Should You Get Dental Sealant For Your Child's Baby Teeth?

Dentist Blog

If your dentist has ever recommended that your child get dental sealants, it might have come as a surprise. This technique can help to prevent cavities and other problems by creating an extra layer on the outside of your child's teeth. However, if your child still has their baby teeth, it might seem foolish to spend money on this before their adult teeth start to come in. Here's why it's actually pretty darn useful for baby teeth, too.

Prevents Unnecessary Dental Procedures

Although your child's baby teeth will eventually all fall out, they follow a very specific process to do so. When the body is ready for the new teeth to move in, the roots release and the top portion of the tooth falls out. This is very different from losing a tooth due to tooth decay. If your child develops a bad cavity in their baby teeth, they'll still need to have it drilled, or at worst, pulled. Since sealants are a painless and easy procedure for the patient, why not opt for that instead of potential serious dental care?

Prevents Gum Infections

When a tooth develops a cavity, bacteria can get into the tooth. This bacteria can travel up through the tooth into the gums, where it could cause a gum infection. These gum infections can not only be painful and scary for a child, but it can put all of your child's baby teeth at risk. If the gums become sick enough, they may not be able to support your child's teeth as they should, and getting periodontal care will be necessary.

Ensures Adult Teeth are Healthy

Finally, getting sealants will help to ensure that your child's adult teeth are healthy when they come in.

There are two reasons for this. One is that like with the gums, dental bacteria can potentially migrate into your child's gums and actually affect the health of your child's adult teeth before they come in.

Secondly, your child's body needs to have the baby teeth in place to act as a guide for where their adult teeth should go. If multiple teeth are forcibly removed, adult teeth can come in crooked, which means your child could end up needing braces later in life.

Dental sealants will require one visit to your child's dentist office and a little bit of money. It's a far preferable choice to having your child go through one or more dental procedures to fix damage that's due to problems with your child's baby teeth. Talk to a dentist and make an appointment to get dental sealants for your child. Visit a site like http://www.childrensdent.com for more information.

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4 October 2018

Dentistry for the Whole Family

Do you have a different doctor from your spouse? Does your child see a pediatrician? Most families have different medical health providers for different members of the family. This makes sense in most cases, but did you know that you can find a dentist who will treat every person in the family from a baby to a senior? I'm a manager or a family dentist, and in this blog you will learn why a family dentist is a great idea. I will tell you the many advantages of taking every family member to the same dentist, and I will give you tips of finding the right dental office for your family.