Pediatric dentistry

Yes, because:

Treating tooth decay at an early phase we can avoid its progression to the pulp (nerves) which could cause pain to our child.

Filling a milk tooth means we can avoid its premature extraction which could cause the other teeth to move, leading to future problems due to bad positioning.

On the other hand, if less than a year is remaining for the tooth to fall by itself, it is not necessary to fill it, so it is important that the dentist makes a proper diagnosis.

If a long time is spent between the extraction of a tooth and the eruption of the new one, the space left by the extracted tooth becomes smaller due to the movement of the teeth next to it.

This can make the new tooth erupt in a bad position which would have to be corrected by orthodontic treatment.

So, in order to prevent this, we can use a space maintainer which will allow the new tooth to erupt in a correct position.

It is recommended since the child is 3 years old. At this age we can start to see the deciduous teeth and the patient is more collaborative. It is important to examine oral health periodically for various reasons:

• Good oral health allows proper chewing and improves both the absorption of nutrients and speech development.
• We may establish an individualized prevention program by focusing on the diet and oral hygiene.
• If children start going to the dentist from a young age, and as the first visits are only visual examinations, they will be more collaborative in the future and they won’t feel anxious about visiting the dentist.
• Periodical examinations allow to detect problems in their initial phase, so they will have an easier and cheaper treatment than if they were detected later.

We will carry out a prevention program in which we will focus on different elements that would make it more likely for tooth decay to appear:

• Diet: Soft drinks, juice, sweets, chocolate and biscuits are foodstuffs that promote tooth decay because they usually have a lot of sugar, may be acidic or have a sticky consistency. Furthermore when taken between meals, they will spend more time in the oral cavity until the patient brushes his/her teeth so they will have a damaging effect to the tooth for a longer time.
• Hygiene: It is important that from a young age children learn and get used to brush their teeth after every meal. In younger children it is recommended that parents check after their kids brush their teeth because as they are learning there can still be some leftovers.
• Fluor: As of today, all toothpastes contain Fluor, which makes the enamel stronger against tooth decay and can repair it in its initial stage. In case of a high risk of tooth decay, Fluor can be used in mouth-cleansing products.
• Periodic checks done every 6 months or every year will allow us to examine these factors and detect any manifestation of tooth decay.