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Tips for Infant and Toddler Dental Health

By Dr Langberg

Hi Everyone!

One of the finest and  longest lasting gifts you can give your child is a gift of good dental care beginning at infancy.  At that time, when your child  is most vulnerable, taking certain positive actions will help insure a lifetime of good, strong, functional teeth which will end up needing a minimum of dental treatment as an adult.  In fact, our goal for all children in our practice  (using  good hygiene, diet, sealants and fluoride) is to get them through age 18 without any fillings in their permanent teeth.  According to statistics, kids with no fillings in their teeth at age 18 are extremely unlikely to need any restorative dentistry (crowns, etc.)  for the rest of their lives. This can save them thousands of dollars and countless hours as adults.

Following are tips that will help them get started towards this goal:

·       Use a wet, thin terrycloth washcloth or a small gauze pad to gently clean your infant’s gums after feeding, even before their baby teeth have erupted.  As the baby teeth emerge, continue to use the same technique to clean the tops, front and back of the teeth and the gums where the teeth are erupting.  Since your child will most likely close his/her lips around a toothbrush you will not be able to see what you are doing using a brush, but can easily feel what you are doing with your cloth covered finger.

·       Once all the baby teeth have erupted (20), you can start brushing their teeth with a child sized toothbrush, but use a minimum of toothpaste (they will swallow it!)

·       If you give your child a bottle in his/her crib, use only water in the bottle.  Milk or juice will coat the teeth during sleep, cause massive decay, and create huge problems for your child!

·       Make sure your infant gets the proper levels of fluoride  either from drinking water or from a fluoride vitamin supplement (your pediatrician or I can write you the proper prescription).

·       Visit us for treatment for your toddler at around the age of 2 ½ -3.  We will perform an examination, check his/her dental development, review home care and diet, and do a cleaning. We want their first visits to the dentist to be fun and prevention oriented, certainly not treatment oriented.  We don’t want to be “putting out any fires” at their first visit.  Remember we are trying to create for them a solid foundation of positive attitudes towards dentistry.

·       Once the baby teeth are erupted you should be flossing  their teeth each night.  It is so important that your child begins to be socialized to  flossing right from the start, i.e., we want them to automatically assume that at bedtime, people have a story read to them, brush their teeth, and mom or dad does “something with some string”.  It may not even be so important to floss every space, just try to floss one or two spaces per arch at a minimum. But do it every night.  Years from now, when mom or dad are not there, they will automatically  have good feelings about brushing and flossing their teeth before bed.  This is just so much easier than trying to introduce flossing for the first time to a rebellious teenager or self sufficient adult.

If you have any questions about the use of fluorides or the care of infant/toddler teeth please feel free to contact me or my staff at 248-356-8790.  Also, be sure to call our office in Southfield begin_of_the_skype_highlighting to arrange for an appointment for your infant or toddler.  Make sure your child enjoys the benefits of superior dental health right from the beginning!  It is a gift that will keep on giving long after you are gone!

So until next time,

Mark W Langberg, DDS, MAGD

 

 

Filed Under: General Dentistry, Prevention Tagged With: General Dentistry, infant dental health, toddler dental health

Problems with Bad Breath?

By Dr Langberg

Hi everyone!

 

 

I know it’s been quite a while since I wrote a blog, and I intend to do this more often.  Today’s blog concerns an embarrassing problem, bad breath.

 

At one time or another, everyone experiences bad breath. The occasional meal heavy with garlic, onions, or spices may leave a lingering odor, but it is a temporary problem. Chronic bad breath is another problem entirely. It can be caused by periodontal (gum) disease, decay in teeth, decay under fillings or crowns, as well as digestive system or sinus problems. Foul breath odor caused by any of these conditions needs to be corrected by your dentist or physician.

 

Although there can be medical and/or systemic problems that cause the breath odor, most of the time bad breath is the result of things left on and around your teeth. Your mouth is warm, moist, and dark:: the perfect place for bacteria to grow and decompose. When this happens and the teeth are not cleaned properly on a daily basis, a chronic odor can result. Bad breath can be eliminated fairly easily, or at least controlled, by removal of food debris, plaque, or calculus; replacement of broken fillings causing a food trap; restoration of areas of decay; and/or eliminating gum disease. Plaque that accumulates at or along the gumline can also find its way into the deep recesses on the top surface of your tongue, contributing to mouth odor.

 

Toothbrushing, tongue cleaning, and flossing correctly at least once a day, are the best prevention and cure for bad breath. Not only will these procedures prevent periodontal disease and decay by removal of bacteria, they will also remove all food debris. Manufacturers of toothpastes, toothbrushes, floss, tongue scrapers, and mouthrinses do make claims to help prevent bad breath and may provide temporary relief of that symptom. No matter which product you use, be sure to thoroughly remove the bacterial plaque on a daily basis.

 

The key to preventing dental problems and preventing bad breath odor is to clean your teeth and tongue properly every day. The best way to learn how to clean your mouth is by visiting us. You have the ability to take good care of your mouth; it is just a matter of practicing the right hand skills best suited to your unique oral conditions. Whether you have many fillings, crowns or bridges, removable partial or full dentures, implants, braces, or other appliances in your mouth, there is a method or tool that will work for you. We typically will dispense tongue scrapers to patients who complain about bad breath.

 

Also, to ensure fresh breath, have your teeth cleaned professionally, by us on a regular basis. The goal here is not only to correct any disease-related problems but also to prevent any problems from beginning in the first place.

 

Your bad breath problem does not have to be a chronic source of embarrassment. Most often it is a sign of a dental problem that needs to be addressed . The sooner it is treated, the easier and less expensive it will be to fix.  If you have any questions about bad breath, please feel free to contact me at my office at 248-356-8790 or use the “contact us” link at drmarklangberg.wpenginepowered.com.

 

 

Well, that’s all for today.  Until next time,

 

Mark W Langberg, DDS

 

Filed Under: General Dentistry, Health, Prevention

We proudly offer Cosmetic Dentistry and General Dentistry services to patients from Birmingham,

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