Most reasonable people agree that routine dental care and proper care for teeth and gums in general is an essential part of personal hygiene and everyday maintenance. For some reasons though, many parents don’t think this notion extends to their young children, perhaps because they assume their baby teeth will fall out anyway or they’re not old enough for it to matter much. These are wrong assumptions to make and need to be dispelled.
Pediatric dentistry services or childrens dentistry is important to begin at an early age for health, aesthetics, and prevention purposes. Tooth decay is a serious problem among many young children. In fact, tooth decay is five times more common than asthma, twenty times more common than diabetes, and occurs four times more often than early-childhood obesity. Here are three other reasons why pediatric dentistry services are crucial for every parent to consider.
- Experts Recommend Early Start: Often times it’s best to listen to the experts when it comes to personal health, and in this case attaining a beautiful smile. Most dentists recommend parents take their kids to the dentist by the time they’re one year old, or when their first tooth tooth breaks through the gums. Primary teeth typically start to form around six months old.
- Establish Future Habits: Starting a child on an early pediatric dentistry services routine means they will grow up seeing it as an important aspect of their everyday lives. It’s estimated that nearly one out of every five American children have untreated cavities, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The rate is 19.5% for kids between ages two and five and 22.9% in kids between six and 19. The only way to counteract these numbers is through consistent upkeep and maintenance. Approximately 78% of all children will have a cavity by the time they’re 17 years of age.
- Could Alert You to Other Conditions: In addition to keeping kids teeth clean and attractive looking throughout childhood and beyond, pediatric dentistry services are great for alerting parents to potential oral health problems before they become more serious issues. According to the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools, students lose more than 51 million school hours every year because of illnesses related to dental problems.
Proper oral health starts the minute teeth first break through and doesn’t end until they’re gone, and even then you still have gum/oral health to worry about. Start your kids on the right foot and take advantage of pediatric dentistry service as soon as possible.