The Dentist and His Preventative Role

The world of dentistry has changed a lot in even the last decade as technological advancements have made it possible for more of your natural tooth to be saved when eradicating tooth decay than was possible even just a few short decade ago. The more of your natural tooth that can be saved, the more stability your tooth can retain, and the longer you can put off having to wear dentures, bridgework, or dental implants.

Today the goal for the dental care is a preventative one as much as it is a restorative one, and this preventative mindset starts by having children see the dentist at a younger age than generations past and get a better start on saving their teeth.

A few preventive dental procedures that most parents are familiar with include the use of fluoride rinse and tooth sealant for their young children, in addition to more education in oral hygiene aimed at the parents as well as young children themselves. Fluoride has been around for a while, and many cities used to have it in the city water supply to help reduce tooth decay. This was considered a very cost effective method to target almost every citizen since it cost less than a dollar a year per citizen to add fluoride to the water. Since not every city utilizes this program, it generally falls on the parent to ensure their child has access to fluoride which can be as easy as buying a bottle of bubblegum flavored fluoride rinse for their child and teaching them to rinse and spit it out at bedtime.

Other effective preventative methods that your child's dentist will endorse to help prevent tooth decay include tooth sealant. Tooth sealant works by having the dentist brush on the sealant which is a lot like a clear plastic on the adult molars when they first erupt between the ages of six to twelve. This acts as a barrier between food particular and bacteria and helps the tooth avoid all of the usual root causes of tooth decay.

Finally, your dentist is an excellent source of information to help you and your child learn about proper oral care before a tooth even erupts in baby's mouth. Yes, you do have to keep that one and only tooth clean even if they are not on solid foods, and the sooner you and your baby are used to the habit, the easier it is when they have a mouth of baby teeth to contend with. Your child is never too young to see the dentist, and dental care should be a part of their regular medical care as young as three years of age. Children who grow up familiar with the dental visit as a norm are less afraid of visits and are more educated when it comes to taking care of their own teeth.

The world of dentistry has changed for the better, so take advantage of those changes and help your child develop some solid habits.