What Is Preventive Dental Care?
What is considered preventive dental care? If you struggle to answer this question, you’re not alone. It’s not always easy to figure out when a treatment is restorative, preventive, or both.
In general, anything that aims to stop a disease process could be considered preventive dental care.
Dental Preventive Care at Home
As a parent, you have a huge influence on your child’s behaviors, habits, and preferences. The preventive dental care tips and techniques you offer can influence the rest of your child’s life.
You can help your child to:
- Eat a healthy diet. Skipping sweets and carbonation can help protect both baby and adult teeth.
- Brush and floss. Everyone should brush twice per day for two minutes. Daily flossing can help your child pick up what the brush misses.
- Grow up with healthy habits. Model good behavior for your child, and take care of your teeth too.
Remember that you’re setting the foundation for the rest of your child’s life. Your preventive dental care steps will pay off in the long term.
Preventive Dental Care in the Office
Routine visits to the dentist can help your child avoid many common dental health challenges.
Your child’s dentist can:
- Clean. Specialized tools can dig into spaces your child can’t reach with a brush or floss. Removing plaque could prevent cavities.
- Seal. A dental sealant keeps food particles from settling in deep tooth cracks. These products protect teeth for years.
- Advise. Your child may need special pastes or rinses to prevent plaque or bacterial growth. Your dentist can prescribe these solutions.
At Miller Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, we offer preventive dental care for children of all ages. Make an appointment today.