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As a parent, you want your children to have the best opportunities available to them. You want them to be happy and of course, healthy as well. Part of keeping your children healthy involves having them see a dentist regularly. Here are some of the important questions that parents commonly have for pediatric dentists that you might want to keep in mind for your own child’s next appointment with the pediatric dentist in Irving, TX. When Should My Child Start Seeing a Dentist? There is some debate over this but the recommendation made by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry is that your child should see the dentist for the first time around the time their first teeth breaks through. Your child should be taken to see the dentist every 6 months after that on a regular schedule. How Important Are My Child’s Baby Teeth? Truthfully, many parents do not see the importance of baby teeth, since they fall out anyway and are replaced by permanent teeth. However, your child’s baby teeth are extremely important. As your child learns to chew solid foods and a variety of new foods throughout their earliest years, their baby teeth should be kept as healthy as possible to reduce the risk of damage and childhood health problems. How Often Should My Child See the Dentist? As mentioned above, your child should see the dentist every 6 months after the first tooth breaks through. This is imperative because you want to set a habit of your child seeing the dentist regularly. This will reduce the risk of your child having dental anxiety and start resisting dental visits because of their anxieties. For most people, it is easiest to have your child do their dental visits around the same time that you do yours so everybody is seen around the same time each year. This makes it easier to remember dental appointments. When Do I Start Brushing with Toothpaste? You should start brushing your child’s teeth with a small smear of toothpaste as soon as the first tooth makes its appearance. As long as your child is not swallowing a lot of toothpaste, they should be fine. Just smear a small amount of toothpaste until age 5, and then a spot of toothpaste about the size of a pea. Until about 5 years old, the importance of brushing teeth is as much about learning and getting into the habit than it is with keeping the teeth healthy. How Do I Prevent Tooth Decay? For many parents, tooth decay is a serious worry, as it should be. Tooth decay even in early childhood can lead to serious problems, with your teeth and overall health, later in life. Fortunately, there are some important things you can do to keep tooth decay at bay. For one thing, never give small children juice or sweetened drinks. If your child does go to bed with a bottle, make sure that it only has water in it. Your child’s mouth does not produce as much saliva during sleep and the mouth does not self-clean as much during this time. How Important Is Fluoride? Fluoride is one of the most essential elements of dental health care for children. If you do not have fluoridated drinking water in your location, make sure that you are brushing your teeth and your children’s teeth with fluoride toothpaste. Try as much as possible to avoid sodas and other drinks and drink an adequate amount of water. Making sure your child starts out with excellent dental care habits, such as seeing a pediatric dentist in Irving, TX early on, will ensure that they have a healthier, happier life later on. As a parent, there is nothing better you can ask for or give your children than that.
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