It is a common misconception that baby teeth shouldn’t be cared for because they will “eventually fall out”. The truth is a visit to the dentist when your baby turns one will set the tone for his dental health throughout his life. Primary teeth care is very important in preparation for adult teeth. Also, cavities can develop throughout the 6 years before kids start losing their milk teeth.
Why prevention is important?
The importance milk teeth have in preparing for a lifetime of good oral health is the main reason parents should schedule an early dental visit. That visit will be a casual one, where your pediatric dentist will lead a general examination of your child’s teeth and guide you towards some preventative measures and the development of good oral habits. The dentist will assess the risk for tooth decay, show you proper teeth cleaning, give you nutritional guidelines and recommend fluoride application.
Identifying Tooth Decay
A dentist visit at age one will lead to identifying the risk of tooth decay and its development. Patterns of tooth decay can be identified, such as Bottle Tooth Decay which is mainly caused by the bottle babies have at sleep time. The milk contains natural or added sugars (if formula). There is also all the juices that babies have. That type of decay normally occurs during the second year of a baby’s life.
Moreover, dental professionals now use the term Early Childhood Caries (ECC) to indicate a larger concept of tooth decay in kids. ECC includes cavities associated with sugars. These include continuous use of a “Sippy-cup,” at-will breast-feeding throughout the night, use of a sweetened pacifier or the regular use of sugar-based oral medicine to treat chronic illness.
ECC develops fast and starts by affecting the upper front baby teeth and the primary molars.
So make sure you schedule that visit. Your pediatric dentist will surely make it fun and your child will not feel a thing!
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