Children are highly susceptible to dental decay.
Baby teeth are very small and the enamel is thin. New adult teeth are typically rough in texture, crowded or spaced when they first emerge and often have deep natural pits and fissure which plaque and food can easily gather in.
There are three factors that cause dental disease in patients of all ages. These are plaque (or biofilm), sugar from any source whether natural, such as the fructose in fruit, or refined sugars, such as is found in sweets, chocolates, biscuits, cakes etc. The third factor is time.
The aim of all preventive treatments is to eliminate these factors or reduce them to such a degree that the damage doesn’t have a chance to occur.
This can be done by :
- Reducing the sugar in the diet and in particular the frequency of sugar intake.
- Drinking plenty of still water and training your child to be a plain still water drinker.
- Brushing the teeth twice daily for 2 minutes with a fluoride-containing toothpaste appropriate to your child’s age. Visits to the hygienist every 3-6 months help train and support this.
- Non-invasively evening out the shape of the teeth (molars in particular) by applying sealants to the biting surfaces, which smooth out the pits and fissures and prevent food and biofilm from sticking on them.
- Topical fluoride applications can be done during examination and hygiene appointments from time to time to help toughen up the surfaces of the teeth and make them more resistant to decay.
Back to treatments