Healthy Smiles for Life: Importance Of Early Dental Care For Kids
A lifetime of good oral health begins with children’s dental care. That’s why Westwood Dentistry offers pediatric dentistry in Westwood, Massachusetts, to establish a foundation for a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums. Our office has the right team and equipment to provide dentistry to your little one in a fun and relaxing environment. Whether it’s your child’s first dental appointment or routine oral wellness visits, rest assured they are in capable hands.
How do I care for my baby’s teeth?
Even if you don’t see them, babies are born with 20 primary teeth beneath the gum line. The first tooth typically emerges around six months, with most baby teeth becoming visible by age three. Primary teeth support optimal oral function and act as placeholders for permanent teeth, which erupt from age 6-7.
Caring for your baby’s oral health starts right after birth. Ensure your baby is evaluated by a lactation consultant for signs of full or partial tongue and lip tie. The tongue is an important muscle and plays a crucial role in nursing. A tongue and lip tie can hinder the baby’s nutrition and cause weight loss. An improper seal around the nipple while suckling can trap air and make the baby throw up or become colicky. Moreover, it’s painful for the mother as the baby tries to move the tongue and clamp down on the breast. Lastly, the tongue helps properly shape the palate, which affects the shape of the jaw and nasal area.
Even before the first tooth comes in, wipe your baby’s gums with a clean, wet cloth. Once the tooth erupts, gently brush it with a soft-bristled toothbrush and water. Your child could start using toothpaste at age two or when they can spit it out. Ingesting fluoride toothpaste can result in enamel changes like discoloration and pitting. Use a fluoride-free, SLS-free, and dye-free toothpaste if needed. Otherwise, brushing and flossing with drinking water should suffice.
Bringing your baby to a dentist before their first birthday and, ideally, before the first tooth erupts is essential. Dental exams allow us to monitor your child’s oral development. They also help to detect and treat oral issues before they progress and become hard to treat, especially tongue and lip-ties.
What are our pediatric dental services?
Caring for your baby’s teeth and gums is a team effort involving parents and pediatric dentists. This collaborative approach ensures that your child receives comprehensive and consistent dental care, laying a solid foundation for lifelong oral health.
We offer the following services to maintain your child’s optimal oral health.
- Routine exams: Regular pediatric exams are vital in detecting and treating dental issues before they progress and become hard to treat.
- Dental cleanings: Although your child flosses and brushes their teeth daily, reaching every corner of the mouth is nearly impossible. We offer gentle dental cleanings to remove built-in plaque and tartar.
- Developmental screenings: Early detection of improper jaw development can prevent tooth extraction during orthodontic and airway issues treatment.
- Myofunctional Therapy: Tongue and lip posture affect jaw development in children. Myofunctional therapy helps correct improper postures and swallowing patterns through various exercises.
- Ortho screenings: Early orthodontic evaluations detect and correct orthodontic issues promptly, avoiding the need for extensive treatments in the future.
- Restorative services: Our services include pediatric fillings, crowns, and extractions to restore damaged/decayed smiles. Often, such fillings can be done by a LASER and do not require numbing with novocaine.
- Space maintainers: A baby may need a space maintainer if they lose a primary (baby) tooth prematurely due to decay, injury, or other reasons. Losing a baby tooth so soon can cause the permanent tooth to erupt in the wrong position, leading to misalignment, crowding, and bite problems. In such instances, a space maintainer is fabricated and placed as a placeholder so that the permanent tooth has enough space to erupt.
- Frenectomy: A tongue or lip tie release (frenectomy) promotes better mobility of the restricted lip or tongue to restore oral function.
Why do baby teeth matter?
It’s a fact—baby teeth will eventually fall out. But does that mean we should let them rot away until permanent teeth come in? Like adults, healthy baby teeth are vital for chewing, speaking, aesthetics, and confidence.
Moreover, keeping baby teeth in place for as long as possible ensures your child’s permanent teeth are correctly aligned. Baby or deciduous teeth are vital in developing a child’s oral structure. They act as placeholders, maintaining the necessary space for permanent teeth as they form and grow in the jaw.
Premature loss of baby teeth can cause adjacent teeth to shift, impacting the proper eruption of permanent teeth. This can result in overcrowding, impaction, or misalignment of permanent teeth, requiring orthodontics and other treatments.
Do you need pediatric dentistry services?
Westwood Dentistry offers top-notch dental care services in the area—call (781) 514-6443 to schedule an appointment with our friendly team. We provide dental care to children of all ages, from infants to teens.
