Pediatric Dentistry (Pedodontics)
Pediatric Dentistry (Pedodontics) is a branch of science that follows the oral-dental health and maxillofacial development of children starting from infancy to the end of adolescence (0-16 years), provides healthy protection of milk and permanent teeth, aims to eliminate the problems that arise in oral-dental health due to caries, trauma, hereditary and systemic reasons. Pedodontists apply all therapeutic and preventive treatments according to health needs during this period.
Nutritional recommendations
Advice to Parents for Children's Oral and Dental Care
First of all, parents need to be conscious about child dental health. In addition, it is recommended that children be examined by dentists once a year. Children should be taught to brush their teeth. Teeth should be brushed after every meal. If there is no abnormal condition, it is sufficient to examine children between the ages of 0-2 once. However, after the age of 2, regular dental check-ups should be done once in 6 months. Children should start brushing their teeth between the ages of 2 and 2.5 years. Since the gums are sensitive, a children's toothbrush should be preferred.
If you want to teach your child to brush teeth, you will be the best example for them. They should be encouraged to brush their teeth by seeing you. You should explain the importance of dental health by brushing teeth together after every meal. Unhealthy foods should be avoided from childhood to school age.
Paying attention to the advice and information given by the pedodontist (Pediatric dentist) will minimize the long-term problems.
Why do children's teeth decay?
Milk teeth are the teeth most prone to decay. Therefore, attention should be paid to dental health from infancy to childhood. Children cannot be as experienced as adults in oral and dental health care. That's why you should stand by your children while brushing their teeth and give them information on how to brush. At the same time, some mothers put stains, jams, etc. sweet foods on their babies' pacifiers or bottles. This is extremely wrong behavior. Tooth decay will occur as a result of irregular and unbalanced nutrition.
When should you go to the pediatric dentist for the first time?
When milk teeth first erupt in the mouth, they can decay very quickly due to the inaccuracies in the baby's eating habits and the family's ignorance of the oral care procedures that should be applied for milk teeth. For this reason, it is best for families to apply to a pediatric dentist when the first milk tooth appears in the mouth. The Pediatric Dentist (Pedodontist) conducts an intraoral examination of the baby at the first examination and guides families about proper nutrition and oral care habits. Anxiety problems that may occur in children who meet the dentist at an early age can be easily resolved by the cooperation of the Pediatric Dentist and their families. A child who happily leaves their first dentist visit will not have fear of the dentist for the rest of their lives. Continuing the check-ups at 4-6 months in line with the recommendation of the dentist, and when necessary, applying professional protective applications (fluoride, fissure sealant, remineralizing applications) will provide additional support to routine oral care habits in the prevention of dental caries.
What are the urgent treatment needs in pediatric dentistry?
Dental injuries are one of the most common situations that require emergency intervention in children, starting from infancy. Many reasons such as the child's falling, hitting his mouth and colliding with their friends can lead to fractures, displacements and protrusion of the teeth. Tooth injuries are frequently encountered in 1-3 years of age when babies first start walking, in school children between 7-10 years of age and especially in summer months when mobility increases. When such situations are encountered, the general health status of the child should be checked first. When there are dental traumas, the time elapsed after the trauma and the way the tooth or the broken piece was brought are very important. During this period, the broken tooth piece should not remain dry, it should be stored in physiological saline, water or milk, and a pediatric dentist (pedodontist) should be consulted as soon as possible.
Why is general anesthesia and sedation necessary for dental treatment in children?
It is an important problem that dental treatments cannot be performed safely and effectively with children who are not cooperative and have high anxiety problems, children who cannot be contacted because they are young, and children with disabilities. In such cases, if the number of teeth in need of treatment is high, dental treatments should be performed under deep sedation and general anesthesia.
What do early extracted milk teeth cause?
Early falling or extracted milk teeth cause deformities and crooked intraoral placement in the permanent teeth coming from below in the following periods. Such situations, which are not intervened in a timely manner, cause orthodontic problems in the medium term and lead to the wearing of braces during the growth period.
What are the effects of long-term use of bottles, pacifiers and thumb sucking on dental health?
The use of pacifiers, bottles and thumb sucking habits, which start in infancy and continue until childhood, primarily cause rapid tooth decay and premature loss of milk teeth. On the other hand, this period is the period when the growth is the fastest and the jaw bones are shaped as in all bones. These harmful habits that hang on to childhood cause closure problems (openbite, orthodontics) of the jaw bones in the front of the mouth. For these reasons, these habits should be abandoned as soon as possible.
Can cavities be prevented?
Treatment such as drugs or vaccines to prevent dental caries has not yet been developed. But some steps can be taken to reduce the number of cavities. For example; Get your child into the habit of brushing teeth and ask him to brush regularly. Then, try to make sure that your children consume healthy and vegetable-type foods instead of ready-made and unhealthy foods. If you wish, materials that reduce caries can be used. The name of this material is "fissure". By covering the tooth grooves with fissures, the number of tooth decays can be reduced. However, this process should be applied for the main teeth that will emerge in the child after the age of 6 years. Fluoride can be applied to the tooth surface to prevent decay and keep the teeth healthy. This is an important application for the health of teeth.
Is fluoride harmful to health?
Fluorine sources used to prevent caries do not contain toxic doses of fluorine, they are reassuring. Pedodontists or dentists have the training and skills to take the necessary precautions in fluoride applications. Fluoride, which is used in appropriate amounts recommended by your dentist, does not cause any side effects on human health.
What is a placeholder?
Early loss of milk teeth due to trauma, infection or some other reasons cause gaps between teeth. These gaps cause other teeth to be displaced and not enough space for permanent teeth to be left. In order to prevent orthodontic disorders that may occur in later ages, a placeholder application should be applied to the relevant space.
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