Can Children and Adolescents Get Gum Disease?

Can Children and Adolescents Get Gum Disease?

December 18, 2014 / in kids dental / by FWCD-Admin
Can Children and Adolescents Get Gum Disease

Gum disease often occurs in people of all ages for the same reasons … negligent daily dental hygiene, irregular or missed dental appointments, poor diet (too much sugar), and/or illness and associated medications. The optimum care for your kid’s dental health will be rewarded in many ways for both you and your child.

Daily hygiene – Children are not born with the innate ability to care for their own teeth. As an infant a responsible adult must take charge of cleaning their child’s teeth until they are old and responsible enough to do on their own. This means actively brushing and flossing for them until they can handle doing themselves; teaching them how to perform these tasks on their own; monitoring them to make sure they are doing them correctly and daily; providing nutritious, healthy snacks and meals; and making sure the children get to the dentist every six months for a thorough cleaning and dental exam.

Diet – Many people do not make the connection between their kid’s dental health and the foods they eat. Even many snacks believed to be healthy like some yogurts and many sport’s drinks are packed with sugar. Read packaging labels (and teach your children to do so as well), and avoid those products with excessive sugar. Encourage your child to drink water rather than trendy flavored drinks.

Dentist – A pediatric dentist is the ideal choice to care for the dental health of your child. They are skilled and experienced in caring for children of all ages, and are especially helpful when dealing with a child with special needs.

Dental visits – Young children should experience their first visit to the pediatric dentist around the age of twelve months. Caring for baby teeth is important as these teeth are paving the way for the teeth your child will need for their lifetime.

Now that you are doing all the right things to enhance your child’s dental health, educating them what danger signs to watch for to maintain healthy teeth and gums is important … bleeding gums, swollen gum tissue, mouth sores, toothache, discomfort in jaw … these are some of the signs your child may be dealing with the onset of gum disease.

Intervening dental care can halt the progression of gum disease. Healthy teeth and gums will enhance overall health so lifetime care is essential.

To schedule your child’s next exam, contact our friendly team at Fort Worth Children’s Dentistry. Call 817-569-6633 today for more information.