Most Americans care a great deal about the condition of their teeth, since a healthy mouth of teeth means a great smile and (typically) lower risks of tooth infection or similar problems. So, millions of Americans visit dentists every year for care, and parents can and should start taking their young ones to kids dentists and family dentist offices. Children need proper dental care just as much as their parents do, and good dental habits and regular visits to kids dentists allows a child to grow up with great dental health. A youth can also be taught good self-care for their teeth, so they may grow up with good dental care habits. When might parents need to find pediatric dentists nearby? They can conduct a search when the family moves to a new area, or when the child first becomes old enough to start seeing the dentist (often age two).
Finding Kids Dentists Nearby
Parents with trustworthy personal references may find it easy to locate pediatric dentists offices or family dentists, but in other cases, they will need to start a search online to narrow down their list of options. This is especially prudent in large cities such as Los Angeles or Boston or Miami, where many family and pediatric dentists can be found. So, the parents can specify in their search that they want to find pediatric or family dentist, and most often, the parents can add “best” or “top rate” to find the best regarded dentists around. This can help them avoid dentist offices with mediocre to poor ratings, and thus speed up the process. The seeker can also add their city name and/or ZIP code to keep the results even more local. For example, the search can look like “best pediatric dentists boston MA” and add the ZIP code. A search like this may bring up many results.
To narrow things down further, the parent can strike out kids dentists that are deemed too far away, those that aren’t accepting new patients, or those that don’t accept the parent’s health insurance policy. Now, the parents can compile a short list of promising candidates, and start touring those kids dentists or pediatric dentist offices in person to get a fair impression of what each one is like. During this visit, the parents can consult the staff working there, from the dentists themselves to the assistants and technicians, to review their credentials and review what sort of procedures are available there. During a repeat visit, the parents are encouraged to bring along their child, so that youngster can form their own impression and the parents can double-check whether the child feels comfortable there. This process may be done any number of times until an ideal kids dentists office is found.
Pediatric Dental Work
Children aged two and up should be taken regularly to the dentist, such as once or twice per year. Children can undergo routine checkups and cleaning, and they can have X-rays taken of their teeth, too. A pediatric dentist can tell the parents roughly when the child’s adult teeth will start growing in, and the child can also be taught all kinds of safe health habits for their teeth. In fact, the child might be given sample tooth brushes and tooth paste. Besides that, the child may have sealant put on their teeth to reinforce them, though children should be careful to not swallow any of the sealant material.
Children do not always diligently brush their teeth, unfortunately, and many children today have at least one cavity by the time they start kindergarten. Statistics also show that most American youths have had at least one cavity by age 18, but the odds of that can be lowered for any child. All kids are encouraged to brush their teeth after every meal and limit their intake of sugary food or candy, and the child might even use mouthwash or floss as well, if they have adult supervision. Meanwhile, children should be discouraged from chewing hard items, such as ice cubes, which can crack or wear down the enamel. Also, kids (and for that matter, adults) can and probably should use mouth guards when playing sports such as football, soccer, or hockey to prevent blunt trauma to the teeth.
