Parents prefer to remain aware of the health issues that their kids might face. Unfortunately, oral health often remains ignored. There is a belief that baby teeth do not need much care as they would be automatically replaced by permanent ones later.
The fact is that the child needs oral care as soon as the first tooth appears. Here’re several frequently asked questions about kids’ oral health.
Do Toddlers With Just One or Two Teeth Need to Brush Daily?
Using a soft toothbrush and water can do the trick for children in the 0 and two years age group. Once the kid turns two years of age, you can start using a small amount of toothpaste. Make sure not to use fluoride toothpaste until the child knows how to spit. Kids must brush their teeth twice a day, under their parent’s supervision.
What Are The Most Common Oral Health Issues Faced By Kids?
Early tooth loss, lip sucking, tongue thrusting, thumb sucking, and dental caries, especially, baby bottle tooth decay, are the issues that can negatively impact the child’s oral health. Out of these, dental caries and early tooth loss need urgent attention. Rest all are habits that can change with time.
Is Early Teeth Loss a Severe Problem for a Child’s Oral Health?
Injury, decay, or issues in the jaw can result in early tooth loss. Like in adults, the permanent tooth under the lost baby tooth starts changing its position. Thus, the permanent tooth emerging in the area may not get the right space and remain misaligned, which further results in other problems including TMJ pain.
So, in case of tooth loss, the dentist may recommend options like using a space maintainer for ensuring the emerging permanent denticles get adequate space to erupt.
What’s Baby Bottle Tooth Decay?
Decay is caused due to bacteria that thrive on sugar particles in the mouth. If the baby’s teeth remain in constant contact with a baby bottle containing fruit juice, milk, or even baby formula at night while the child sleeps they can easily get tooth decay. This is what triggers baby bottle tooth decay. If left untreated, it can further cause a variety of serious problems. To avoid the same, don’t let the baby sleep with a baby bottle containing milk. Mothers need to avoid breastfeeding at night when the baby is about to sleep as even unswallowed mother’s milk in the mouth can cause problems. Use a clean piece of cloth to wipe the baby’s teeth after feeding to keep them clean.
Is Tooth Decay Among Children a Worldwide Phenomenon?
When it comes to the list of the most prevalent oral health issues around the world, untreated tooth decay in kids makes it in the list of top five. It has affected children from around the world. A study conducted by Public Health England pointed out that around 25 percent of kids below five years of age have at least three decayed denticles. The scenario is not much different in the United States; dental decay happens to be the most reported problem impacting the overall health of kids as per the National Center for Health Statistics.
Can Decayed Teeth Cause an Equal Amount of Trouble for Adults and Children?
Tooth decay affects millions of young children in the US each year. On many occasions, the parents take their kids to a dentist only when the tooth starts to give pain and have an infection.
The first case that proved how tooth infection could reach the brain was that of a twelve-year-old boy Deamonte Driver from Maryland. He died in 2007.
Later, in April 2016, a case reported at Huntington Beach, California-based dental clinic attracted every pediatric dentist and orthodontist’s attention. An eight-year-old girl had developed facial cellulitis due to an untreated tooth infection that had reached her face. Simply put, dental caries should not be ignored in kids.
Should Kids Undergo Intense Procedures? Which Is the Most Performed Procedure?
Saving baby teeth is as crucial as adult teeth because the loss of teeth can cause extreme pain, sleep deprivation, trouble speaking and eating, and an infection that can reach the tooth root. Thus, parents should not avoid intense dental treatments to improve their kid’s oral health.
A pulpectomy is one of the procedures performed. It involves removing the infected pulp and replacing the same with materials that can be reabsorbed by the body before the arrival of the permanent denticle.
Preventing all the trouble is simple, besides regular brushing with fluoride toothpaste; parents need to control their kid’s sugar intake.
Looking for the best Dentistry for Children in Roswell GA? If so, you should call to make an appointment with TruCare Dentistry.