How Often Do Kids Really Need to Go to the Dentist?

After taking your child to your dentist for the first visit, you may wonder whether you can continue taking them to your regular dentist or must seek help from the specialized pediatric dentist near me for their unique needs. You will decide wisely if you consider special treatment for your child from the pediatric dentist because they can help you determine the frequency of dental visits for your child and discuss their unique needs, which general dentists may not identify.

Generally, all kids genuinely need dental care every six months, similar to adults. The visits enable regular dental care at the pediatric dentist’s office, including dental exams, cleanings, fluoride therapies, and dental X-rays.

If your child has an uncomplicated exam without dental issues, it does not indicate that you should avoid dental visits for the following year. Instead, you must continue scheduling six monthly appointments because it is essential to detect dental issues before they aggravate without proper checkups and detect cavities between the teeth that occur frequently.

Regular six monthly visits allow the pediatric dentist to determine whether your child is brushing effectively or needs additional education. They can also determine whether your child is brushing their teeth aggressively or too softly, especially if cavities are challenging to diagnose. Of course, a healthy visit to the dentist does not indicate your child doesn’t need six monthly checkups, but they prove that your visits are worthwhile and the cleaning and fluoride treatments are helping strengthen your child’s teeth and keep them problem free.

Should your child receive six monthly dental X-rays?

Dental X-rays are safe and an important tool to diagnose infections invisible to the naked eye. X-rays help detect cavities between the teeth, impacted teeth, and other problems with children’s teeth that remain undetected during visual exams. If you are concerned about X-rays as a parent, especially about radiation, pediatric dentistry in Oswego uses lead aprons as a protective measure besides high-speed digital X-rays to limit exposure time to minimal variation than conventional X-rays. In addition, the radiation from traditional X-rays is extremely low and represents a minor contribution to other sources that also cause radiation exposure.

What if children have recurring dental hygiene issues?

The dentist in Oswego recommends six-monthly dental visits for all children to maintain good oral health. However, children with recurring dental issues like cavities, inflammation, tooth decay, et cetera benefit from more frequent visits to seeing the dentist after every three months. Recurring issues can become severe for children developing their dental hygiene practices making it challenging to ensure proper cleaning to permit permanent teeth to emerge in a healthy environment. In addition, as baby teeth function as placeholders for permanent teeth, it is essential to maintain them appropriately until the eventual emergence of adult teeth.

Children’s teeth are continually developing dental until they are well over 12 years. Therefore, the Oswego dentist recommends children undergo an orthodontic evaluation by age seven to evaluate developmental issues with their teeth and perform interventional remedies, if necessary, to prevent orthodontic problems in their mouths. While the assessment does not identify orthodontic issues in the child’s mouth, they indicate whether your child will need orthodontic treatment later to help you prepare financially well in advance.

If your child has recurring issues with their teeth, you must supervise their diet and watch out for their brushing and flossing habits and any pain they may experience in their mouth. In addition, your child should refrain from sugary and starchy foods before bedtime and reinforce brushing with fluoride toothpaste to clean their teeth and prevent cavities from occurring.

If you think your child can receive six monthly dental cleanings from a regular dentist, you are correct because general dentists have the experience necessary to treat patients of all ages. However, they will find some issues with children challenging to manage because they have not been trained to deal with them. In such cases, they will refer you to a pediatric dentist with sufficient training and qualifications to manage all children’s dental problems.

Therefore besides arranging six monthly dental appointments for your child from age 1, you must also ensure you take them to a pediatric dentist and not a general dentist because they are specialists in identifying and treating all dental issues in children from infancy until adolescence.

If you are searching for a children’s dental specialist for your child, kindly do not hesitate to visit Distinctive Dental Care Oswego with your child for a free consultation. The visit will convince you of the need to take children to the dentist at six-month intervals and allow you to understand why pediatric dentists are best for children.