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Preventive Dentistry
Preventive dentistry is the practice of caring your teeth to keep them healthy. By taking preventive measures, we can avoid tooth cavities, malocclusions, plaque and gum problems.
Habits Many habits in the child can be detrimental for oral health. Some of the habits in children that need immediate care are :
1) Thumb sucking
2) Mouth breathing
3) Tongue thrusting
4) Bruxism or grinding of teeth
5) Nail biting or Lip biting
Whenever parents come across such habits in their children, they should immediately report to their child dentist. Their dentist will identify the underlying cause and will help the children to correct the habit. If the habit is left untreated it can lead to the following problems:
1) Flaring of upper front teeth
2) Pain in TMJ
3) Retrusion of lower front teeth
4) Open bite
5) Deep bite
6) Increased overjet or horizontal overlap
7) Dryness of mouth
8) Wear of teeth
To avoid all these problems, your dentist will guide you how to manage with these problems so that they can be corrected as early as possible.
Mouthguards
Sports injuries are the major cause of injuries in teenagers. In India also it accounts for a major percentage of injuries in teenagers. In order to prevent such injuries, your Paediatric dentist can help your child with Mouthguards which protect the oral structures from being damaged. Mouthguard is a device placed in the mouth in the , and it protects from major impact during injury thus protecting vital oral tissues.
Fluoride Application
It is one of the most commonly practiced preventive measure that is followed by the child dentist to protect the newly erupted teeth from being damaged.
The newly erupted teeth are more prone to dental decay or infection because the calcification of the teeth is not complete.
The hydroxyapatite crystals in the teeth are more prone to acid attack. So the dentist coat the child’s teeth with fluoride solution or gel so that teeth become more resistant to acid attack. The fluoride reacts with the hydroxyapatite crystals in the teeth and converts it into Fluorapatite which is much more resistant to the acid attack of bacteria than hydroxyapatite.
This procedure has to be done twice in a year. There are various methods for application of fluoride locally onto the tooth. Kindly consult the dentists at Texla Dental Hospital.
Pit and Fissure Sealants
This is a material that flows into the pits and fissures of newly erupted teeth to seal them so that the nutrient supply to the bacteria is lost and the favorable conditions for bacteria to survive are lost. Hence the bacteria are gradually eliminated.
When the new tooth erupts in the oral cavity the groves in the teeth are not fully formed, and it takes around 3-4 years after eruption for grooves to fill the gap. During this period the bacteria in the grooves can survive there and destroy the tooth structure.
Your dentist at this point will guide you about pit and fissure sealants to get rid of such problems. To know more, kindly contact your dentist.
