Your Child’s First Dental Cleaning: What to Expect
As a parent, you don’t want your child to end up with stained or discolored teeth. Since your child might be too young to understand the importance of good oral hygiene, ensuring their oral health is optimal is your sole responsibility. Sometimes it might be challenging to clean every inch of their teeth, and that might put them at risk of getting cavities. We recommend taking your child to a kid’s dentist near them for regular teeth cleanings to ensure they grow up with beautiful shiny teeth.
What Is Dental Cleaning?
Dental cleaning is a procedure that entails the removal of tartar and plaque stuck on the teeth and gums. Regular dental cleaning is not only necessary due to its cosmetic benefits but also because it prevents future dental emergencies such as gum disease.
Just because your child’s baby teeth will fall off as they grow does not mean you shouldn’t take them to a pediatric dentist in Phoenix, AZ, for regular teeth cleaning. Research shows that the probability that your child’s permanent teeth will get dental carries is higher if their baby teeth were once infected with cavities.
What to Expect During Your Child’s First Dental Cleaning
We will do our best to ensure that your child is comfortable during their first dental cleaning. During the visit, we will do a complete dental exam where we’ll inspect your child’s jaws, gums, and teeth for signs of dental problems. Depending on your child’s age, we may also take X-rays of their teeth to look for signs of decay. If your child is too young, we will skip the x-ray part and move to the next step.
After inspection, it’s time for your child to have their first dental cleaning. We will gently polish your child’s teeth to remove any stains, plaque, and tartar on their teeth surface. Once that’s complete, we will give you tips on how to clean your child’s teeth while at home.
Importance of Regular Dental Cleaning
Protects Teeth From Cavities
Dental caries remain a major cause of tooth loss in patients of all ages despite the improvements in dental technology. Cavities can develop from the accumulation of acid and bacteria in the mouth, eating through the outer protective layer of the tooth enamel. Taking your child for regular dental cleaning, and helping them practice good oral hygiene, is essential to protecting their baby teeth from cavities.
Avoids Tooth Loss
Gum disease and other dental problems are caused by cavities resulting from plaque accumulation. If not treated early, gum diseases can lead to more severe oral diseases since they can spread and damage the jawbone tissue. During routine dental cleanings, our inspections can help us detect dental problems before they become severe and result in tooth loss.
Brightens Your Child’s Smile
Children like eating sugary food such as candy and ice cream without brushing their teeth after they are done. If your child regularly consumes these food items without brushing afterward, the sugar and food color from candy can cause yellow or brownish stains to form on their teeth. Fortunately, dental cleaning is often enough to fight these stains and ensure your child’s teeth are white.
Prevents Bad Breath
Bad breath is not only caused by eating spicy food. It is also a sign of common dental emergencies such as infection, decay, and gum disease. Since bad breath can result from poor oral health, ensure you help your child practices good oral hygiene.
Improves Oral Hygiene
Helping your child brush and floss their teeth and taking them to see a kid’s dentist near them for dental cleaning is crucial in ensuring optimal oral health. Not only does it ensure they have a healthy smile, but it also helps you save money that you would have spent on treating preventable dental problems. If your child complains of dental pain or bleeding, take them to see an emergency pediatric dentist near them immediately.
Conclusion
If you care for your child’s oral health, finding time from your busy work schedule to take them to a pediatric dentist should not be a bother. This can also benefit them in the future since they may choose to do the same when they have their own children. So, take your child to Desert Ridge Pediatric Dentistry today for regular dental cleaning and protect them from future dental emergencies. We have a staff trained to treat and handle children of all sizes with care.