Toothpaste is generally avoided owing to the infant’s tendency to swallow and shouldn’t be used until the child reaches the age of 2. You can use soft bristled child size toothbrushes to clean primary teeth along with pea-sized portion of mild toothpaste.
Toothaches. Very common in children, toothaches can be caused by erupting teeth or indicate other serious problems. If your child is complaining of toothache, rinse their mouth thoroughly with warm water and salt. If the pain does not reduce, you could try using acetaminophen in rare cases. Visit the dentist immediately if the pain is persistent.
Sealants. To protect the chewing part of your child’s teeth, we apply safe sealants to ensure that food and plaque do not affect their teeth. This sealant application is lasting and should be replaced every few years.
Fluoride. An essential compound to maintain your child’s teeth health, fluoride should be administered in the right quantity. Sometimes, the fluoride content in your child’s toothpaste may not be adequate and that’s when our dentists offer prescribed supplements. You should also have your community water supply checked for fluoride content to ensure that the composition is not too high or too low.
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