Oral Hygiene: It’s Not Child’s Play
We recommend patients visit Medplex Pediatric Dentistry every six months for a cleaning. Some patients may require a different schedule depending on their dental health needs. Various types of plaque are very difficult to reach and eliminate without professional tools, so it’s important to stick to the cleaning schedule Dr. Chambliss and his staff provide. However, oral hygiene begins at home.
While the dental cleanings and procedures we perform at the office are vital for dental health, what our patients do to keep their teeth clean at home is just as important. That’s why for this blog, we’re going to talk about why it’s so important for parents to teach their children proper oral hygiene from a young age.
Building Habits To Last A Lifetime
There are a couple things that make childhood oral hygiene so vital. The first is the most obvious – oral hygiene is a critical part of keeping teeth healthy and strong, and without it, a child’s teeth are susceptible to damage and decay. But when it comes to children, this is only part of the story.
Although deciduous teeth, also known as baby teeth, do eventually fall out, they’re critical to helping a child learn proper habits of speaking, chewing and swallowing. If oral hygiene is neglected and dental decay becomes severe, baby teeth may need to be extracted, which can cause problems in the development of a child’s faculties as stated also by Dr. Steven Lin, an Avoca Beach dentist of New South Wales, Australia. Most importantly, though, practicing good cleaning at a young age builds habits that last the rest of a child’s life. The earlier and more consistently that parents starts teaching these habits, the stronger their child’s hygiene regimens will be – and this directly correlates to the health and beauty of their smile through their entire adult lives.
Contact Medplex Pediatric Dentistry
Have more questions about your or your child’s dental health? We’re always happy to answer them! Feel free to reach out to us at our contact page, or use our convenient online form to schedule an appointment with us at our Birmingham, AL practice. Don’t forget to check back to this blog, as we’ll be keeping it up to date with more helpful information on keeping your child’s smile healthy and strong!