What are the Common Dental Problems in Children?

Some common oral health problems in children are: 

• Early tooth loss 
• Tooth decay 
• Thumb sucking 
• Tongue thrusting 
• Lip sucking 

By 12 months of age, it’s highly recommended that children have their first dental visit. This way, their oral health problems won’t get worse or these will be better managed (e.g. prevent premature tooth loss). And after that first dental visit, children should visit the dentist once every six months. This can help in their proper oral development in the coming years (e.g. teeth are better aligned and bad oral habits are corrected early on). 

Preventing dental problems in babies and children 

During the dental visit and diagnosis, a dentist can detect the early signs of problems before they get too painful for your child. With this early detection and treatment, you can spare your child from severe pain (which can be traumatising). Also, early detection and treatment can result in less invasive procedures because the problem was corrected early on. 

Aside from the dental visit, as parents we also have a role in helping prevent dental problems that our children might face. For example, we can help prevent baby bottle tooth decay (also called nursing bottle syndrome, this happens because the babies’ teeth are in constant contact with sugars from milk) by doing the following: 

• Comforting your baby by giving water or pacifier (instead of milk or sugary drinks) 
• Removing the mum’s breast from the baby’s mouth when it’s bedtime 
• Wiping your baby’s teeth with a wet cloth or gauze after each feeding 

The goal is to reduce or minimise the exposure of your baby’s teeth to sugars from milk and other drinks. 

For other problems such as thumb sucking (your child might be doing this especially during stressful situations), it helps if you praise your child and give frequent rewards whenever they stop the habit (positive reinforcement works better here). A dental appliance can also help in preventing sucking. It’s important for habitual thumb sucking to stop as early as possible so that the habit won’t push the teeth out of alignment and cause other dental problems. 

If you want to learn more about how to prevent or correct dental problems your child is having right now, contact us here today at Specialist Kids Dentist. Timely action is crucial here so that your child can undergo proper oral development for the months and years to come.