Start Your Child's Oral Hygiene Young

Your pediatric dentist in Charlottesville, VA, and in Hollymead, VA, offers childhood oral hygiene visits and helpful tips for home care. Charlottesville Pediatric Dentistry prioritizes early childhood oral dental care as a valuable prevention strategy for cavities.

Starting children's oral hygiene young

Children have a high likelihood of developing cavities, an extremely common oral health issue. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 20% of children ages 5-11 have an untreated cavity in a tooth. The first step you can take to prevent this in your child is to schedule their initial pediatric dental visit in Charlottesville, VA.

You should book a dental visit for your infant around the time they hit six months of age, but no later than their first birthday. During this time, they're in the process of getting their 20 primary teeth. There are numerous bite issues that can develop with primary teeth, but oral hygiene is also a concern.

Baby bottle tooth decay is one of the most common oral hygiene complications to affect infants. To prevent this issue, you should make sure your baby doesn't sleep with a bottle. You should also refrain from using sweet substances like honey to encourage bottle-feeding and pacifier use, and ween them off of a bottle and onto a cup as soon as possible.

How to promote oral hygiene at home

Your Charlottesville, VA, pediatric dentist tells you how often to bring your child in for cleanings and examinations for their baby teeth. Great oral hygiene for primary teeth sets the stage for similarly positive outcomes for adult teeth.

At home, you can maintain your infant or child's oral hygiene by:

  • Brushing infant gums gently with water
  • Brushing children's teeth with a soft-bristled toothbrush and pea-sized dab of toothpaste
  • Relieving toothaches with warm saline water
  • Getting sealants for your child's teeth to avoid trapping food and bacteria

Together, all of these steps help prevent childhood cavities.

Your pediatric dentists in Charlottesville, VA, set your child up for success with oral hygiene into adolescence and beyond. To start teaching your child great oral hygiene, call Charlottesville Pediatric Dentistry for an appointment at (434) 975-7336 in Hollymead, VA, or (540) 832-6657 in Spring Creek, VA.

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Office Hours

Monday:

9:00 am-4:30 pm

Tuesday:

9:00 am-4:30 pm

Wednesday:

9:00 am-4:30 pm

Thursday:

9:00 am-4:30 pm

Friday:

9:00 am-4:30 pm

Saturday:

Closed

Sunday:

Closed