It goes without saying that, in order to maintain a healthy smile for life, it is important to stay on top of your oral health care. This is best achieved with a routine, and grins of all ages can benefit. When it comes to strength and protection from oral bacteria, Younger smiles need just as much care and attention as adult grins, if not more. But what exactly makes one routine more effective than another? In today’s blog, your Shirley, NY orthodontist and pediatric dentist discusses the important parts of a thorough preventive dental routine and explains how we can help your little one take better care of their grins.
At-Home Practices
Preventive care is an area of dentistry in which the primary objective is to keep harmful infections, diseases, and other threats from negatively affecting or harming your oral health. You see, oral bacteria like to lurk in the hard-to-clean areas of the mouth, and if they persist there, they produce destructive acids that eat away at your tooth’s natural structure. To help minimize the presence of plaque and other material that develops, you should be practicing a preventive routine that consists of brushing and flossing.
The same can be said about younger grins, and pediatric preventive strategies are similar to their adult counterparts. Your little one should be brushing their teeth at least twice daily and flossing between meals. To ensure they are doing this effectively, help encourage them to be excited about their smile health and take the time to teach them about effective brushing patterns and more.
Attending Routine Visits
In addition to at-home prevention, your little one’s smile should be assessed routinely in-office at heir bi-annual checkup and cleaning visits. During this visit, our team will take care to take x-rays of your little one’s oral cavity, perform a gentle but thorough cleaning of their oral structures, and examine the mouth for any signs of concern or new developments. We recommend starting bi-annual visits by the age of three years old, and encourage you to bring your child in for their first visit either by the sight of their first tooth or their first birthday, whichever occurs first. For more information about in-office visits, give our team a call today.
Treatment for Additional Strength
Because little grins are still developing, they sometimes need additional help to fend off oral health threats. Our office offers treatment such as dental fluoride to help strengthen their protective layer of dental enamel, as well as sealants to prevent bacteria from harboring in the crevices of your child’s molar teeth.
Schedule Your Little One’s Visit
It is never too early to start caring for your children’s smiles, and our team is here to help make that process as smooth as possible. Schedule your little one’s checkup today at Shirley Orthodontics & Pediatric Dentistry in Shirley, NY by calling (631) 399-1600.
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