31 Oct Early dental care for kids for optimal dental health throughout their lives
A big reason why many of us put off dental visits is because a large number of adults suffer with dental anxiety. This anxiety may make them incredibly tense and worried prior to even a basic visit to the dentist. It may even make them skip key dental treatments until an emergency visit to the dentist is needed and many times that means the outcome is less than ideal.
Research says that the basis of dental anxiety is a negative dental experience early in life and often it is from the first few visits to a dental office. That is why it is best for parents to normalize everything about dental care as early as possible, including daily home dental care and periodic paediatric dentist visits.
How to Ensure Life-Long Dental Health: Start Early
Your children are born with the “buds” of their teeth buried in their soft gum tissue. Those healthy and pink gums need care just as much as those first teeth yet to emerge will, and so you will want to introduce kids to dental care early. Before the age of 18 months, a soft brush with some warm water is usually enough, and after that, a small amount of fluoride toothpaste is used to cleanse the teeth and gums twice daily.
Parents must never make dental care a tense or scary issue, and so beginning early with that regular routine helps. Parents will be the first to gently cleanse the gums and teeth (it is best to stand or sit behind a child and cup their little chin with one hand while doing the gentle brushing with the other), but soon your child will be sure they can do it themselves!
The First Paediatric Dentist Visit
Generally, dental professionals in Sydney recommend that a child’s first dentist visit occurs around the time of their first birthday. This will be an important experience and you will want to work with a dentist in the Sydney area that has experience working with children. They should make the visits fun, gentle and super-fast so that a child trusts and enjoys the experience.
At each visit, the dentist will examine the child’s teeth and gums along with the development of the head, discuss behaviours like thumb-sucking or nail biting and help educate both parents and kids about dental care.
Remember that children emulate their parents, and so you too may want to be sure that you are brushing, flossing and rinsing twice daily as well as going for a visit to your dentist. This proves to your kids that you truly believe that dental visits are important and so is the at-home dental care daily routine.
Quay Dental, in the Sydney Central Business District area, offers highly experienced dentists for adults and children alike. We cover a wide range of treatments from general dentistry to emergency care. We are a BUPA Platinum and Medibank Private Member’s Choice Advantage Provider. If you would like to know more about our services, how to introduce your child to dental care, or what the best schedule for visits might be, while working with a premier dentist in Sydney, contact the office today. You can also book online.
Source
https://raisingchildren.net.au/toddlers/health-daily-care/dental-care/dental-care-toddlers