Dental care extends far beyond the dental office visits. Schedule a dental visit for your child with a pediatric dentist Ridgewood valley, to ensure good dental health for your child. It is important to take your child for the first visit before the first year. This is when the pediatric dentist will carefully check the teeth, the gums, the jaw and the oral tissues of your child to ensure everything is in order. On the first visit, the dentist may even perform a gentle dental cleaning to clear any stains and dental plaque buildup. Please remember that you should prepare your child for the first visit. If you are taking a preschooler or an older child to the dentist you should explain to them the importance of these regular checkups and also the importance of regular dental hygiene habits at home.
Protecting your child’s teeth at home is of primordial importance. For example, even before the teeth come in you should regularly clean the gums using a damp cloth. Then, when the first tooth appears, you can already start gentle brushing. You need to be careful and use a small brush with very soft bristles. Use an extremely small amount of toothpaste which is fluoride free. For children 3+ years old, you can already start using toothpaste with fluoride content, because the child can already learn to rinse and spit out the toothpaste. Contact a pediatric dentist ridgewood valley for any question or concern you may have regarding proper dental care of small children. You can also schedule an appointment for a full dental checkup.
Some other helpful tips to help protect your child’s teeth at home:
- It is a wise option to avoid offering your child a bottle of juice or sweetened milk before bedtime. This will help preventing baby bottle dental decay. You should also avoid giving the bottle of sweetened beverage before nap time.
- Up until your child reaches the age of 6 or 7 you should help with the brushing process. Ensure that brushing is performed correctly, without missing teeth. You should also ensure that your child rinses and spits the toothpaste afterwards. Many parents use the show and tell method of brushing the teeth, so that the little ones can copy the correct pattern of dental hygiene at home.
