Pediatric Dentistry | Ages 3 to 5
By the age of 3, your child should have all 20 of their baby teeth.
Did you know 40% of kids get cavities before kindergarten?
We are committed to working with you to prevent cavities in your preschool children.
You can help prevent cavities by:
- Encouraging your child to stop using a bottle or sippy cup by the age of 1, and by brushing with a fluoridated toothpaste.
- Making sure they don’t eat too many in-between meal snacks, especially sticky foods like fruit snacks and candy.
- To prevent bite and facial development problems, make sure your child stops any sucking habits (pacifier, thumb sucking, etc.) by age 3 if possible.
Preschool children typically gain independence at home especially after conquering toilet training. Nevertheless, we recommend parental assistance with brushing.
You can encourage proper brushing techniques to ensure all tooth surfaces are clean. Once teeth begin to touch the tooth next to it (it could be sooner) flossing becomes important to ensure complete cleaning.
Your child will get better at teeth brushing with age, and if taught well, you will instill a lifetime of positive, healthy habits!
In addition, if a primary tooth is prematurely lost, a space maintainer may be placed to hold space for the permanent tooth. In this case, a digital impression with no ‘gaggy goop’ can be used to ensure your child’s comfort.
