The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) and the American Dental Association recommend a childโs first dental visit take place at the eruption of the first tooth or by the childโs first birthday.
Why?
The first visit can help find problems EARLY and help kids get used to visiting the dentist so they'll have less fear about going as they get older.
Dental Care is Crucial During the First Year of Life
Proper care for baby teeth is imperative as they serve several critical functions, including:
Fostering good nutrition by permitting proper chewing
Aiding speech development
Helping proper development of permanent teeth by saving space for them
Baby teeth are vulnerable to tooth decay from their very first appearance, on average between the ages of six and 12 months.
The associative pain of tooth decay can prevent a child from eating correctly, impacting overall health and development. Additionally, undetected and untreated tooth decay can lead to infection, loss of teeth and expensive and mostly preventable emergency and restorative interventions.
A scientific paper in the journal Pediatric Dentistry revealed that children who wait to have their first dental visit until age two or three are more likely to require restorative and emergency visits.
At TBDC, we spend a lot of time demonstrating proper brushing and flossing techniques so that parents/caregivers can maintain good oral hygiene at home. Consistency is very important!
๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐พ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ก ๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐จ:
1. ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐. Schedule a dental visit for your child as early as a tooth erupts or by your childโs first birthday. The earlier you start, the earlier they learn.
2. ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ต ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ, ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ.
When your child does start growing teeth, they will not have the motor skills to use a toothbrush so you will have to brush their teeth for them.
When the child is able to hold a toothbrush on their own, guide the toothbrush around their mouth with your own hand to get them used to the proper technique. Brushing with them in this way makes it a learning activity that you can do together.
When the child is able to brush their own teeth effectively, brush your own teeth beside them to make it something that you can do together twice a day. ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅโ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ.
3. ๐๐น๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐โฆ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐!
When your child has more than one tooth, itโs important to start flossing them. Those INTERDENTAL areas cannot be reached by toothbrush bristles! Clean them well to prevent KISSING CAVITIES.
4. ๐ก๐ผ ๐ป๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด!
Napping or sleeping with juice or milk can cause childhood decay due to the sugar from the liquids staying in direct contact with the teeth for prolonged periods.
5. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐๐.
Thumb-sucking and pacifiers can create crowded, crooked teeth or bite problems.
6. ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐.
Avoid giving your child treats that are sour (high in acidity, which erodes tooth enamel), sticky or chewy (leaves sugars directly on the teeth for prolonged periods).
Itโs never too early to establish good dental hygiene habits, which can contribute to a long and healthy life for both you and your children.