Common Dental Issues Treated in Pediatric Dentistry

Children go through different stages in life before they become adults. In the varying stages of growth, a kids’ dentist is best placed at handling the emerging oral needs of children.

In dentistry for children, multiple dental processes are performed that help achieve the overall outcome of dental health excellence. The procedures vary depending on the age of the child as well as the underlying health conditions.

What Is Pediatric Dentistry?

​It is a specialty of dentistry that examines, diagnoses, and treats the underlying dental problems of children. The specialty caters to children right from infancy to the teenage years.

Technically, dental-related issues can happen to any child, at any time, regardless of age. This is one of the reasons why dental experts emphasize the need for regular dental checkups in early life. This way, preventive measures can be taken to improve the overall outcome of oral health. For kids, this is much more important because they are yet to go through many other stages of development that may affect their oral health.

The Top Dental Problems Treated in Children’s Dentistry

Pediatric dentists are versed in different areas of oral health for children. In that case, do not hold back from reaching out to your nearest dentist for a quick check-up. Some of the most common problems with children’s mouths include the following:

1. Dental cavities – are the most common types of issues that kids suffer from as they grow up. Between the ages of 6 and 14 years, children are very prone to dental caries. Without proper dental care at Lancaster, SC, dental decay might be the reason your child loses their teeth prematurely.
2. Teething problems – when teeth are erupting for the first time, your child may have a couple of issues. Symptoms range from fever, chills, irritability, loss of appetite, to mention a few. When this happens, you may get a dental specialist to care for the overall oral health of your child.
3. Stained teeth – this can have many causes, ranging from poor oral hygiene to medication. Whatever the reason, a dentist for children at Kids First Dental can advice you accordingly about treatments like teeth whitening or professional teeth cleaning procedures.
4. Poor eating habits – children are very resistant to trying out healthy food choices. Mostly, they prefer eating candies and other sugary foods like pastries and soft drinks. In such cases, nutritional counseling should start early, which can help your child adjust accordingly.
5. Teeth grinding – it is a condition medically called bruxism. Excessive grinding of teeth can destroy the teeth, sometimes even permanently. It causes other dental problems like thinning of the enamel, temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD), to mention a few.
6. Thumbsucking and over-use of the pacifier – this covers part of the bad oral habits that a child can pick up as they grow. Such habits can affect the outcome of their oral health. Thankfully, dental experts for children can also help young ones quit these habits eat enough.
7. Foreign objects stuck in between teeth – children love to poke their teeth with sharpies. It is, therefore, not out of the ordinary to have foreign objects like sticks stick between their teeth.
8. Oral infections – one common type of oral infection is tonsillitis. It is when the tonsils get inflamed because of an infection in the body. Other than that, another type of infection is pediatric gingivitis. Any cases of mouth sores and reddened gums call all indicate the presence of an infection thereof.
9. Orthodontics – it involves procedures that help to realign jawbones and straighten teeth. In a different light, the preventive measure of using teeth space maintainers can help eliminate the need for orthodontic treatments.
10. Fractures and other dental traumas – are often tackled in emergency dentistry for kids. However, a pediatric dentist is also capable of handling fractured facial bones and any other dental traumas.

Does Your Child Need Pediatric Oral Care?

Overall, children are very resilient. They can easily get through different health issues and make it to adulthood healthy enough. However, when there is a chance to help their journey be smoother, then do not hesitate to encourage it. Proactivity in oral health goes a long way for both children and adults.