If you are the parent of a young child, it is imperative that you take him or her to the dentist regularly. During dental checkups, a pediatric dentist is able to identify potential problems, such as weakened areas of tooth enamel, and advise preventive applications to help ensure that problems don't worsen into severe cases of decay. Here are two dental treatments that can be used to help prevent your child from developing cavities:
Dental Sealants
A dental sealant is a resin or plastic coating that can be applied to the teeth to prevent decay-causing agents, such as plaque and bacteria, from decaying the tooth enamel. When your child eats or drinks something that contains carbohydrates, he or she is feeding oral bacteria.
Oral bacteria feed on simple carbohydrate and release acid as a byproduct of glycolysis, which is their digestive process. The acid is demineralizing to tooth enamel. Thus, it dissolves important minerals in the enamel and promote decay.
A sealant coats the tooth so that the demineralizing acid is not able to damage your child's tooth enamel. This is important for back teeth with deep grooves in which plaque and oral bacteria can easily settle. The plaque, which consists of bacteria and particles of food, is sticky. So it has the ability to adhere to teeth and encourage demineralization.
Fluoride Treatments
Although your child's toothpaste may contain fluoride and the tap water in your area may be fluoridated, the concentration of fluoride may not be high enough to protect your child's teeth. Your child's dentist may prescribe an in-office fluoride treatment.
During the treatment, the dentist applies fluoride in the form of a varnish, solution, or gel directly to the teeth. Varnish is usually painted onto the teeth with a small brush. However, gels and solutions maybe applied using a mouth guard that the child keeps in his her her mouth for a prescribed amount of time, which is usually only a few minutes. Once the fluoride treatment is removed from the mouth, the dentist may ask that your child avoid food or beverages for about a half hour to allow the fluoride to effectively penetrate the pores of the teeth.
As fluoride coats your child's teeth, it draws dissolved calcium and phosphate back to the tooth enamel. There, it combines with these minerals to form a new dental compound that is even harder than your child's original enamel. Consequently, the new compound is more resistant to tooth decay.
To learn more preventive measures that can be used to protect your child's teeth, schedule a consultation with a dentist for children in your area.
Share8 March 2016
Halloween is a holiday that my children love, and telling them they can't go door-to-door collecting candy would break their hearts. This led me to allowing them to collect candy on the holiday, then rationing it out to them every day instead of letting them gobble it up in just a few days. I always thought this was better for them, but my dentist told me this could be the reason why their February dental check-ups were always their worst ones. Daily candy consumption was taking a toll on their teeth. I started a new tradition of letting them indulge for two days, then giving them the option to swap the rest with me in exchange for a new toy. They never pass on the opportunity for a new toy. I created this blog to encourage other parents find similar tactics to keep their children's teeth healthy after Halloween.