Prevention always outweighs the cure. Same applies to the field of pediatric dentistry. Preventive dental care is mainly divided into two lines of defense.
The First Line of defense:
Routine Cleaning & Polishing
The three clinical benefits of professional cleaning are:
- Access to those areas where regular brushing may not help.
- Creating clean surface to apply Fluoride
- Guiding parents and children into appropriate steps of routine brushing. In general, Children should be assisted or guided in brushing by adults until the age of ten to twelve years.
The Second Line of Defense:
Dental Sealants / Protective Coating on Permanent teeth:
In simple terms, it means coating the groovy areas on the back teeth so that food does not get collected and form cavities.
Lasers assisted pediatric dentistry plays a vast role in application of sealants. Erbium Lasers help to create nano-roughness on the tooth which helps to interlock the sealants, hence increasing its longevity. Sealants are always recommended as second line of defense for first permanent molars that erupt around the age of six years and then for second permanent molars that erupt around the age of twelve to fourteen years.
This procedure is suggested as prevention and individual decision can be based on overall status of dentiton.
