Children’s Care
Sealants and Fluoride Treatment
How Fluoride Treatment And Dental Sealants Protect Kids
Fluoride treatments are used to keep enamel strong. This mineral helps a tooth recover faster from damage that could grow into tooth decay. When administered by their dentist, a fluoride treatment will make it less likely that a tooth will develop a cavity.
Meanwhile, dental sealants act as a barricade to keep harmful microbes and food debris off of enamel. Once placed, this thin material will create a new protection level that bacteria will have to work through before making contact with a child’s enamel. The good news is that even as sealants wear away, they can remain in the grooves between the cusps of back teeth, spaces that are often harder for kids to keep clean.
Aging is hard enough without oral health complications. By investing in your child’s preventive dental care, you may avoid tooth decay in their later years, leaving their smile healthy and comfortable.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s dental care, feel free to call our office today!
Space Maintainers
Your child’s baby teeth have some significant responsibilities. Until the adolescent years, they will not only help your youngster bite and chew and speak correctly but also help guide the permanent teeth underneath them into proper position. A primary function of baby teeth is to hold space for the adult teeth to push them out eventually.
Sometimes, however, injury or disease can cause a baby tooth to be lost prematurely. If your child’s tooth has come out too soon because of decay or an accident, it is crucial to maintain the space to prevent future space loss and dental problems when permanent teeth begin to come in.
Without using a space maintainer, the teeth surrounding the open space can shift, impeding the permanent tooth’s eruption. When that happens, the need for orthodontic treatment may become more significant.
What kind of Space Maintainer is right for your child?
Since young children and adolescents tend to lose removable space maintainers or do not wear them often enough, we recommend fixed space maintainers that are cemented onto the tooth. These are more efficient at maintaining the space and require minimal care on the part of the child.
Also, if the child is missing only one tooth, we recommend a unilateral space maintainer. However, if the child is missing more than one tooth, space is best maintained using a bilateral space maintainer.
For any concerns regarding your child’s dental health, call our office today!