Dental Care for Your Kids. Part 2
Filed under Daily Teeth Care
Permanent Teeth
About the time your child turns five, he will start the process of losing his baby teeth, and permanent teeth will emerge. The timing for this varies for each child. Generally, if your child had teeth early as a baby, you can look for the permanent teeth to appear early as well. A common situation I have seen with kids this age is when permanent teeth erupt prior to the loss of the baby teeth. If this is the situation with the bottom teeth, encourage your child to wiggle and loosen the baby teeth on his own. If this occurs with the upper teeth, you should consult your dentist, as the placement of the permanent tooth could be affected.
Once all the permanent teeth are in place, you should speak to your dentist about having a dental sealant applied. This has been shown to be effective in protecting the permanent teeth from decay.
Dental Emergencies
As with most things in life — prevention is always the goal. Encourage your children to use mouth protection if your child is involved in sports. You can talk to your dentist about the proper appliance for your child. However, accidents still will happen.
*If your child breaks a tooth or loses a tooth — CONTACT YOUR DENTIST IMMEDIATELY. Keep the mouth clean. Apply ice if there are signs of swelling.
*Should your child complain of a toothache, have your child rinse with warm water. Try flossing in the event the pain is caused by something lodged between the teeth. If the pain persists, call your dentist.
*If your child cuts his tongue, gums, lips, etc … understand it usually appears worse than it is. The mouth is a wet environment; it may appear to be bleeding profusely. Rinse the mouth with water. Apply ice (ice pops work great with little ones), if the bleeding does not slow down, call your dentist or go to the emergency room.
Orthodontics
The ADA states: “It is recommended that every child receive an orthodontic evaluation by age seven” to identify any orthodontic problems. The ADA defines orthodontic problems as malocclusion. “Some examples or causes of malocclusion are crowded teeth, extra teeth, missing teeth or jaws that are out of alignment. Most malocclusions are inherited, although some can be acquired. Acquired malocclusions can be caused by accidents, early or late loss of baby teeth, or sucking of the thumb or fingers for a prolonged period of time.” Today there are many options available in terms of types of orthodontics or braces. Generally, the duration of treatments is about 24 months — but this varies depending on extent of correction needed and compliance of patient.
An excellent source of information is the American Dental Association. If you need help locating a dentist in your area or would like additional information on this topic, you can visit their Web site at www.ada.org.
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