Keeping your children’s teeth healthy with a dentist in Plymouth

dentist-in-plymouth

From their head to their toes, children are always growing, and their teeth are no different. Because of this, good dental hygiene and regular dental check-ups are important from a young age to prevent the risk of dental decay.

We here at Meavy Way Dental Practice will endeavour to treat your child with a same day appointment should they be experiencing an emergency or any serious discomfort. However, our dentist in Plymouth also offers a variety of preventive treatments to help ensure that your children’s teeth are not at risk of pain or decay.

Preventive treatments

At our dentist in Plymouth we can offer both fluoride applications and fissure sealants for your children’s teeth. The fluoride applications help to keep tooth enamel strong during the development of both milk and adult teeth. Usually these will be applied approximately every 6 months.

Our fissure sealants are available for children whose back teeth have started to come through (usually around the age of 6 or 7). They are applied to the biting surfaces of your child’s teeth to prevent food particles and germs from getting caught in the spaces in between their teeth. Ideally, these sealants can last up to 10 years.

Why visit us now?

If your child is not currently experiencing any pain or dental discomfort, then it may seem strange to take them along to our dentist in Plymouth at this very moment. However, here at Meavy Way Dental Practice, we believe that there are still many valuable, potentially lifelong benefits to bringing your child along for their first dental check-up sooner rather than later.

Lifelong benefits Of course, for many children, attending a dentist’s appointment can be a daunting and nerve-wracking experience. However, in order to prevent this fear from lasting into their adulthood, studies have shown that it is important to take your child for their first check-up whilst they are still young, as the younger they are, the more likely they are to have a positive experience at the appointment, and thus not grow up afraid of the dentist.

As well as this, taking your child to the dentist at a young age means that the dentist can better detect conditions such as overbites or underbites. This is important because both of these conditions can cause difficulties with speaking and/or chewing food correctly, as well as being potentially painful if left untreated. Furthermore, early detection of these (or any other) conditions reduces the likelihood of needing fillings in the future.

What you can do On top of all this, it is important to remember that good oral hygiene practices at home are still necessary for the prevention of dental decay. We recommend that parents assist their children to brush their teeth at least twice a day, especially if your child is aged 6 or under. Furthermore, we recommend that one of these brushes be done just before bedtime, and with only a small dollop of fluoride toothpaste.

And whilst these practices are important at home, they are no substitute for the care and supervision we – Meavy Way Dental Practice – can offer at our dentist in Plymouth and therefore we welcome and invite all of you and your children to make an appointment today.