Throughout your life, your dental needs are going to change. As dentists, we take this into account as we perform regular checkups and provide various dental services. Some of this may seem obvious. It only makes sense that recommendations for dental care on teeth that will just be lost anyway will be different from recommendations that will impact the rest of your life.
But that is the important point. Some of these treatments can impact your overall health throughout your life, so it’s important to get the right treatments at every age.
Dental Solutions for Children
This time period can technically include anything from 1-year-olds to early adolescents. This is where good dental habits can be established, and the earliest dental appointments will mainly be about teaching great dental habits.
Of course, cavities at a young age are not out of the question, especially if they enjoy a lot of sugary, sticky snacks. We can provide fillings and help kids understand how to prevent these problems in the future.
Later treatments may involve fillings and making sure that teeth come in straight. As they reach adolescence, and they’ve lost all their baby teeth, it may be time to talk about the possibility of braces.
Dental Work for Adults
Many adults have trouble making time for regular dental visits because life just gets too busy sometimes. However, there are some things that happen to your adult teeth that may need special care. For example:
- Oral cancer is now a real concern, because people over 40 are at a greater risk. This means your regular dental visits are even more important.
- Pregnancy may have an impact on the state of your dental health, so prenatal care is important to keep the mouth healthy through this time.
Dental work for adults may also include a number of cosmetic solutions. It’s easier than ever to get a bright, white smile and nice, straight teeth, so many adults finally take the time to get it done.
We also do a lot of repair or replacement work for procedures that were done previously. Of course, as long as you’re maintaining your regular checkups, we can do a lot of preventative work, too.
The current generation is going to be the first in which the majority of people will be able to keep their natural teeth their entire lives. It wasn’t that long ago that most adults just assumed they’d have to make the switch to dentures eventually.
Now, with better home-care products and high-tech dental office tools and techniques, you can go into your senior years with a beautiful, healthy smile.
Dentistry for Seniors
As age continues to creep up on us, we could be looking at a few more potential dental health problems.
Age can affect the way we perform our dental work, especially when older patients are dealing with some age-related issues. The most common problems include:
- Oral cancer – This could be a growing risk.
- Periodontal disease – A surprising large amount of people over the age of 35 have some time of gum disease, and left untreated, it can lead to tooth loss and other problems when you reach your senior years.
- Dry mouth – Salivary glands can stop working properly due to medications or other treatments.
- Toothaches and mouth pain – These pains become more common as we get older.
- Bone loss – Some studies have linked osteoporosis and bone loss in the jaw, which could impact how we do implants, all-on-4s, or other treatments.
Tips for Good Dental Care at Every Stage in Life
Whatever age group you fit into, you can reduce some of the dental health risks by maintaining a strict oral hygiene routine. In the end, it’s all about prevention.
When these good habits are instilled in children, by the time they reach their senior years, they’ll still be smiling.
More importantly, they’ll still be coming in for their regular checkups, so we can determine exactly what kind of dental work will be the most valuable to them.