Pediatric Dentistry

Pediatric Dentistry is an important health field that focuses on the protection and promotion of children's dental and oral health.

Dentists working in this field specialize in understanding the special needs of children and young people from infancy to adolescence and providing appropriate treatment for these needs.

The main goal of pediatric dentistry is to promote healthy dental and oral care habits from an early age and to prevent potential dental problems. This approach ensures that children are protected from tooth decay, gum disease and other oral health problems.

Pediatric dentists use various methods to make children comfortable and overcome their fear of the dentist, taking into account their stage of dental development.

They also support families with the necessary information and guidance to protect children's oral health.

Pediatric dentistry includes both therapeutic and preventive approaches and offers comprehensive care to ensure children have a healthy smile.

Pediatric Dentistry (PEDODONTICS) and Preventive Dentistry

• Factors affecting the development and calcification of milk teeth during the baby's life in the womb,
• Factors affecting tooth eruption and tooth eruption in infants after birth,
• Development, calcification and eruption of permanent teeth,
• Caries in children's milk and permanent teeth and their treatment methods,
• Methods of protecting children's oral and dental health,
• The relationship of oral and dental findings with systemic diseases in pediatric patients,
• Preventive dentistry,
• Dental traumas and treatments
• Preventive medicine and dental treatments in mentally disabled children,
• It covers the necessary practices to prevent problems that may arise in the future due to early deciduous tooth loss.

ORAL AND DENTAL HEALTH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHILDREN

Teething periods in children can be examined in 3 different periods:

1) 0-6 years: Period of milk tooth row:

Although they may vary, milk teeth begin to erupt after an average of 6 months, usually in the lower anterior region, and are completed at approximately 3 years of age, although they may also vary. During this period, a total of 20 deciduous teeth (10 in the lower and 10 in the upper jaw) are symmetrically placed.

2) 6-12 years: Mixed dentition period:

This is the age range in which both deciduous molars and permanent incisors are seen in the mouth at the same time. Over time, deciduous molars are replaced by premolars and transition to permanent dentition.

3) Age 12 and after: Period of permanent dentition:

This is the period when the deciduous teeth fall out completely and the permanent teeth take their place in the mouth and the balance and contacts between the teeth are formed.

TOOTH DEVELOPMENT

Your child's first teeth are called baby teeth. These teeth are very important because they help your child chew and develop speech. They also serve as a protection for the permanent teeth that will come in below them. Maintaining the health of milk teeth prevents the need for orthodontic treatment in the future. Most importantly, a beautiful and healthy smile plays a role in the development of your child's self-confidence. Failure to treat problems in deciduous teeth can lead to major problems.

BABY BOTTLE BRUISES

Bottle caries is a common problem in babies and young children. These cavities are caused by the prolonged contact of sugar and sweets in milk, formula and fruit juices with the teeth. Children who fall asleep with sugary liquids during sleep are at risk. This is because saliva increases during sleep and spreads sugar all over the mouth. Caries-causing bacteria use this sugar to produce acid, which affects the teeth. Your child's teeth should be checked regularly and brown spots that indicate decay should be monitored.

Regular tooth brushing should start immediately after the first tooth appears. However, it is best to wipe the mouth regularly with a gauze swab even before the teeth erupt. The simplest way to prevent bottle caries is to prevent the child from sleeping with a bottle and a pacifier dipped in sweets.

FINGER SUCKING

Generally, thumb sucking is a harmless habit in children under the age of 5, but it can be problematic if it continues after the age of 6 when the first permanent teeth erupt. Until the age of 8, the jawbone is very soft and flexible. The pressure of the finger during thumb sucking affects the development of the sensitive jaw, pushing the front teeth forward and pulling the lower teeth backwards. If the child cannot give up this habit, you can establish a reward and punishment system in the first place. You can reward the days when he does not suck his thumb and punish him when he does. If the problem cannot be solved in this way, consult your dentist. An appliance made by your dentist will stop this bad habit in a few days.

TREATMENTS FOR CHILDREN

Local Flour Application

Flour should be applied to reduce the incidence of dental caries in children. Flour makes the enamel layer of the tooth into which it is incorporated highly susceptible to caries formation.

Flour added to drinking water abroad has prevented tooth decay in children. Since this practice is not practiced in Turkey, we need to give fluoride to our children in other ways.

The teeth with the highest risk of tooth decay in children are the six-year-old teeth. It is most useful to apply fluoride to six and twelve year old teeth. It can also be applied to premolars if necessary.

Fluoride is an element that prevents tooth decay and strengthens the structure of teeth. Fluoride is found in toothpastes as well as in some foodstuffs. However, because children often neglect to brush their teeth, they do not get enough fluoride for their teeth to become resistant to decay. Topical fluoride applications are used to compensate for this situation.

Fissure Sealers

Fissure sealants are a form of preventive treatment that aims to protect the tooth against caries before caries develops. Research shows that 90% of caries develops on the chewing surfaces of the molars. In the first months when the molars are seen in the mouth, they are not yet fully calcified (hardened) and are prone to caries.

With fissure sealants, the recesses and protrusions on the chewing surfaces of these teeth can be filled and the risk of food accumulation and therefore caries development can be prevented to a great extent. These treatments are especially necessary in individuals with a familial predisposition to caries.

Placeholders

Removable or fixed appliances that are made to protect the places of prematurely lost deciduous teeth for any reason are called retainers. Premature loss of deciduous teeth causes a number of developmental problems as well as functional and aesthetic problems. Deciduous teeth provide guidance for the permanent teeth that will erupt. If they are lost prematurely, permanent teeth will erupt randomly and crowding will occur. For this reason, periodic controls should not be neglected and development and caries follow-up should be kept very strict in primary school children in the mixed dentition period.

Filling

Filling In carious lesions occurring in deciduous teeth, the type of treatment is decided depending on the age of the tooth, the depth of the decay and the tissue loss. Teeth can be restored with filling materials. In caries lesions occurring in permanent teeth, they can be restored with various filling materials or crowns according to indication.

Root Canal Treatment

When tooth tissue loses vitality, it can cause pain and swelling. Loss of tooth vitality can occur as a result of tooth decay or trauma to the tooth. Advanced tooth decay or discoloration are signs of infection. Infection can occur in deciduous teeth as well as permanent teeth. Antibiotics may need to be used before treatment. Depending on the case, root canal treatment or tooth extraction may be performed.