All You Need To Know About Pediatric Dentistry
From the first day, we enter the world, how our overall health cares matters. This includes our oral health. Even before our first primary tooth has pushed its way through the gum, numerous factors can impact our smile. After the arrival of this first tooth, it becomes even more essential that our oral health receives the same degree of care and attention as the rest of our body. Parents and providers can help with this by encouraging good oral health habits and helping us learn about our smiles. One important step parents can take ensuring that their children see a pediatric dental specialist.
How Pediatric Dentists Influence Our Overall Health
The basic aspects of dental care are a standard part of every dentist’s education. These fundamentals include providing preventative care, cleanings, restorations, orthodontic care, and other common concerns. Family dentists have this same skill set, but their focus is narrower. They work with families throughout their lives, providing general care for people of every age. Pediatric dentists narrow this focus even further, delving into the details of pediatric dental development, its pathologies, and how to treat them. Pathology, in this case, is a term that refers to the medical concerns that these patients can face. This gives them an increased ability to identify specific concerns earlier and know how to treat them.
Two main benefits of bringing your child to a pediatric dentist are:
- Better Experiences For Your Child: Pediatric dentists fully understand how intimidating a visit to the dentist can be for a child. Throughout their education, they learned methods of improving their experience and making their clinic more welcoming. At every step of the child’s dental care, they’ll ensure that they remain comfortable and engaged so that they come to have positive associations with dental care.
- Specialized Training – The depths of their training are on catching concerns early and taking steps to reverse them. When your child has a palate that isn’t developing correctly, a misshapen bite, or misaligned teeth, it’s a pediatric dentist you want on the case. They’ll not only identify these early, but they’ll also know exactly what to do to set them right.
Another less well-known benefit of working with pediatric dentists is the tools they use. Pediatric dental tools are smaller and capable of comfortably providing care in a child-sized mouth. As these tools are smaller, they can be trickier to handle for unfamiliar hands. A pediatric dentist uses them every day and is an expert in their use.
Consult With Your Pediatric Dentist For Guidance
Now that you know what benefits a pediatric dentist provides, it’s time to call for your first consultation. It’s important that you involve your child in this first meeting. Nothing has been shown to provide a sense of safety and security more than a feeling of agency in the decisions made that involve them. By inviting your child along, letting them ask questions, and having them meet with the staff, you’ll be setting the groundwork for a respectful and positive relationship with you and their oral health.
