We offer pediatric dental care and create beautiful smiles for infants through adolescents. Contact National Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry in Washington, DC.
Maintaining your child’s dental health today provides immediate benefits, such as a great smile and healthy teeth. Taking care of those baby teeth now will also provide your child with health benefits that will last well into adulthood.
Also known as primary teeth, baby teeth serve several important functions. These tiny teeth help your child speak, bite and chew food, for example, and primary teeth give your child their one-of-a-kind smile.
Primary teeth are also “placeholders” for permanent teeth and guide the adult teeth into place. The tops of the adult teeth push against the roots of the baby teeth, and breaks the roots connecting the baby tooth to the jawbone. The roots of the baby teeth break apart and melt away, which makes it easier for the primary teeth to come out.
This natural process allows your child’s permanent teeth to come up, or erupt, at the right spot in their mouth and at the right time. It is best to allow primary teeth to fall out naturally, as losing a baby tooth too early can have long-term consequences. Adjacent baby teeth can drift into the gap created by the missing tooth, which can cause crowding and misaligned teeth. It can also interfere with the way permanent teeth erupt through the gums.
Baby teeth do all the heavy lifting of biting, chewing and speaking for about the first six years of your child’s life. Between the ages of 6 and 12, your child will have a mix of primary and permanent teeth to keep healthy.
Your child will have a total of 20 baby teeth that usually appear when your little one is between the ages of six and nine months, although baby’s first tooth may show up as early as three months or as late as 12 months. The two lower middle teeth, or central incisors, are usually the first to erupt. The two upper incisors appear at about 8 to 12 months, followed by the lateral incisors immediately next to the central incisors and the slightly pointed canine teeth. Molars, which are the backmost teeth used for chewing, come in last at between 13 and 33 months.
Teething can be quite painful. To reduce discomfort, rub your child’s gums with a damp washcloth wet or gauze pad.
Good oral hygiene habits start in childhood, so we encourage you to start training your little one to brush their teeth when they are about 2 years old. Apply a thin smear of fluoridated toothpaste to a small, soft-bristled toothbrush to brush your child’s teeth. Gradually let them take over brushing duties, but take care to teach them proper technique. You may need to help your child with oral hygiene until they are about 6 years old.
Children should see a dentist when they get their first tooth or by their first birthday, according to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD). During this visit, your child’s pediatric dentist can assess your child’s overall dental health and spot small problems before they become big issues. One such problem is early childhood caries, or tooth decay that affects teeth in children between birth and six years old.
Pediatric dental treatments focus on treating tooth and gum problems that commonly affect children. These treatments can prevent tooth decay and cavities, for example, or save and repair teeth.
Tooth decay is a significant problem for children – fluoride makes tooth enamel harder and more resistant to cavities. While toothpastes and some drinking water contains small amounts of fluoride, professional fluoride treatments deliver a higher concentration of enamel-saving fluoride directly to your child’s teeth.
Your pediatric dentist can apply a plastic coating to the chewing surfaces of your child’s molars. Easy-to-apply dental sealants provide years of protection from cavities.
Often thought of as a dental treatment for adults, root canal therapy can also help save a child’s tooth from injury or severe decay.
Accidents happen! Nearly half of all kids will chip or otherwise injure a tooth during childhood. Fortunately, your pediatric dentist can repair chipped teeth with tooth-colored bonding materials.
Professional teeth cleaning every six months helps prevent cavities.
When tooth decay does develop, your pediatric dentist can use composite fillings with a tooth colored resin that looks natural.
Nobody wants to lose a tooth, but it is sometimes necessary to extract a tooth that has decay, disease, or trauma that cannot be repaired. Tooth extraction may also be necessary when the affected tooth interferes with the normal development of other teeth.
A dental emergency is any situation in which your child needs immediate attention to stop bleeding, save a tooth, or relieve severe pain. Dental emergencies include:
If you think your child is having a dental emergency, please contact us right away.
The American Association of Orthodontists recommends that children first visit an orthodontist for an orthodontic evaluation around the age of 7. During this evaluation, your pediatric orthodontist can assess how well your child’s upper and lower teeth align when they bite down.
For more information on pediatric dentistry, consult with our pediatric orthodontist at National Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry. Our pediatric dentists in Washington, DC create beautiful smiles for infants through adolescents.
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