215-493-9325Even though we lose our baby teeth, it is just as important to take care of them as it is to care for our permanent teeth. Baby teeth, called primary teeth, help a child to chew and speak normally. The primary teeth hold space in the jaw for the permanent adult teeth.
Soon after the primary teeth appear in a child’s mouth, cavities can occur. Childhood caries (commonly referred to as baby bottle tooth decay or nursing mouth syndrome) is caused by frequent and prolonged exposure of a baby’s teeth to liquids like milk, formula or fruit juice which all contain sugar. The tooth decay happens when a baby is put to bed with a bottle. Infants should finish their bottle before going to bed. It is also recommended that a child be encouraged to drink from a cup by their first birthday.
WAYS TO PREVENT DECAY IN BABY TEETH
- Sugary drinks should be limited. Don’t let your child sip sugary liquids, including juice, all day. Sugary drinks and sweets should be limited to mealtimes.
- Avoid giving your child chewy, sticky candy, cookies, chips and crackers. Choose healthy snacks like nuts, fruits and vegetables instead. A great website for ideas for healthy snacks and meals is myplate.gov or you can get the App called Start Simple with My Plate.
- Be sure to brush your child’s teeth after each meal. Try to floss your child’s teeth once a day to help them learn that flossing is part of a daily hygiene routine.
- If you do not have fluoride in your water, talk to your pediatrician about vitamins with fluoride.
- Take your child for preventive dental appointments every six months. At Dr. Prezioso’s office, children are always welcome to come with their parents at any age. We will give them rides in the dental chair and offer them prizes at the end of the appointments. We want them to be comfortable in our office. If a child needs to be seen for an emergency dental visit, please allow us to care for them. We see children for preventive appointments starting when they are about 2 1/2, but we are happy to work with them earlier if a parent wants us to. In the beginning, we will work slowly to clean and check their teeth so that they have a good experience at their dental visit.
As your child grows, their permanent teeth will come in starting around age six. When permanent molars erupt, we recommend having sealants placed on the biting surfaces of those teeth. It is better to prevent getting a cavity with a sealant than to treat decay after it has damaged the tooth structure. Sealants are a coating that fills the pits and grooves of the biting surface of molars to seal out bacteria that causes cavities. They are a Sealant are a simple, painless, and low-cost way to prevent cavities. They will lose their last baby tooth around age 12. Their last permanent teeth, the wisdom teeth, will erupt between the ages of 17 to 21.
When permanent teeth erupt, you will notice a change in your child’s smile. Sometimes, the teeth come together poorly causing a bad bite. Crowded teeth might keep the jaw from developing evenly, and the crowding makes it difficult to clean teeth and gums effectively which in turn can result in cavities or gingivitis. Severely out of line teeth may cause trouble with eating or speaking and may cause teeth to wear down quickly and unevenly. Having a bad bite corrected not only makes for better oral health, but also builds self-confidence in most children.
When your child is involved in sports, have a good fitting mouth guard made for them. Mouth guards will help cushion any blow to the mouth or heavy hit to prevent broken teeth, jaw injuries, or cuts to the lip and tongue. Mouth guards for contact sports is highly recommended and likely required, but parents should consider a mouth guard for non-contact sports like gymnastics, skateboarding, soccer, baseball, and basketball to prevent mouth and jaw injuries.