Early Intervention and Preventive Care are Essential!
First Oral Health Screening by First Birthday
Oral Health is an important part of overall health. Your child is not healthy without a healthy mouth.
Experts recommend that all children have their teeth checked by a dentist or physician by their first birthdays.
Dental decay affects your child's health
- Cavities can be painful.
- Cavities can interfere with a child's ability to learn and eat well.
- Dental disease is an infection that may affect a child's overall health.
Dental decay can be expensive
- Dental problems can grow quickly and become costly to treat.
- The lifetime cost of a single cavity is more than $2,000.
- It makes sense to prevent dental disease, rather than pay for treatment.
Dental disease is preventable
- Ask your dentist or physician to check your baby's teeth by his or her first birthday.
Click here to learn more about children's oral health and finding dental care:
- Oral Health Tips — for taking care of your child's baby teeth
- Baby Teeth 101 — common questions and answers about why baby teeth are important and what caregivers can do to keep them healthy
- First Visit by First Birthday — promotes the importance of early oral health screenings and preventing dental disease
- SmileStones - a caregiver's guide to promote children's oral health
- Find A Dentist - if your child is enrolled in a WDS plan
- Community Dental Resources - information on dental access resources in your community -- regardless of your insurance
For more information about caring for the oral health of infants, toddlers and preschoolers, visit: www.kidsoralhealth.org.
Visit KOMO 5 to view the story on The Center of Pediatric Dentistry in Seattle.