Dental Visits before Age One

Dental Visits before Age One

A lot of children see the dentist before they turn 1, and some go when they are 1. But, why is that so important. The biggest thing is of course, the cycle of tooth decay. These conditions do create a cycle of events in a lot of babies that create oral health, decay causing bacteria, and of course sugars that produce acid, and in most cases will slowly demineralize the teeth and cause cavity.  This of course will cause cavities and tooth decay over time.

Because all of these different conditions must be there for the cavity to form, there are of course opportunities for infection, which of course come from the elimination of the bacteria through oral care, reducing the frequency due to dietary changes, and of course make the teeth more resistant with fluoride.

The age one visits help with seeing any of these risks in the children and can help the caregivers give the proper experience to the child’s teeth. Until a child is 7, an adult need s to brush their teeth. Parents can allow the child to brush their own teeth, but they need to help at least once a day, brushing for two minutes in order to properly help with cleaning and is great for helping them learn these skills. From there, you can do it either with a cloth if the teeth aren’t there, or a small toothbrush.

Dental professionals also talk about the right kinds of food to help prevent tooth decay. Cereals, fruit juices, and other snacks aren’t that good, since they contain a lot of sugars.  Granola bars, cereals, and crackers can build up over time. Regardless of if it contains preservatives or chemical sugars, the bacteria will metabolize in order to create acid. Parents are advised to avoid giving their children sugary foods to much, especially if sugar is the second ingredient which is listed.

You want to make sure you help your child produce as much saliva as much as you can, since it will neutralize the calcium and the fluoride within this in order to protect along with reverse the tooth decay. This takes time though, about two hours for it to do. So stop snacking every hour, since it can impact the salvia development.

In terms of feeding, breastfeeding is highly recommended for those children who don’t have good oral health. Breast milk doesn’t promote tooth decay any more than other fermentable carbs. But, if the child has other liquids, this can actually cause the baby to possibly be at risk for tooth decay. Baby bottles that are used by parents and caregivers that are used to stop with fussing and crying should be lessened as much as you can, since this can cause the production of acid to form in the mouth, and you should limit baby bottles to mealtimes as well.

Pacifiers that are dipped throughout the day in sweeteners, including corn syrup, jam, or sugar should be reduced as well, since this will cause more bacteria to form in the mouth.  You should as a parent learn to reduce the instance of sugar in the body, and you’ll be pretty happy with the results that come from this, since it can help you reduce the instance of these sugars from coming forward, and it can easily make things better for you and the child as well.