4 Things You Need to Know About Your Child’s Dental Exams

Is it time for your child to have a dental exam? You might be wondering what our pediatric dentist does during checkups and why. A dental exam is an important component of evaluating your child’s oral health and their developmental progress. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that dental checkups are quite thorough and can reveal a number of concerns that affect your child’s overall wellbeing.

Here are four things you need to know about your child’s dental checkups.

Oral Hygiene Education

One important aspect of your child’s dental visits is to receive accurate oral hygiene education. Our team will help reinforce the habits you are working to develop at home. We focus on the importance of avoiding sugar, proper brushing technique, and how disease can develop when oral hygiene is neglected in a memorable and kid-friendly way.

Preventive Care Treatment Options

Sometimes a healthy diet and great oral hygiene are not enough to prevent disease. This is why our pediatric dentist offers preventive treatment options, including fluoride treatments and the application of dental sealants.

A fluoride treatment helps strengthen teeth by remineralizing tooth enamel. This can help reduce your child’s risks for developing tooth decay. Dental sealants also help minimize the risks of cavities by applying micro-thin protective sealants over the pits and grooves of the biting surfaces of teeth. Both of these preventive treatment options are non-invasive to receive.

Examining the Occlusion for Developmental Abnormalities

Another important aspect of pediatric dental checkups will involve evaluating your child’s bite (the way that upper and lower teeth line up during oral function) and the jaws. A healthy occlusion helps prevent disease, protect teeth from wear, and promote comfortable oral function.

Sometimes, children can develop a malocclusion – which means the jaws and teeth line up improperly. These issues can be corrected with orthodontic treatment.

Disease Detection

One of our team’s primary goals is to screen for oral diseases that affect children. Gum disease and tooth decay are some of the most common oral health concerns that affect children. Diagnostic technology like digital X-rays and physical examinations of the teeth and gums can reveal issues in their earliest stages, too.

Call The Smiley Tooth Pediatric Dental Specialists to schedule your child’s next dental exam.