We offer care for the entire family, and that includes your children! With pediatric dentistry, we can help babies, toddlers, and even older kids and teens maintain their best smiles. In today’s blog, your Rochester, MN, dentist talks about our gentle and comprehensive approach to children’s dentistry.
Kids Need Dental Care Too
From the moment a child’s first primary tooth erupts, the risk of cavities is present. In fact, baby bottle tooth decay is common in situations where babies and toddlers are allowed to fall asleep with a bottle of milk or juice. Which is why kids need routine dental care at all ages. You should bring your children in for a visit once the first baby tooth erupts. Following this wellness visit, we will likely schedule routine checkups and cleanings every six months starting at around age two. A checkup allows us to monitor the smile for the earliest signs of trouble, protecting smiles from decay, infection, and premature tooth loss. We also clean the teeth, a process that removes all plaque and tartar to safeguard little smiles against decay and tooth loss.
Preventing Cavities
Along with regular checkup and cleaning visits, we also have preventive care to help lower the risk of cavities forming in little smiles. During each checkup appointment, our team can apply a topical fluoride gel to the teeth. Fluoride then strengthens the outer enamel and helps lower the risk of cavities forming. For this reason, kids should also use fluoride toothpaste when they brush in the ring and at night. Kids three and younger need a rice sized amount, kids over the age of three need a pea sized amount.
We also have dental sealants. For children, reaching the rear teeth when brushing and flossing is difficult, which means these portions are more vulnerable to tooth decay and infection. However, with dental sealants we can apply a special plastic coating to the teeth that prevents particles of food and drink from being trapped between these teeth. These sealants are easy to place and coat the teeth for up to ten years in some cases.
Fillings
When a cavity forms in a smile, we could offer treatment that looks natural and blends with the smile. Instead of metal fillings, we apply a composite resin option that is metal-free and can be shaded to match the tooth, too.
TALK TO YOUR ROCHESTER, MN DENTIST ABOUT PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY
Our team wants to help protect little smiles with pediatric dental care! If you would like to find out more about helping your kids enjoy optimal oral health, or if you wish to book an appointment at our location, call Greenview Cosmetic And Family Dentistry in Rochester, MN at (507) 281-3659.
