Located in North Texas, Plano is home to the best tourist destinations and restaurants offering varying cuisines. It also offers family-friendly places such as the Oak Point, Granite Park, and Crayola Experience. The place is a mix of modernity, historic charm, and tempting dishes.
For the food, East Hampton Sandwich Co. offers a menu full of mouthwatering sandwich rolls. Sandwiches are a great treat for children, and they could consume a lot of these foodstuffs. Unfortunately, eating too much of those could also mean plaque and tooth decay for the little ones.
It’s better to teach your kids how to avoid having plaque build up on their teeth than to tell them that the prick of an anesthetic needle is only the bite of a figurative ant. In other words, you want them to avoid the anxiety and discomfort of visiting a clinic as much as possible. If you live in Plano, pediatric dentistry might help make the situation more convenient.
But what is plaque? What causes it to build up, and how can you avoid that?
We Get Plaque from the Food We Eat
According to WebMD, plaque is the byproduct of bacteria consuming the sugar that is left in our mouths. This sugar comes from the food we eat. When the bacteria break down the sugar, they leave residues in the form of plaque.
Plaque is acidic. When found in small amounts on the teeth, it can do little harm. However, if there are enough of them left on the enamel of our teeth for too long a time, they will eat away at the surface.
When the corroded area grows in size, it becomes a cavity. Unfortunately, cavities can invite more bacteria in, causing infection.
An infected tooth produces pain, something you don’t want your little one to experience. This would require a visit to a Plano pediatric dentistry clinic to have the tooth removed and the pain eliminated.
Habits Your Child Can Develop to Avoid Plaque
Again, prevention is better than cure. You will need to teach your child or children a few oral hygiene habits. These are:
- Brushing teeth twice daily. Brushing, when done with fluoride toothpaste, can scrape away the plaque on the surface of the teeth. They can then be rinsed out with water and spat out down the drain. This should be done in between meals and before bedtime.
- Flossing in between meals. Brushing is beneficial, but thick bristles cannot reach in the recesses between teeth. Plaque can accumulate there, safely out of reach, and free to do damage. However, flossing will remove those hard to reach plaque and food residue easily.
- Gargling regularly with mouthwash. While it does nothing to plaque itself, an antibacterial mouthwash will remove the bacteria that causes plaque in the first place. When there are a few of them living in your mouth, the chances of building up plaque is low.
- Going to the dentist regularly. Our mouths are like our cars. Every once in a while, a car’s engine oil has to be drained and replaced to remove waste material that can destroy the engine. Similarly, a regular checkup and prophylaxis can cleanse the mouth and the teeth to keep them healthy.
- Minimizing the consumption of sweets. Eating less of sweet and sugary foods will bring down the risk of plaque as well. Plus, eating less of these junk foods is undoubtedly healthy for your child’s body.
- Having the dentist put on dental appliances that can protect the enamel from plaque build-up. Consulting a dentist can help determine the necessity of these devices, which is another reason why regular visits are essential.
Tooth extraction is but an extreme action to be taken, especially with children’s teeth. Teaching them healthy oral habits, however, will help them preserve their teeth. These habits would also come in handy when they are adults with permanent teeth.