The Perfect Time for Your Child’s Pediatric Dental Visit

The key to taking care of your child’s teeth is to start even before the first tooth comes in. As an infant you can begin cleaning your child’s gums with a rubber toothbrush that fits over the finger like a glove and baby toothpaste that you can find at most local pharmacy stores or grocery stores. Caring for your child’s gums is something that you should do on a daily basis in order to prevent damage to the gums and to the teeth whenever they start to come in.

Establish a Daily Feeding Routine

A daily routine for bottle feeding is something that you will want to have established, because the amount of time your child spends with a bottle will determine the health of the gums and the teeth. If a child spends too much time with a bottle in his/her mouth it could be bad for the development of the teeth and the health of the gums.

Avoid or limiting Sweets

Too much milk can not only be harmful to a child’s tooth and gum development, but so can the sugary juices and sweets that you give your child. Cavities come quickly when a child eats too many sweets or drink juices that contain a lot of sugar in them. Brushing the teeth and gums after consuming sweets and sugary drinks should help to keep up with the overall health of the inside of your child’s mouth.

It is important that you as a parent help your child in developing healthy teeth and gum caring habits as early as possible to ensure that they keep these habits as they age.

The First Dental Visit

Richard Baxter, a pediatric dentist in Birmingham, AL says, “in the majority of cases, when your baby gets his or her first tooth, you may not even consider cleaning that one small tooth. Your doctor will generally recommend that you take your child in for their first visit to the dentist between the ages of 6 months to 1 year old; generally the sooner the better. When you take your child in to the dentist at an early age it helps them to become familiar with the dentist and develop trust and confidence in getting the checkups. You can start helping your child to get used to dental visits by playing dentist at home. You can use pretend dental tools or check your child’s teeth much like how the dentist would so that they do not go into the office afraid of getting a checkup. Also let your child check your teeth so that they might find it fun and entertaining to do. Playing dental games is certain to get rid of some of that anxiety that a child might experience on a first dental visit.

Finding the Right Dentist for your Child

It is important that you find a pediatric dentist for your child that not only you will be comfortable with, but that your child will be comfortable with as well. You can look at online reviews for various dental offices that are local to where you reside. See what others are saying about their child’s dentist so that it will be easier to choose an ideal dentist for your own child.