When you have a child, you want to ensure that you care for them in the best possible way. For many parents, this will mean feeding them well, taking them to the proper doctor’s appointments, and giving them plenty of love, safety, stability, and attention. In every case, dental health care will also need to factor into the picture. After all, as dentists know, the care and keeping of one’s teeth is a hugely important thing indeed.
For adults, seeing dentists on a regular basis is likely to be something of a habit. See dentists twice a year and brush your teeth every day, twice a day, floss at least once in that span of time. Dealing with dental health issues is also common for adults, among whom more than 90% have developed at least one cavity, if not even more than that. Tooth decay is also hugely prevalent, up to 20 times more commonplace than developing diabetes, an illness that itself has skyrocketed and become ever more prominent over the course of recent years.
The care and keeping of your children’s teeth is just as important as the care and keeping of your own. While you might not think that this is the case due to the fact that all children will eventually and ultimately lose their baby teeth, it very much is. After all, the care and keeping of the baby teeth and their overall health will directly impact the overall health of the adult teeth that start to come in during childhood, typically around the age of six (though this is something that will certainly vary from child to child). By caring for your child’s teeth is a way that is comprehensive and careful, you can help to ensure that they face minimal dental concerns with their adult teeth later on in life.
And poor oral health can have a lasting impact on other parts of a child’s life. For instance, missing school due to poor oral health and the pain that it often leads to is a very real problem all throughout the United States. As a matter of fact, all data collected on this subject quite clearly shows that kids who do not get the proper dental care are actually up to three times as likely to be missing out on school days than children who DO get that necessary dental care. This means that the former children are not able to get the full learning experience in far too many cases. In total, after all, dental related issues and illnesses alone have actually led to up to 51 million missed hours of school – and that’s just over the course of a typical year in this one country alone.
But what does this care look like? Much as your own dental care encompasses a number of different facets, so too will the dental care for your child. For instance, dentists will play a critical role in your child’s oral health. Many dentists recommend that children be seen by family dentists by the time that they are two. Some dentists will even recommend earlier visits closer to the child’s first birthday. Visiting dentists will allow your child to become used to them and the typical dental appointment. This makes it far more likely that your child will continue to see dentists throughout their adult years as well, though they will certainly graduate from pediatric dentists and move up to dentists more focused around adult dental care and dental health.
Simply teaching them good oral care is just as important as seeing dentists. Brushing teeth should begin at an early age, though it is recommended by many dentists that toothpaste without fluoride be used until your child is capable of spitting out the toothpaste instead of swallowing it. For many children, this will occur at some point during their second year. Flossing is another important dental habit – and one that far too many people neglect, to say the very least on the subject matter. Flossing regularly can help to promote gum health, which is a key facet of overall oral well-being.