When should I schedule my child’s first dental appointment with a kids dentist in Lehi? Are my kid’s teeth developing correctly? Will my children need braces growing up? How soon should I have them brushing and flossing their teeth?
Many parents grapple with such questions as they don’t always know how much dental care their children need. While they know they should prevent cavities, they are not always clear on what to do. Here are some pointers to ensure that your kids have strong and healthy teeth.
1. It’s never too early to start.
Most parents wait until the first tooth appears to induct their kids into a dental care routine. Unfortunately, that is wrong. Even though you can’t see the baby’s teeth, they are most certainly there.
At birth, your child has 20 primary teeth since they start forming in the second trimester of the pregnancy. They are all stacked in the child’s jaw, waiting to pop out at around six months. As such, it’s vital that you keep the baby’s gums in excellent condition from the very start.
That entails running a damp washcloth over their tiny gums as it helps to clear away the harmful bacteria. Most importantly, you need to be careful when feeding the baby with the bottle. See, letting the baby fall asleep with the bottle in the mouth harms their teeth.
It leads them to develop a bottle mouth, a condition characterized by pitted, pocked, or discolored front teeth. Left unchecked the disease leads to deep cavities that might force you to pull out the front teeth.
2. Make it a family affair.
It’s only natural for kids to copy and emulate their parents, and you can use this to further the dental care agenda. When your kids are old enough to hold a toothbrush, you can make a big deal out of brushing your teeth. You can have everyone in the household do it at the same time.
As long as a child is below the age of eight, you should not allow them to brush their teeth unsupervised. Making it a group affair lets you kill two birds with one stone. You get to make the entire exercise enjoyable for them while making sure they clean their teeth properly sans swallowing the toothpaste.
You can incorporate many games into your brushing routing to entice your kids to uphold and enjoy brushing and flossing their teeth. The key here is to make brushing a fun and enjoyable exercise for the child. If you do this correctly, you can be sure they won’t put up any resistance or throw tantrums ever again.
In the race to keep your kids’ teeth healthy and strong, a good offense makes the best defense. You need to roll out a dental care routine as soon as the baby comes home. That helps to keep the gums healthy, which in turn keeps the developing teeth healthy.
A regular brushing routine keeps the harmful bacteria at bay to prevent tooth decay and tooth loss. Incorporating songs and games into the brushing routine makes it fun and enjoyable for the kids.
