The Benefits of Taking Your Child To A Family Dentist
Your child’s oral health is vital to their lifelong health too. As humans, our body works as a system, with every part playing a role, including our mouths. This is why it is so important to start your child’s oral health off the on the right foot. We recommend at-home preventive dental care through consistent oral hygiene routines and biannual dental hygiene visits. The question then becomes, should I take my child to a pediatric dentist or a family dentist?
Family Dentists Offer The Most Long-Term Benefits
When it comes to the oral health of your child, family dentists offer some unique benefits that most pediatric dentists can’t. One of these advantages is the ability to care for your child’s oral health for the long haul. In fact, we have many adult patients that we saw throughout their childhood too. Despite that fact that most pediatric dentists offer services to patients up to 18 years old, a majority of children who start with a pediatric dentist switch over to a family or general dentist in their teens.
This transition has its disadvantages. Since the new family or general dentist did not see the child during previous years, they may be missing significant information about the patient’s oral health. While typically dental charts would be transferred with a patient, not all dentists keep the same caliber of notes. However, if a child saw a family dentist from the beginning, the doctor would know details going all the way back to the child’s very first visit. This would allow for the most comprehensive long-term dental treatment available.
Family History Is An Important Factor
There are many oral issues that we treat that are associated with hereditary genetics. This means that the condition was passed down from past generations. Family dentists have a huge advantage in catching and addressing these genetic, oral health issues. Since family dentists typically see all of the family members. This means that they don’t just have extensive knowledge of one child’s medical history, but rather the entire family’s! This allows them to proactively watch for any issues a child may be susceptible to, as well as details into their future systemic disease risk as well. At Wurzbach Parkway Family Dental, we have some families that we have seen going back three and even four generations.
For our life-long patients, this can be a life altering advantage! What many patients don’t realize is that dentists can catch early signs of oral disease, as well as symptoms of many non-oral health issues as well. These non-oral health issues include reflux disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, and even heart disease. Families who know that these health issues run in their family benefit greatly from the knowledge and proactive measures a family dentist can provide. This is one of the reasons we are so passionate about preventative dentistry and ensuring that all of our patients receive the highest quality of dental care possible.
Early childhood is the best time to introduce your child to consistent oral hygiene routines and biannual dental visits. This will prevent or reduce the potential for your child to develop dental anxiety. It also helps them solidify the much needed preventative dental care routines that will dictate their oral health for the rest of their life. Choosing the type of dentist to visit should depend on your child’s oral health needs. For more information about the benefits of your child visiting a family dentist or to schedule an appointment for someone in your family, please feel free to contact us today.
