Mendocino Community Health Clinic: Healthy Teeth, Happy Kids

When a child suffers from dental disease, the damage can go beyond pain and infection. Dental disease can affect speech development, the ability to learn, and self- esteem. Small children with decayed teeth are sometimes unable to eat nourishing foods, resulting in poor growth or even failure to thrive. Schoolchildren experiencing dental pain are often distracted and unable to concentrate on schoolwork, which can result in poor school performance.

To give children the best start to a healthy life, it’s important to provide good teeth-brushing instruction. It’s great to allow children to brush their own teeth, as long parents also brush for them afterwards until the child has the dexterity to do the job right at about age eight. Regular dental check-ups are another way to keep children healthy.

Dentists like to see young patients as soon as their first tooth appears and then monitor them every six months or so to make sure everything is developing normally. With some variation, most children get their first tooth between six months old and a year. By age two, they generally have all their baby teeth. Around age six, children begin getting their first permanent teeth, often the lower front teeth and then molars. By age 12 or 13, children have all their adult teeth except their third molars, or wisdom teeth. Wisdom teeth arrive on the scene in late adolescence, around age 17 or 18. Since most of us do not have room for these additional molars, it’s a good idea to have adolescents assessed to see whether they should have their wisdom teeth extracted. It’s far easier to do so before those molars fully develop and potentially cause other dental issues.

Consistent brushing and flossing paired with regular dental visits should give children the best chance at a clean smile and a comfortable mouth.