Dental Care For Teens - The Braces Years

By the time a child is a teenager, they usually have had braces on their teeth or are getting braces on their teeth if they are needed. Dentists usually determine if braces are needed by the time a child is about 11 years old. While not all teens have braces, many do. Teen dental care usually involves braces care as well as cleaning teeth and looking for cavities.

Teen dental care should mimic adult dental care in that the teenager should be visiting the dentist on a regular basis. This can help when it comes to looking for cavities as well as keeping teeth clean. By the time a child is a teenager, they should be in a regular routine of teeth brushing and can use adult style toothbrushes as well as adult toothpaste. If a teenager has braces, braces care entails more gentle tooth brushing around the brackets as well as avoiding food that can bend the wires or get caught in the braces. Most teenagers with braces will eat those foods anyway so braces care is important. Teen dental care by dentists focuses on cleaning around braces as dentists are very adept at this practice.

Dental care for teens means brushing the teeth twice a day and seeing the dentist twice a year for cleaning and exams. It is important for parents to realize that even if a child has braces, they still need to see the dentist twice a year for cleanings. This is even more important as the area around the braces should be cleaned properly.

Some teen dental care can include a recommendation of braces, if needed. Some dentists will wait to recommend braces until the child has grown into puberty. Dental care in teens often involves orthodontics, which is a specialty field in dentistry that involves teeth straightening. This is often done for cosmetic purposes, but can also be done for dental care purposes, especially if there is crowding or impacted teeth. Teen dental care often involves regular visits to the dentist as well as the orthodontist for braces care. Dental care in teens is important as this is the time when most teeth problems are apparent and can be corrected.