Preventing Expensive Dental Work Requires Regular Visits as a Child

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dental caries affect upwards of 25 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 5 in the United States. By the time children reach the ages of 12, half of them are estimated to have serious tooth decay. The state of a person’s teeth when they are young is a fairly reliable predictor of what their teeth will be like when they are older.

If preventative steps are not taken throughout a child’s life to temper cavity development and keep teeth healthy, expensive dental work will almost certainly be required at some point in the future. For this reason, it is important for parents to dedicate themselves to finding the best kid’s dentist near them and start taking their children in for regular visits once they reach the age of four or five years old. Worried about the costs associated with regular dental visits? Regularly taking your kids to an affordable kid’s dentist is actually less expensive than trying to treat years of dental neglect later on.

What You Can Do to Prevent Childhood Tooth Decay

Prevention is the most effective way to keep cavities at bay and prevent them from developing into more serious dental issues.  When children are brought to a dentist for regular checkups, they are less likely to require extensive (and expensive) dental work. This is because it takes time for dental conditions and diseases to develop, and if they are detected early on they can normally be treated with minimal cost and invasiveness. Here are a few things you can do to promote dental health in your child:

• Religiously schedule 6-month checkups from the age of 4 and upwards.
• Avoid feeding your child excessive sugar, which has been linked with tooth decay.
• Teach good dental habits like brushing twice each day.
• Understand that dental decay is more about dental care than it is about genetics.
• Feed your child a healthy, balanced diet that will facilitate proper dental development.

If childhood dental diseases are left undetected and untreated, they can develop into more serious conditions that require more aggressive treatments. Allowing a cavity or other dental issue to progress unchecked will not only cause your child unnecessary pain, but can also negatively affect his or her dental and overall health. Find yourself a great pediatric dentist in Levittown or your home town that connects well with your child.

Above all, it is important to realize that proper dental care for your child is well worth the cost. Regular dental checkups will not only help keep your child free from dental pain, but will also help you avoid expensive dental repairs and treatments down the road.