Early childhood dental care is essential to help your child keep their mouth healthy throughout their entire lives. The American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics both agree that every child should visit a dentist by age one.
While some people often make the logical argument that baby teeth will fall out, so they’re not essential to good oral health, that is an incorrect viewpoint. Baby teeth play a significant role in the development of a child, making it necessary to take great care of them.
Proper Care Prevents Future Dental Issues
Early dental checkups help to prevent cavities and tooth decay in young children. As a result, your child will learn at a young age how to properly take care of their teeth while they are young, which continues into their teenage and adult years. Children who receive early childhood dental checkups in addition to excellent at-home care can speak more clearly, chew food more thoroughly, and are overall more self-confident with social interactions.
Cavities Will Impact a Child’s Quality of Life
Cavities in baby teeth require the same treatment as adult teeth. Your child may be extremely fearful of seeing the dentist after experiencing pain and discomfort while getting cavities filled as a child. Baby teeth are vulnerable to decay, and cavities, so proper cleaning and care will reduce the possibility of cavities developing.
Teeth damaged by cavities can:
- Impact children’s nutrition and prevent them from eating healthy food.
- Lead to overbites, and bite alignment problems that require an oral appliance to fix.
- Hinder adult teeth from growing in straight and healthy alignment.
- Impede proper speech and negatively affect self-esteem.
- Cause severe tooth pain, that worsens without treatment.
- Lead to infections that affect nearby teeth and cause more cavities.
Baby teeth may be temporary, but their impermanence does not mean that they are not necessary. Children with cavities on their primary teeth face oral health challenges now, and in the future, they mature into adults.
Childhood Dental Cavities Can Lead To Long-Term Issues
Baby teeth hold the place for permanent teeth later in life. Taking care of a child’s teeth will determine overall oral health as well as their arrangement along the gums. When baby teeth fall out, they are replaced by permanent ones. If a baby tooth can serve as a healthy placeholder until a permanent tooth erupts, it only increases the chances that the permanent tooth will be in better alignment.
A child who has lost several baby teeth to tooth decay will commonly suffer from self-esteem issues, and long-term dental problems can result. Orthodontic treatment will be very likely to correct any present or future alignment issues.
Long-Term Oral Hygiene Habits Start as a Child
Taking care of baby teeth is one of the first steps of teaching your child the importance of good dental habits. Allow your kids to be involved in learning about flossing, daily brushing, and incorporating a fluoride rinse.
Cavities are the most prevalent childhood disease in the United States, but it’s also the most preventable. You can empower your child to prevent cavities and tooth decay by helping them get into a proper oral health routine, which means brushing twice per day for two minutes at a time and flossing once per day. You can take easy dietary measures to prevent cavities, too. Try removing sugary beverages from their diet, and substitute them for water, which is one of the most powerful tools in the fight against cavities.
Early Orthodontic Intervention Promotes Healthier Tooth Development
Early orthodontic evaluation for children between the ages of 6 to 8 years is recommended. An orthodontic assessment helps an orthodontist to evaluate your child’s dental makeup and decide whether they will eventually benefit from braces.
Early intervention in kids helps to correct the future development issues associated with growing teeth and jawbones. If you’re ready to discuss the reasons why early childhood dental care is so critical, or if your child is at the milestone age of their first orthodontic evaluation, call Thomas Orthodontics today!
