According to Dr. Frank Courts, DDS, PhD, a pediatric dentist in private practice in Rocky Mount, NC, a dental visit by age 1 is vital not only for a child’s healthy smile but also for hitting important developmental and growth milestones.
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Tooth Talk Video Helps You Explain Baby’s 1st Dentist Visit to Parents
The first dental visit is mostly educational for parents. The dentist will counsel parents about nutrition, weaning from the bottle to a sippy cup, the proper technique of tooth-brushing, the importance of fluoride, the problems tooth pain can cause to a baby’s growth and development, and other topics that foster a child’s healthy smile.
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New Tooth Talk Video Highlights Doctors & Baby Teeth
The importance of baby’s first visit to the dentist can be a really hard message to share with busy parents juggling home, work and children. The good news is, North Carolina’s “Into the Mouths of Babes” program has healthcare providers doing some of the basic dental health work, including a preliminary risk assessment and screening as well as fluoride varnish to protect kids’ teeth. Now, that’s news you can share with a swamped parent! They can ask for a dental check-up as part of a well-baby visit, with participating doctors.
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Tooth Talk Shares Warning Signs of Tooth Problems in Children
As many as a third of high-risk, low-income kids have cavities and it can be as high as half in rural areas. Beyond the self-esteem and developmental impact of poor dental health, there’s the effect on a child’s quality of life. The impact can be so great–from pain and poor growth to personal and economic discrimination–that some experts are calling poor access to dental health services (be it geographic or financial) a social justice issue.
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