Pediatric Dental Care: Ensuring Your Child's Strong, Healthy Teeth

Bel Canto Dental is a family-oriented dental practice. We enjoy seeing all ages, and our team is particularly gentle with children, treating them as if they were family.

We know that the type of dental care a young child receives and those early experiences in the dental chair can make all the difference to dental health well into adulthood.

How can we ensure children have positive experiences when visiting the dentist?

When a child feels comfortable, relaxed and safe when visiting the dentist, they form a positive opinion about regular dental care. They are more likely to grow up seeing dental visits as a normal part of life and nothing to fear.

In contrast, if a child doesn’t receive adequate early dental care and only sees a dentist when they are in discomfort or pain, they might perceive seeing a dentist as a negative experience and could grow up seeing professional dental care as something to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

We encourage parents to book their child’s first dental visit soon after they get their first primary or milk teeth. We can assess your child’s oral health, gently checking their mouth to ensure their teeth and jaws are developing nicely. It is a great chance for them to start becoming accustomed to the new sights, sounds and smells of a dental office.

At this stage, we can also determine how frequently your child should have regular dental checkups. However, if your child is older and has yet to see a dentist, please don’t worry; it isn’t too late to begin a good preventive dental care regime.

Focusing on Preventive Dentistry

We would far rather prevent oral disease, as common problems like tooth decay and gum disease are often avoidable with the proper care. Even if signs of disease develop, regular dental checkups ensure these are quickly detected so that we can provide prompt treatment.

By seeing your child regularly, we can monitor their oral health closely for small changes. We also assess their risk of developing tooth decay or other problems and can suggest suitable strategies to reduce these risks.

Preventive measures may involve cleaning your child’s teeth professionally. This is because plaque and tartar can build up over tooth surfaces, and even the best oral care routine will leave some plaque in hard-to-reach areas.

It only takes a couple of days for plaque to harden into tartar, also called calculus. Both plaque and tartar contain bacteria that produce toxins and acids. The toxins can inflame gums while the acids weaken tooth enamel. Regularly removing tartar buildup is an easy and effective way to help prevent oral disease.

Dental Education

Dental education is an important part of our practice, and we can show you some easy ways to clean even the most reluctant young child’s teeth.

When your child gets older, we can work with them directly so they learn the best oral care techniques and understand why good dental care is so important. If your child develops tooth decay issues and we know their oral care is good, we might suggest reviewing their diet.

Sometimes foods that seem healthy such as granola bars, fruit juice and fruit leather, can contain huge amounts of hidden sugars. Regularly eating these foods could increase the risk of cavities, especially when given as snacks. Often, creating a more tooth-friendly diet is simply a matter of making small adjustments, such as avoiding snacking on sugary foods and instead choosing options that help strengthen and protect teeth, such as sugar-free yogurt and cheese.

By working together, we can give your child the best possible chance of growing up with strong, cavity-free teeth and a healthy smile. Make an appointment for your child today!