Why You Should Track Milestones with Your Child's Dentist

We all love to track our little ones' milestones as they grow. We take them to the pediatrician, who monitors whether they are hitting the proper milestones according to their age. However, we tend to ignore tracking our children's dental milestones with our dentists. An experienced pediatric dentist should examine your baby soon after birth. They are more trained to deal with lip and tongue-ties in newborns, craniofacial development, and other developmental factors which may contribute to issues with breastfeeding, feeding, sleeping, and a myriad of other issues which are easily avoidable.

The human head plus the upper jaw grows the fastest between the ages of 0 to 2 years. By the time the child is four years old, the head has developed 60%, and by six years, there is 80% development of the jaws. The rest of the growth occurs between six to twelve years old. That means you want to catch any growth issues as early as possible to avoid needing to take more drastic measures to correct later in life.

Traditional Tracking of Dental Development

Most people know to go to the dentist when a baby’s first tooth erupts, or at 1 year, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. And then of course as the teeth start to see crowding or are out of alignment between late elementary years or early junior high. This is when orthodontics is traditionally implemented into the dental plan.

What if we told you that all of that can be circumvented with implementing early on tracking of dental and craniofacial (facial bone) and development? Often times, wisdom teeth don’t even need to be removed, as with proper development, there is adequate space within the mouth for the teeth to remain.

Current dental and orthodontic treatment has turned into reactive treatment rather than proactive treatment, and babies, children, and adults are paying for the affects physically.

Issues Affecting Children

The development of a child’s face and jaws to genetic potential is critical to facial profile, facial beauty, optimal sleep, lifetime TMJ health, proper airway development, and the position and alignment of teeth. We commend you for taking these early steps in preventing potentially serious health and developmental issues.

Some of the key causes of malocclusion (“bad bite”) and improper facial development that we watch for are:

· Mouth breathing- this usually comes with allergic symptoms, adenoids, and enlarged tonsils.

· Behavioral and developmental problems

· Wrong tongue posture such as tongue resting between child's teeth or low tongue posture.

· Improper oral positions such as the bottom jaw always hanging open, lips apart, too much inside pressure on the cheek and lip muscles

· Poor swallowing patterns

· Excessive pacifier or thumb sucking

· Eating soft foods

These are growth, sleep, and oral function well-checks that are invaluable to your child’s development and set the stage for a lifetime of wellness. Many common childhood illnesses can be prevented or reversed with this early identification and early intervention program including recurrent ear infections, asthma, enlarged tonsils & adenoids, the need for tube placement, sleep apnea, tooth grinding, tooth-crowding and more.

Conclusion

Do not neglect your child's oral health. They are never too young to see a dentist, preventing potential oral and general health issues. As they go through their milestones, it's wise to ensure they visit a dentist who will monitor how well they are doing. Good oral habits start young, so in addition to the dentist visits, they encourage them to brush and floss every day.

Assess your little ones' oral health and get them on track for better overall health by reaching out for a virtual or physical evaluation. Contact our team at AirSync Integrative Dentistry to schedule an in-person or virtual evaluation.