Oral and dental health in childhood seriously affects oral and dental health in the future. Therefore, quickly solving the problems that occur in this period and preventing the emergence of new problems are of great importance in terms of preventing serious problems to be experienced in the future.
Pedodontists are the dentists who carry out all kinds of treatment and preventive dentistry procedures applied to children and who have received special training in this regard. (pediatric dentist) This branch of dentistry is also called pedodontics. Pedodontics is basically divided into 2 parts:
1-Treatment of existing problems:It covers all treatments such as filling, root canal treatment, extraction, placeholder.
2-Protective dentistry applied to prevent problems from occurring: These applications are applications to protect teeth against caries. Today, preventive medicine, which we can call stopping the problem before it occurs, has gained importance in dentistry as in every field of medicine. Preventive dentistry is of great importance, especially in children. It is preferred that the first encounter of children with the dentist is related to preventive dentistry, as there are effortless, inexpensive and painless applications.
Pedodontic AD Frequently Asked Questions:
- Question: When should I have my child examined for the first time?
Reply: Children should be taken to the dentist every 6 months from a very young age (6 months – 1 year old) to ensure that the child can come to this environment without fear, and parents should learn what they need to do to keep their children’s dental health at the highest level. In addition, in this way, large problems that are difficult to compensate are detected and intervened before they occur or grow.
- Question: Is it necessary to fill milk teeth?
Reply: Baby teeth fall out over time and are replaced by permanent teeth. However, some of the milk teeth should be protected in the mouth until the age of 12-13 because the permanent teeth coming under these teeth complete their development at this age and are ready to erupt into the mouth. Milk molars, which play an important role in chewing, are milk cutters. (front) They change much later than teeth. For these reasons, it is of great importance that these teeth are kept healthy in the mouth until they fall out. If the presence of caries is detected in the teeth in question, filling them without delay will help these teeth to remain in the mouth until they fall out.
- Question: My child’s teeth are decaying very quickly. What can be done to protect your teeth?
Reply: The most important task in the prevention of dental caries falls on the family. Brushing the teeth regularly and controlling the eating habits are important duties of the child’s parents.
In addition to these, different preventive practices are applied in our clinic in order to prevent dental caries:
Complete oral and dental care is only possible with complete information. Hygiene education, which includes teaching tooth brushing and flossing, reviewing nutritional habits and explaining the importance of oral and dental health, ensures that there is no missing information. This education is as important for adults as it is for children.
2-Surface Fluorine Application
Fluoride is a natural mineral that we can get from water or many of the foods we eat. This mineral, which is applied on the teeth, strengthens the tooth enamel, making it more resistant to caries.
Superficial fluoride applications are a simple, painless procedure that can be started from the age of 3 and should be repeated every 6 months. It is ideal for the child’s first encounter with the dentist and for a check-up every 6 months. After this process, which takes a few minutes, the fluoride stored on the surface of your child’s teeth will make the teeth much healthier and stronger.
The chewing surfaces of the teeth are indented. These areas are very narrow and are often where cavities begin due to the inability to get trapped and cleared. In order to prevent the accumulation of food and microorganisms in these areas, these recesses ‘fissure sealant’ It is closed with a special fluid filling called Thanks to this process, approximately all caries 70% It is possible to be protected from the chewing surface caries that form the cavity. It is ideal for this application to be applied during the eruption of the first permanent molars. This is around 6 years old. It is also applied to the others during the eruption of other molars. An important point is that it should be done shortly after the permanent teeth begin to erupt. (within 1-2 years) it will be better. It is an absolutely painless and very easy procedure.
Question: What is a placeholder?
Reply:Milk teeth are sometimes caused by various reasons. (bruise or accident) may be lost earlier than the time of fall. In such cases, until the permanent tooth from below is ready and erupts, the adjacent teeth may bend and turn, covering the area that the lost primary tooth should protect for the permanent tooth. In fact, the tooth in the opposite jaw of the cavity begins to elongate. If the development is left to itself after the early primary tooth extraction, these movements will cause no room for the next permanent tooth. Thus, the permanent tooth will either not grow at all or will develop out of its normal place.
Placeholders are appliances that protect the tooth cavity and are made of metal and acrylic in order to prevent all these problems. Movable (attachable) or fixed, depending on the number of teeth lost (pasted)placeholders can be made.
Question: My child does not go to the dentist for examination and treatment. What can be done about it?
Reply: It is normal for young children to behave inappropriately when they meet the dentist for the first time. In our clinic, special behavior guidance techniques are used to persuade and adapt children with adjustment problems to dental treatment. However, the treatment of children and disabled patients who are determined to be unable to adapt during the treatment sessions can be performed under general anesthesia.