As your child approaches puberty, it can be a crucial time for influencing the future of their oral health. This is the time when your child's adult teeth develop — also the time when their face and jaws experience a dramatic growth shift. In addition to rapid growth, hormonal changes in adolescence can impact your teen's self-esteem, eating habits, activities, and motivation for self-care, including dental hygiene.
Awareness About Oral Health Should Start Early
It is possible to teach teenagers to protect their teeth and safeguard their oral health at an early age with the support of a good dentist and an early consultation for awareness. The goal is to get through the teenage years as healthy as possible. The chances of your teenager keeping their teeth for the rest of their lives will be maximized with this practice.
Positive Oral Habits Will Help
The emergence of permanent teeth during puberty allows teens to build a solid foundation for their dental health. Individuals often return to childhood dietary habits and self-care routines as adults. To establish proper dental hygiene in teens, a consistent, twice-daily dental hygiene regimen should be established in front of the bathroom mirror.
Positive Dental Visits can be Aided by Early Awareness
Developing a comfortable and pleasant relationship with teenagers will help them overcome their anxiety about dental checkups in the future. At any age, semiannual dental exams are an essential component of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We feel that emphasizing these principles regularly as teenagers become more autonomous will help them maintain regular dental appointments and promote beneficial habits as they grow into adults who are completely responsible for themselves.
Initial Orthodontic Care and Erupting Molars
Tooth alignment may not be optimal when permanent teeth erupt, making teeth cleaning more challenging for your youngster. Wisdom teeth will start to erupt as early as age 15 for certain teenagers. Teens frequently inquire about braces because of crowded or projecting teeth, as well as asymmetrical jaw growth. The desire to look nice and avoid standing out for all the wrong reasons can be huge contributors to getting your adolescent to the dentist.
Early orthodontics may influence the development of airways, lowering the chance of sleep apnea in the future. Orthodontic treatment must be done at the right time. Regular dental visits can aid in the early detection of problems and the optimal timing of orthodontic treatment for the best results.Â
Social conditioning and self-esteem concerns might make some teenagers vulnerable to situations that harm their dental health. At a typical dental checkup, patterns of tooth destruction specific to various disorders can be identified, which can often enable the dentist to diagnose the problem. Early detection of such disorders allows immediate dental and medical treatment, potentially avoiding catastrophic tooth damage or other medical issues.
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Tod Anderson DDS, Los Gatos, CA, offers special dental care treatments for teenagers. For more details and appointments, call us at (408) 540-7813, book online, or visit us at 14475 S Bascom Ave, Los Gatos, CA 95032.
