Early Dental Care
Keeping your children healthy is our top priority and this starts with home care. Controlling their diet to keep their body and teeth healthy is a great start, and we’ll add other services and products to make their teeth strong.
Teething
Typically, a baby’s first tooth erupts between 6 to 12 months of age. Gums can be sore, tender, and sometimes irritable until the age of 3. Rubbing sore gums with a clean finger, the back of a cold spoon or a cold, wet cloth can help soothe the gums. Teething toys can work well too. It’s important to look for signs of baby bottle decay while your baby is teething. Examine your child’s teeth, especially on the inside or tongue side, every 2 weeks for lines or dull spots. A bottle left in an infant’s mouth while sleeping can cause tooth decay, which can happen when sugar in the liquid mixes with bacteria in dental plaque, forming acids that attack tooth enamel. Acids continue to attack teeth for about 20 minutes after the liquid is drunk. Saliva carries the liquid away when awake, but during sleep, the saliva isn’t carried away as fast allowing the acids to cover the teeth for longer periods of time,
Infant’s New Teeth
Baby teeth, also known as primary teeth, play an important role in dental development. Without baby teeth, children cannot chew food properly and can have speaking difficulty. Baby teeth are also critical to the development of the jaws for guiding the permanent teeth into place when they replace baby teeth around age 6. A space maintainer might be required to hold open the natural space if a child is missing any primary teeth. Without a space maintainer, the permanent teeth might not come in correctly, and could cause long-term damage to them. The way your child cares for their primary teether plays a critical role in how they treat their permanent teether. Adults and children are equally susceptible to dental problems, which is why we recommend dental check-ups every 6 months.
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Infant Tooth Eruption
Teeth actually start forming before birth. As early as 4 months old, the baby’s (primary) teeth begin to push through the gums, usually starting with the lower incisors, then the upper central incisors, with the remaining 20 teeth arriving by age 3. Permanent teeth typically being erupting by age 6, starting with the molars and lower central incisors, and continues until around age 21. Adults have 28 permanent teeth – 32 including the wisdom teeth.
Diet & Healthy Teeth
Teeth, bones, and soft tissues in the mouth require a well-balanced, healthy diet. A variety of foods from the five food groups help minimize and avoid cavities or other dental problems. Healthy foods like vegetables, low-fat yogurt, and cheeses should be consumed by children to promote strong teeth.
Preventing Baby Bottle Tooth Decay
Infant tooth decay can be reduced or prevented by not allowing a sleeping infant to bottle-feed. Infants who need a bottle to comfortably fall asleep should be given a water-filled bottle or pacifier.
Child’s First Visit
Your child’s first visit to the dentist should be scheduled around their first birthday. The most important part of the visit is getting to know and get comfortable with the dental team. A good first experience builds trust and puts the child at ease for future dental visits.