Thanks to the advances in modern medicine people are living many more years than they used to. Unfortunately, their teeth aren’t always as fortunate. This is mainly because the teeth don’t get the care they require from the very beginning. Adults often realize later in life that early dental care could have saved many of they teeth they lost or which eventually developed caries. This is where the care and counsel of a Pediatric dentist in Richmond VA can help. A pediatric dentist is trained to deal with young patients starting as early as infancy. Of course, half of the battle is getting new parents to realize that even infants need dental care.
Some of the most important steps that a pediatric dentist can perform for young patients and their mothers are simple assessments for the risk of caries in both parent and child. Proper treatment is important, especially when breastfeeding, because everything that affects the mother can also affect the child. Preventative treatments also include cleaning the young teeth and gum tissue. Such procedures help the dentist discover possible problems when your child is cutting teeth.
Some things that parents and children do can affect a child’s teeth much later in life. For instance, prolonged sucking on bottles or pacifiers can change the shape of the gum or jaw and alter the location of young teeth. Baby teeth have less to anchor them in place than permanent teeth, but their location will affect the placement of the adult teeth that eventually replaces them. Discuss the situation with your dentist to determine what options are available as alternatives to pacifiers.
Ensuring that your child has teeth that will survive a lifetime is just another part of parenting. One aspect of this project is teaching your children the responsibilities of proper oral care. Your pediatric dentist can help with this by explaining the various techniques and ensuring that the child is practicing them properly. Some children will discuss these hygiene methods with a dentist before talking to a parent about them. If you are looking for an excellent Pediatric dentist in Richmond VA be sure to contact Virginia Family Dentistry.
