We recently talked about scheduling a first checkup for 2026, but don’t forget about your kids! Children need regular dental care too, as this is crucial for keeping issues like tooth decay at bay. In today’s blog, your Ankeny, IA, dentist talks about helping little smiles with a safe and gentle approach to children’s dentistry.
Your Child’s Checkup and Cleaning
When should your children see our team for their regular checkup and cleaning visit? The first visit of their lives should happen around age one, once the first baby tooth arrives. This is typically a simple wellness visit involving a knee-to-knee lap exam. Once your children reach the age of two, we urge parents to bring them in for a regular visit every six months. With an appointment every six months, we can catch issues that could threaten smiles in the early stages, such as tooth decay, primary teeth failing to fall out on time, or complications with the arrival of their permanent teeth.
These visits are also a chance to instill good oral health habits, and help kids become accustomed to the dentist so they don’t develop dental anxiety later in life!
Preventing Cavities in Little Smiles
Along with our routine checkup and cleaning visits, we can also offer preventive treatments to help lower the risk of tooth decay in their smiles. As part of their routine visit, we could apply fluoride to the teeth in a varnish form, which helps strengthen the outer enamel to make cavities less likely. Application only takes a few seconds, and kids just need to avoid food and drink for about a half hour as the layer cures.
Our team could also apply a dental sealant to the rear teeth. Coating the molars in acrylic means that food and drink particles can no longer become trapped between them, which lowers the risk of cavities. Since kids often have a hard time reaching these teeth, this could be essential for lowering the chances of tooth decay. Again, application only takes a few seconds, and kids just need to wait 30 minutes before they eat or drink to ensure the layer cures fully. These can stay in place for years to come!
Improving Homecare Habits
As we mentioned above, we would love to help kids improve their oral health habits at home, and will discuss proper brushing and flossing habits so they can clean their teeth properly. We also want to talk about proper snack habits, and how to avoid items high in sugar and starch, which could impact their oral health in negative ways.
Dental Impressions Offers Children’s Dentistry
With children’s dentistry, our team can help little smiles of all ages remain healthy and strong. To schedule an appointment for a full smile, then call Dental Impressions in Ankeny, IA today at (515) 965-0230.
