The Importance of Your Child’s Healthy Smile

A child’s smile is a magical thing. It can be like sunshine on a cold, frosty day. It can lift the spirits and chase away the clouds of a bad mood. Throughout your child’s life, that healthy smile has more importance than you may realize. At all stages of life, a healthy smile, aesthetically pleasing to the eye, not only builds self-confidence, it can also open doors to success. However, it can be especially important when they reach school age.

Concerns About Outward Appearance

Whether or not people want to admit it, our society is focused on appearance. This obsession with how an individual looks affects children as well as adults. In fact, researchers have discovered that one of the targets for bullying in schools has to do with dental issues. Unattractive teeth are one of the top reasons kids get bullied. In some cases, dental issues factor more into bullying than weight or height.

Children who are targeted because of the appearance of their teeth often experience other problems as well. They have lower self-confidence, suffer academically and socially. When a child has missing, crooked, misaligned or discolored teeth, the teasing they face can be unbearable.

Preventive Care

Proper oral hygiene helps keep tooth decay and gum disease from developing. Many young children will have some tooth decay in their baby teeth by the age of three or four. Badly decayed baby teeth can affect the permanent teeth that have yet to erupt. Regular dental checkups can prevent serious problems from developing. They also help your child learn about proper oral hygiene and help build a firm foundation for a lifetime of good oral health.

Annual dental checkups also allow your dentist to monitor the development of your child’s teeth, so problems with misalignments or crowding can be addressed in their earliest stages. If your child’s dentist determines that braces are needed, you will be happy to know that kids who have braces are more likely to feel more positive about themselves. Knowing their teeth will be straight at the end of treatment can improve a child’s self-esteem and self-confidence.

Preventive care not only halts dental issues from developing into bigger problems, but it can also help your child have a better school experience. At Gwinnett Family Dental Care, we can help ensure your child maintains a beautiful, healthy smile. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.