Have you checked out all the services that a West Columbia dentist offers her patients? Young families especially appreciate the possibility of remaining with the same West columbia dentist practice for their children’s dental needs all the way from babyhood to adulthood.

Any West Columbia dentist will strongly encourage new parents to bring their babies in for a first visit at approximately six months of age. Even in the absence of visible teeth, decay can still develop in unerupted teeth that have been exposed to sugary liquids. Called “baby bottle tooth decay,” the condition occurs in babies who regularly go to bed with bottles containing liquids other than plain water. The sugarly liquid bathes and settles on the gums overnight. Experts recommend that babies never go to bed with anything other than water in their bottles.

As their children’s teeth erupt and develop, parents will want to take them to their West Columbia dentist for regular checkups and cleanings. Decay is dealt with right away. Visits to the family West Columbia dentist offer excellent opportunities for children to learn dental health care procedures that parents can reinforce at home.

Children’s dental needs change as they mature. As a child approaches adolescence, his permanent teeth could grow in in such a way that corrective braces are required. The family West Columbia dentist most likely has a professional relationship with an orthodontist to whom she can recommend her patients.

When young patients reach adulthood, they can remain with their West Columbia dentist for regular prophylactic cleanings, fluoride treatments and restorative work like cavity fillings, root canals and crown placement. There is no one better qualified to monitor oral and dental health than someone who has known a patient his entire life. The baseline standard of good health for that patient was set long ago; a longtime West Columbia dentist will be more likely to notice subtle changes that could signal the early stages of gum disease or oral cancer and act on them quickly.