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may also help. There are 20 primary teeth and they are all through the gum by 36
months of age. The figure to the right illustrates the age each primary tooth appears.
Primary teeth are very important. They help your child chew food for better
digestion and good nutrition. They help round out the shape of the face and give
your child a nice smile. They help your child form sounds and words when learning
to talk. They save space in the jaw so permanent teeth grow in the right place.
There are 32 permanent teeth. These teeth first appear around age six or
seven years old. The first teeth to come in are the central incisors and the six
year molars. A permanent tooth replaces each primary tooth until the age of twelve
or thirteen years old. The picture below illustrates the age each permanent tooth appears.
It is very important to teach your children how to take care of both their
primary and permanent teeth. At first, clean your baby's teeth and mouth with a
damp washcloth. Putting your baby to bed with a bottle or while at the breast can
cause damage to their teeth. Milk or juice coats your child's teeth and eventually
causes cavities. Don't use bottles and breasts as pacifiers. If your child must
have a bottle at bedtime, fill it with water. Children are ready for a full dental
examination by 3 years of age. At that time, the dentist will clean your child's
teeth and you will receive dental health care information. As soon as teeth are
touching each other, flossing your child's teeth once a day is important to prevent
plaque buildup. Flossing should be a regular part of your child's dental hygiene.
Children do need supervision and help brushing their teeth until they are about 8
years old. Then let them floss and brush their teeth twice a day.
Smart eating habits are another way to prevent plaque buildup and cavities.
Avoid foods and drinks with a lot of sugar. Snacking is especially bad for
children's teeth. The problem with snacking is that children don't usually brush
their teeth afterwards. A snack such as raisins is bad because they are high in
sugar and stick to the teeth. To minimize your children's sugar intake, have them
snack on raw vegetables. Remember that there is an increased risk of choking hazards
until a child reaches 3 years of age. If your child does have sweets, you should
give it to him right after a meal. This is because teeth cleaning should always
follow meals.
A natural safeguard against cavities is fluoride. A trace element found in
most food and municipal water supplies, fluoride helps teeth resist dental
decay. As a public health measure, most communities fluoridate their water to
an optimal level to provide this protection. Children who have consumed
fluoridated water since birth have had up to 65% fewer cavities than those children
not consuming fluoridated water. To find out if your water is fluoridated, ask me,
your dentist, or local health department. I can prescribe fluoridated vitamins for
your child.
Another treatment to reduce cavities is dental sealants. Your dentist applies
a thin plastic coating to the chewing surface and grooves of back teeth. Sealants
protect children when they are most prone to cavities. Sealants last up to 5 years.
Studies show that sealants can reduce tooth decay by as much as 90%-100%.
A trip to the dentist's office doesn't have to be an unpleasant experience.
Parent's anxieties about going to the dentist are often unconsciously transmitted
to their children. Prepare your child for a visit to the dentist in a positive
way. Tell them that going to the dentist is a part of growing up; it's something
everyone does. Assure your child that the dentist is a nice doctor who will keep
them healthy.