As a family dentist in Los Angeles, an expression that we share with patients is “a family that brushes together, visits the dentist less”. This very effectively sums up how we feel about families who make an effort to instill healthy, best practices in their children. The better we are at teaching our children great oral habits, the less likely they are to spend a lot of time in the dentist’s chair. There is certainly no magic formula for avoiding certain types of tooth and gum diseases, but the one thing we know for sure is that the more you care for your teeth at home, the less likely you and your family are to need substantial treatments later on. Believe it or not, we would prefer to see you two times a year, once for a cleaning and once for an additional annual checkup in our Los Angeles dentist office.
We can be a great resource for your family. Having your children grow up with the same dentist that you visit, and having them see the same dentist from a very early age, provides a great deal of benefit and advantage for your family. For one, we will have an intimate first-hand knowledge of your child’s teeth, past dental problems and what treatments are effective. This, in turn, serves a dual purpose, allowing us to easily diagnose the current oral health issues. Second, it gives us an edge in treating any potential problems early. It is for these reasons that we encourage parents to bring their child into our office before they reach school-age. Bringing your child in early to see the dentist will also help to establish a rapport and trust between our team and your child. This rapport will help to offset and alleviate any fears the child might have of dentistry later in life.
Aside from bringing the child in early, there are a few recommendations that we make as a family dentist, to help your child have great oral hygiene and develop healthy habits. These include making the oral hygiene routine fun. No child enjoys brushing his or her teeth. The more fun you make it, the greater chance you have of them actually engaging in the process. One technique that we have heard works extremely well for younger children is to make brushing and flossing about story time. Since we live in a high-tech world, and as such children are fascinated by gadgets. Many electric toothbrushes are not as expensive as they used to be, so getting your child an electric toothbrush may be the key to getting them to brush their teeth more often. For older, more troublesome, children this could be the winning touch for you.
Finally, the old adage, monkey see monkey do, applies very well to children who will imitate your behavior. Children who see their parents brushing twice a day, using floss, and rinsing after meals are more likely to follow this example and will subsequently spend less time having cavities treated at our Los Angeles family dentist office.
