A Guide to Pediatric Dentist and Dentistry

Pediatric dentistry is the practice of dental medicine that focuses on dental care and the oral health of children. The goal of a pediatric dentist is to tend to the dental needs of children from infants to adolescents. Dealing with children and their teeth is much different than adult dentistry because children's teeth are significantly different than those of an adult.

Children are more likely to experience anxiety going to the dentist more than adults. Many times, children are just going for a routine check up and they can experience anxiety, severe at times in fact. The reason for this is because they don't understand a whole lot about how dental care works. This is why dentists are specially trained to deal with children and how to calm their fears and explain at a child's level about the importance of oral care.

It is recommended that a child receives their first dental check up around the age of 2 or 2 1/2. This may seem a bit early to some parents, but early detection of baby teeth issues such as malformation and tooth decay needs to be diagnosed and taking care of right away before the problem gets worse. This is also the perfect age to teach children how to brush their teeth properly.

A pediatric specialist goes through rigorous training at the Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and is taught how to take special care of children and their dental needs in a way where they will get their message across but make it fun as well. When an adult visits a dental office, it is normally for a routine cleaning. But when children go to the dentist, it is a lot more than this. The dentist will usually educate children and their parents on the bad dental habits that children have such as sucking their thumb. While this may just be a habit that small kids have, it can cause several dental issues such as teeth not being lined up correctly as well as teeth falling out too soon.

A pediatric dentist can only do he what they can to educate parents and children on proper dental care. However, it is ultimately up to the parents to make sure that their children brush their teeth after every meal, use dental floss on a regular basis and more importantly eat the right kinds of food. Good nutrition goes a long way in preventing dental problems. Children that eat a good amount of fruit and vegetables may not have as many problems with their teeth as children that eat junk food all the time.

Dental emergencies occur more often with children then with adults. Pediatric specialists are skillfully trained to deal with these types of emergencies. Some of these emergencies include a child falling and knocking out one of their baby teeth, chipping one of their permanent teeth or fracturing one of their baby teeth.

Choosing a good pediatric dentist will help your child get the best oral health care and assisting them in avoiding future dental issues.