Parents worry about their children’s dental health as much as they do about the other aspects of their physical well-being. While some procedures may be similar to adult dental treatments, paediatric dentistry differs in certain specific ways from the other branches of dentistry.
If you browse through websites you will learn about various dental treatments for children and not just adults. Besides regular check-ups and cleaning, such clinics offer emergency treatments as well.
Now for the uninitiated, here’s a list of some dental problems children face everywhere in the world. If you notice signs of these in your children, it is advisable to take them to the dentist for a thorough check-up.
Cavities
Although popularly called cavities, tooth decay occurs in most children for various reasons. These reasons include children not being very adept at brushing or flossing their teeth, having a sugar-heavy diet, and more. As a result, plaque accumulation occurs on the surface of the teeth, gradually eating away at tooth enamel.
Dentists treat cavities with a treatment commonly referred to as “filling.” It entails drilling away the decay and filling the gap left with hard composite.
Besides the dental cleaning, parents should supervise or help their children brush their teeth until they are old enough to do it independently. That’s because research links good oral health in children to efficient school performance and psychological well-being.
Emergencies
Sometimes, children can get hurt playing rough sports, due to accidental falls, or roughhousing with friends and siblings. In the process, they may also end up losing a tooth or two, which can be devastating in cases of older children with permanent teeth. In less severe cases, there may be tooth chipping or cracking. Either way, these count as dental emergencies and must be looked into immediately.
When children lose a permanent tooth, the first thing to do is find it and keep it in saline solution or milk. This can help keep the tooth in good condition and increase the chances of the dentist reattaching it using a retainer. But as a precautionary measure, parents are advised to invest in mouthguards for kids into sports.
Sensitivity
Tooth sensitivity is unpleasant and painful for children and adults alike. It can be distracting, cause pain while eating, and disrupt the everyday routine. This condition can happen for various reasons in children. Some of the most typical ones include cavities, enamel wear, newly erupting teeth, missing or cracked filling, and teeth grinding, among other things.
It is highly recommended to take children suffering from sensitivity to the dentist as soon as possible, or the condition could worsen. The dentist will administer treatment for sensitive teeth depending on the cause and level of severity.
Orthodontic issues
There are rare cases where children have perfectly aligned naturally white teeth. Most of them will need intervention at some point in their life to correct orthodontic problems. These are issues that mainly stem from genetics. For instance, a child might inherit a parent’s wide jaw, influencing how the teeth are formed.
Typical misalignment problems in children include overbite, spacing issues, and underbite. Also, kids who indulge in excessive, prolonged thumb sucking to deal with anxiety may face misalignment issues such as open bite. So, it is better to stop the habit before they are past the toddler age.