When Should My Child Begin Having Routine Dental Visits?

Good oral health is key for good overall health, even for children. Kids with poor oral health are likely to have lower grades and miss more school than those who practice oral hygiene and see their dentist regularly. 

When your child visits the dentist regularly, your dentist can identify problems in their earliest stages. Treating cavities and crowded teeth as soon as possible increases the likelihood of a good outcome and is usually less expensive.

As part of Children’s Dental Health Month, our expert dentist and orthodontist, Nisha Modi, DMD, and our entire Miracle Smile Dental team in Aubrey, Texas, want your kids to have the best start possible to a lifetime of good oral health. We’ve created this brief guide to help.

When should you bring your kids in to see us? Good oral health starts with preventive care from birth.

Even gums need care

When you bring your newborn home from the hospital, you’re probably glad they don’t have teeth if you’re nursing. Nevertheless, those little gums need oral care, too.

After feeding your baby — whether by breast or bottle — clean their gums. Just moisten a baby washcloth and gently wipe their gums clean of milk or formula. Sugar, including the natural sugar in milk, doesn’t just cause cavities but also irritates gums.

Never put your baby to bed with a bottle, either. Each time they feed, give their gums a gentle wipe.

First tooth, first dental visit

When your baby’s first tooth appears, it’s time for the dentist! If your baby is late in cutting their teeth, bring them in before their first birthday.

Strange as it may seem, even baby teeth may develop cavities. If your child’s oral health is poor, a baby tooth can come in with a cavity already present. Cavities can develop in teeth before they erupt.

You may think baby teeth aren’t that important; after all, they’ll soon get replaced by permanent teeth! But baby teeth are placeholders for permanent teeth. If your child loses one or more baby teeth to cavities and decay, their permanent teeth may grow crooked.

Early dental care alleviates anxiety

Early dental care has another important function in addition to ensuring the health of your child’s first tooth, incoming new teeth, and gums. The sooner your child makes regular visits to the dentist, the less likely they are to develop anxieties and fears related to dental care.

Dr. Modi and our trained staff make the littlest visitors feel welcome in our offices. We help your child feel relaxed and calm, whether they need a filling or a checkup.

You can even help your child look forward to the dentist between visits. Play “dentist” with their stuffed animals or dolls. You might buy some toy toothbrushes and toothpaste for their toys so they can keep them cavity-free while learning to care for their teeth.

Avoid sugars

A critical component of oral health is being aware of what your kid is eating and drinking so that you can control the amount of sugar they consume. Not only is excess sugar consumption linked to childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes, it also raises their risk for cavities.

Encourage your child to drink water rather than soda, fruit juices, or flavored drinks. Guide them toward a whole-food diet, with plenty of fibrous vegetables and fruits that are vitamin-rich and low in sugar.

Teach them the habit of rinsing after they eat or drink if they don’t have access to a toothbrush. Encourage twice-daily cleaning with a soft toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste as soon as their first tooth comes in.

Take advantage of sealants

After your kid is school-age and has all their baby molars, consider using sealants to protect against cavities. Sealants protect your kids’ chewing surfaces from food particles and bacteria.

Sealants protect against 80% of cavities for the first two years of application. They offer about 40% protection for the next two years as well. Among kids aged 6-11, those without sealants have three times the number of first cavities in their molars than kids who received sealants.

To book your child’s first or next preventive care visit, call our team today at 469-765-3567 or use our convenient online scheduling tool.