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Pedodontics, also known as pediatric dentistry, is a specialty of dentistry that deals with the oral and dental health of infants, children and young adults in the process from birth to the completion of permanent dentition. Children’s first visit to the dentist should be fun and enjoyable. Children are not born afraid of the dentist from birth, but they can be afraid of the unknown. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Association of Pediatric Dentists recommend that the first dental examination be performed after the first tooth erupts (usually between 6 months and one year).
Nutrition, tooth structure and oral care are important in caries formation. The structure of milk teeth is much more prone to decay than permanent teeth. In addition, sugar and carbohydrate consumption, which has a high risk of caries in children, is considerably higher than in adults.
In addition to such a diet, milk teeth with weak structures can decay quickly. For this reason, the care of milk teeth should be done much better than permanent teeth.
Since the milk teeth are the guides of the permanent teeth, they should be kept in the mouth until the eruption of the permanent teeth. Infection and caries can occur in milk teeth, just like permanent teeth. When there is an infection and material loss that cannot be treated with filling and root canal treatment, extraction of the primary tooth may be required.
If the infections are large enough to damage the permanent tooth germ under the deciduous tooth, extraction of the deciduous tooth may be recommended. However, x-rays should be taken before the shooting and the situation should be evaluated.
If the treatment of the primary teeth in the guide position is not possible and it is necessary to extract before the fall, placeholders should be made in order to prevent the other teeth from moving and closing this gap. The placeholders must remain in the mouth until the eruption of the permanent tooth that will come from below. For this purpose, fixed or movable placeholders can be made.
Since the premature loss of milk teeth will cause tooth crowding, every method should be tried to keep the milk tooth in the mouth. If an infection has occurred or the tooth has been damaged due to trauma, it should be tried to extend the life of the primary tooth with root canal treatment.
Fissure sealant application is a preventive dental treatment in which the recesses and grooves of the chewing surfaces of the molars are covered with a fluid filling material. The purpose of the fissure sealant application is to prevent the accumulation of nutrients in the recesses and grooves of the molars that are suitable for caries, to make these surfaces easier to brush and to minimize the risk of caries.
It is aimed to make the tooth structure more resistant to caries by strengthening the building block of enamel with fluorine. Fluor gel application is applied to all surfaces of all teeth. It has no side effects when applied correctly. Fluor gel application is practical for 4 to 6 months, depending on the caries risk group your child has. At the end of these periods, it must be repeated. Thus, after a certain period of time, the required amount of fluorine will be stored for each new tooth group. Fluor application is a very simple preventive treatment that takes about 5 minutes.
What should not be done before the treatment is more important than what is done.
Finger sucking habits can cause deformities in the milk and permanent teeth, positioning the upper teeth forward and the lower teeth backward, V-shaped tooth arch formation, deep palate formation, speech disorder and aesthetic problems.
Collaboration of pedodontists, orthodontists and pedagogues may be required to prevent this habit that may cause orthodontic and orthopedic disorders. Long-term use of the pacifier can also cause tooth alignment, speech and pronunciation disorders.
The use of the pacifier should be discontinued at the age of 2 at the latest.
In terms of orthodontics, your child’s first controls should be done around the age of 7-8, which is the period when permanent teeth begin to erupt. Thus, potential problems can be detected early. Early diagnosis will increase success in orthodontic treatment, as in any treatment.