As a family dental practice that has served Sparks and Reno for more than 40 years, nothing makes us happier than teaching families and their children preventive oral hygiene habits and seeing healthy outcomes for years to come.

Teaching your children to have the right oral hygiene practices early on ensures they have better overall health and happier smiles for a lifetime, relieving the stress and burden of complications such as cavities and extensive dental restorations. In many cases, many of the restorative procedures we perform can be prevented with regular children’s dental exams and consistent oral hygiene practices at home.

Here are a few hygiene tips:

• Start cleaning an infant’s gums with a washcloth as soon as possible. This gets your child used to oral stimulation.
• Start using an infant-sized toothbrush and a rice-sized amount of children’s fluoride toothpaste at the sign of the first tooth.
• Schedule your child’s first dental visit when the first tooth erupts or by age 1.
• Children need help brushing and flossing (yes, flossing too!) until approximately age 9.