Guiding Your Child’s Dental Development with Interceptive Orthodontics

Protecting Your Child’s Dental Health with Topical Fluoride

Helping With Early Childhood Dental Care

As parents, we know you want what is best for your little one. Taking a proactive step in protecting your child’s dental health is one of the most important things that a parent can do. Poor dental health can have lasting effects on children that can be difficult and expensive to reverse as they grow older. Not to mention setting good dental care habits now can help your children for years to come.

However, even with the best efforts and intentions our little ones can still develop cavities or early onset tooth decay. While regular brushing and flossing is the best preventative, our dental staff also has additional options to best help protect your child’s teeth.

Topical Fluoride Protection Options

One popular (and easy) way to provide additional protection for your child’s dental health is through a topical fluoride application. Do not let the name intimidate you, topical fluoride is an easy and painless process for children that is linked to little to no side effects for most children.

Topical fluoride is most commonly applied as a gel or foam, though it can also be applied as a varnish. The solution, as the name appears, contains fluoride but in a more concentrated amount than is typically found in your average toothpaste.

After a quick and easy application process the topical fluoride acts as a barrier against cavities and tooth decay for your child. The fluoride serves to effectively and directly protect tooth enamel against decay, or in some cases can reverse early onset decay.

Recommended by Experts

Although topical fluoride applications are often a new idea to many parents, this well-researched method has gained significant support in the medical community for its effectiveness. The American Dental Association has found that topical fluoride applications are extremely beneficial for children over 6 years of age. Children who are at an increased risk for tooth decay are especially advised to receive periodic applications.

Protecting Your Child with Proper Treatment

While research has also suggested that too much fluoride over a long period of time can be cosmetically damaging to tooth enamel (a condition known as fluorosis), proper procedure and application ensures the safety of your child and their dental health. By applying the solution conservatively, the chances of fluorosis developing are slim.

Another minor side-effects that is typically associated with topical fluoride treatments, is an upset stomach, headaches, or vomiting. While this may sound like a scary short term side-effect for your child, it is easily preventable. Nausea or an upset stomach can occur when a child swallows too much of the fluoride solution during the application session. Although it is natural for children to swallow some of the solution, our staff employees tactics such as dental dams and other methods to keep children from swallowing too much of the solution.

With our team’s knowledge and experience, we have had many successful applications of topical fluoride without any complications.

Let Us Help Protect Your Children’s Dental Health Today

Contact Kidzania Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics today for more information or to schedule a consultation appointment. Our friendly staff will be glad to help you find all the ways we can protect your child’s dental health.