Pediatric dentists offer a variety of treatments to help your child maintain a bright, beautiful smile for life. Along with a healthy diet and proper at-home dental care, dental sealants and fluoride treatments are both helpful for reducing your child’s risk of getting cavities. Here’s a guide to these dental techniques.

What Should Parents Know About Dental Sealants?

As the name suggests, dental sealants coat tooth enamel to prevent bacteria from damaging their dental health. The sealant, which forms a plastic-like coating when it dries, is painted directly onto teeth to shore up the tiny cracks and crevices where bacteria may take hold. The procedure is simple and pain-free, which is ideal for children with anxiety about the dentist.

The sealant is usually applied to the chewing surfaces of back teeth, which are often missed when a child brushes. For best results, children should receive dental sealant treatment soon after their back molars come in, although the treatment can be helpful for older children as well. That said, sealants are not a replacement for proper dental care; they simply reduce the risk of cavities.

How Do Fluoride Treatments Help Kids?

While sealants safeguard teeth from harmful bacteria, fluoride helps strengthen a child’s tooth enamel. Fluoride is available in many forms. Virtually all toothpaste contains fluoride, and it can also be found in drinking water and supplements. 

Children are also provided fluoride treatment when visiting the dentist. At the end of their semi-annual dental cleaning, your child will be given a tray with fluoride gel to bite down on for 2 minutes to ensure the solution coats all teeth. Fluoride is capable of reversing the initial effects of tooth decay while increasing the toughness of enamel. 

Pediatric dentists recommend that children undergo both procedures, so contact the team at Comfort Family Dentistry, PLLC in Cohoes, NY, to protect your child’s teeth. They will assess your child’s oral health and come up with the appropriate treatment plan. Dr. Thomas M. Patregnani and the rest of his dental care team provide a variety of essential services suited to the whole family. Along with cleanings and preventative care, they also offer teeth whitening, fillings, extractions, and denture fittings. If you’d like to schedule an appointment for yourself or a loved one, call (518) 235-3862 today, or visit the website to learn more.