Kid-Friendly Dentist - A Preventative Approach to Child Tooth Decay

Dental decay is the most common disease in children worldwide, and it is completely preventable. As a parent, it is important to know good oral practices and the first signs of tooth decay in your child to prevent this from happening. A kid-friendly dentist will tell you that healthy oral hygiene habits in your children start as early as infancy with bottle feeding and continue until their permanent teeth come in. Paediatric dental decay can have tremendous consequences. If left untreated, it can lead to ailments such as malnourishment and bacterial infection.

 

Oral Health Habits leading to Dental Carries and Decay

 

    1. Nursing Bottle Syndrome: A common practice is to give a warm bottle for babies to fall asleep at night. Unfortunately, this practice causes a lot of damage to your child's teeth. This is because any liquid containing sugar, including milk or formula, will contribute to the development of dental caries. It's the sugar that feed the growth of bacteria on the teeth and ultimately degrades the teeth, which can lead to decay. 
    2. Decayed or Missing Baby Teeth: Baby teeth serve as the blueprint for adult teeth. When dental caries cause teeth to decay, this will impact the growth and alignment of the permanent teeth to follow. Misaligned teeth may prove it difficult for the child to maintain adequate oral hygiene practices, which can increase risk of tooth decay.
    3. Thumb Sucking: Although this can be a comforting habit to infants and children, it is important to remember that once permanent teeth start to emerge (around five years of age), prolonged thumb sucking can cause misalignment in the jaw and roof of the mouth.
    4. Poor Nutrition: Sugary drinks and snacks, especially sticky snacks such as granola bars, raisins, and other candies, cling to the tooth surface more easily and increase the risk of cavities and tooth decay. Instead, ensure that your children eat a variety of vegetables and fruit and clean teeth after every meal and snack.

 

How to Prevent Tooth Decay in Children

 

  1. Regular dental checkups: Children should start their regular dental visits by one year of age. This is to identify any existing damage to teeth in addition to education regarding proper oral care habits for kids. In addition to dental checkups, make sure to check your child's teeth regularly for brown spots close to the gum line; this is the first sign of demineralization. In other words, this is what happens when calcium and phosphate leach out ­– a sign of tooth decay.
  2. Good Nutrition Habits: Excessive intake of sugary snacks and drinks increases the risk of bacterial growth and subsequent tooth decay. Focus on feeding kids a variety of foods from all four food groups. Clean teeth after meals and snacks that contain large amounts of starchy foods.
  3. Supervised Brushing: It is important to supervise your child as they practise oral hygiene habits until they are capable to do so on their own. Fluoridated toothpastes are recommended to prevent future cavities for all ages.  Babies' and toddlers' teeth can be cleaned by parents using a pea-sized amount of toothpaste.  Use non-fluoridated children’s toothpaste until they can spit properly

 

By ensuring checkups at your family’s kid-friendly dentist remain consistent as well as other proper oral care habits, you can prevent dental caries and tooth decay in your children, setting them up for success later in life. 

Dr. Choo’s Services

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Family Dentistry

From newborns with their first teeth, to teenagers with braces, to adults with cosmetic dental needs to older patients with dentures, our clinic offers the good dental heath that is important at every stage of life.

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Paediatric Dentistry

Welcome to our kids’ smile corner. Good habits need to be started at an early age in order for us to keep our teeth for a lifetime.

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Gum Therapy

It is estimated that more than half of all adults age 35 and older have early to advanced stages of periodontal disease. Periodontal disease (PD) is the primary cause of lost teeth after the age of 35 – not dental cavities.

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Cosmetic Dentistry

Have you ever wondered if it was possible to fix that chip in your tooth, fill that gap, or have whiter, straighter teeth? Ever wonder how much time and effort it would take? Most dental solutions only take a few appointments, some can be achieved in one.

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Digital radiographs processed in one second, whiter teeth in an hour, 3D imaging, porcelain crowns in one appointment – these are just some of the exciting dental innovations our office has incorporated to better serve you.

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