PatientFYI: Whether or not children receive regular dental care is strongly associated with their parents’ history of seeking dental care. A new report to appear in the journal Pediatrics, which has been released online, is the first to analyze the relationship between parents’ and children’s’ dental visits in a nationally representative sample.

“When parents don’t see the dentist, their children are much less likely to see the dentist,” says Inyang Isong, MD, MPH, of the MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy, the study’s lead author. “It looks like strategies to promote oral health should focus on the whole family.” The result of this study is clear. To set the pattern of good dental care for their children, parents need to set the example of regular dental care for themselves. Parents, you’re children are watching!

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PatientFYI: Most decay isn’t evident to dentists until it is one-third the width of the tooth – by then it requires a large filling that can weaken tooth structure and possibly cause problems years later. But new technology allows dentists to beam a laser light onto teeth with a pen-like instrument, illuminating grooves where cavities the size of pinpricks may be forming.

Find a great Cavity Detection Dentist near you today!

Earlier Cavity Detection

Less-Intrusive Treatments

Lower-Cost Treatments

Better Long-Term Dental Health

If decay is allowed to progress, it not only can destroy tooth structure, it can enter the root of a tooth and cause an abscess. The advantage of treating cavities when they are just beginning is that repairs can leave most of the tooth structure intact. Small fillings minimize the prospect of complications, such having to eventually crown or replace teeth. And simple procedures are less expensive.

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