When Does Your Child Need a Pediatric Dentist?

As a parent of a newborn, you might think your bundle of joy without teeth in the mouth doesn’t need dental visits until they are older. You might even think your regular dentist can treat any dental issues affecting your child without realizing general dentists do not have the experience or knowledge to manage pediatric needs that differ from adults.

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry suggests children’s dental visits should start no later than six months after their tooth erupts or by age one. When you take your child to the pediatric dentist in St Petersburg, the dental professional can surprise you by providing information about dental infections in infants and toddlers. Some examples include baby bottle tooth decay, mouth cleaning, teething, pacifier use, infant feeding practices, and finger sucking habits that are detrimental to children and how to prevent problems from developing later by limiting your child indulging in such routines. In addition, the pediatric dentist also recommends you bring the child for six monthly dental checkups to stay over their dental health issues.

Benefits of Regular Dental Checkups for Kids

The dentist’s suggestion in St Petersburg might cause you to ask the professional why your child needs regular checkups like adults when all they have is a tooth or two. However, you will accept the professional’s advice when you receive the information mentioned above to prevent complications later in life for you and your child.

Although your child doesn’t have all their teeth, the baby will develop a set of teeth in their mouth by age two that need protection against dental plaque and tooth decay that begins affecting children from birth. In reality, pediatric dentists advise parents of newborns to clean their baby’s gums with a washcloth even before their first tooth erupts to remove dental plaque from their gums. In any case, your child begins feeding on day one, and the process continues until their teeth erupt. Therefore the dentist near me suggests children’s dental visits should start even before the eruption of their first tooth.

Regular dental checkups for kids with teeth enable the St Petersburg dentist to identify problems like tooth decay, cavities, and other issues with children’s teeth that are challenging for a general dentist to identify. For example, if your kids’ teeth indicate orthodontic imperfections that might need treatments later, the pediatric dentist can intervene early to help prevent the problem by offering interventional orthodontics, helping you delay visits to orthodontists or at least prepare for them financially through interventional orthodontics.

Your kid can develop broken and cracked primary teeth when playing around with friends or at home or report dental issues unexpectedly in the evening or on weekends. In such cases, you can help your child by visiting the emergency dentist in St Petersburg to receive the therapy your child needs to overcome the dental problem and tide over the weekend in relief after the emergency dentist mends the child’s tooth with pain relief medications and dental fillers fixed the broken or cracked tooth.

Why Consider Pediatric Dentists and Not General Dentists?

As mentioned earlier, pediatric dentists are specialists in treating kid’s oral health issues that appear similar to adults but need specialized treatment because of their age. For example, if adults dislike dental visits because of anxiety, children are no different and are affected by similar issues.

Pediatric dentists receive training on managing all children, including children with special needs, and will not confront challenges when dealing with pediatric dental anxiety. In reality, dentist 33702 expects children to panic when they visit them with their parents and are fully prepared to provide compassionate child treatment in the dental practice. Your child might even enjoy visiting the pediatric dentist’s office because they have kid-friendly environments and staff willing to cooperate with children to make their visit memorable.

General dentists can also manage children by handling them compassionately. However, the pressures of dealing with children in a practice managing adults might stress the dentist and their staff, who might deal gruffly with your kid to make them anxious and dislike dental visits for life. However, your kid will likely not experience such behavior in the St Petersburg dentist’s office, where the professionals ensure your kid, besides enjoying the visit, also looks forward to their next appointment because of the reward they receive when stepping out of the dental office.

Children need help from pediatric dentists from birth until their teenage years, after which they can shift to a general dentist. The early treatment from pediatric dentists ensures your child develops a set of teeth that remain with them for life, letting them enjoy excellent dental and overall health.

If You are expecting or have a bundle of joy in your arms, you help yourself and the baby by contacting Dental Arts Ninth Street immediately to check the kid’s dental health. If you haven’t done so already, we suggest not to hesitate to contact this practice today for an appointment for your child.