Eva Lear
Just for a change this week, we’ve put together a few facts and figures about your child’s dental health that you might find interesting and which we hope will help you take even better care of their teeth and gums.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this is the percentage of kids aged between five and 19 who have untreated tooth decay. Tooth cavity is easily preventable, and having untreated cavities is unpleasant and uncomfortable at any age. One of the easiest ways to ensure your kid has healthy teeth is to make sure they brush with fluoride toothpaste twice a day for at least two minutes.
This is the percentage of children who visited a pediatric dentist in the past year. We highly recommend that parents and caregivers bring kids in to see us for twice yearly visits. This helps us detect any cavities, reducing the risk of your child ending up in that 17.5% figure.
Data for 2011 to 2012 shows that 43% of adolescents aged between 12 and 19 had dental sealants on at least one permanent tooth. Dental sealants are a very easy way to protect your kids back teeth and the best time to apply them is soon after their adult teeth have emerged and before any decay and infection can set in. This is because dental sealants are only applied to healthy teeth and as they are such an excellent and highly affordable preventive care it would be a shame for your kid to miss out.
This fact makes perfect sense and is why we suggest you bring your kid in for a visit by their first birthday. All that will happen is that Dr. Amy Lustbader or another of our dentists will take a quick look inside their mouth just to make sure everything looks normal and is developing properly. The great thing about early dental visits is that children can get to know our friendly dental team under happy circumstances. This is far less frightening than a child having to visit the dentist for the very first time when they are in pain. Instead they’ll get to realize that dental checkups are normal and nothing more than a routine part of life. Our pediatric dental office is designed to appeal to children with bright and colourful murals and plenty of toys to keep them entertained. You may even find they look forward to visiting us.
By roughly this age your child will have all their baby teeth in place and at this stage you should have a regular dental hygiene routine with them. Unfortunately we know children are sometimes reluctant to have their teeth cleaned so if you’re struggling please ask the Midtown Dental Group P.C. for help as we have a few tricks up our sleeve to make this twice daily event a lot less stressful for you both.
Children who have bad teeth may struggle with self-confidence levels and can be embarrassed to smile. Dental discomfort is never pleasant and this can distract them from doing their best at school. Good preventative dental care is easily available at the Midtown Dental Group P.C.; we will soon get your kid smiling and can show you both how simple yet effective childhood dental care can be.
