Dentists love it when they can watch a child mature into a young adult who knows how to be proactive about their oral health care. Now that your child has reached their teen years, they are ready to begin being more involved in their dental appointments by discussing their concerns. Naturally, you can expect that their dentist will ask the basic questions about oral hygiene and whether or not your teen has any discomfort, but it also helps for your teen to have a few topics in mind to use as a springboard for figuring out how they can best care for their teeth during these important years.

Guard Against Sports Injuries

School and community sports programs help teens develop confidence and learn to care for their bodies. While this is great for their development, your child should also be aware that their love for football or volleyball could lead to a serious dental injury. Before your child heads to the dentist office, make sure that they know to inform their dentist about their daily activities. From prescribing a custom-fitted mouth guard to giving your child special fluoride treatments to counteract the effects of chlorinated water during swimming, dental professionals have many strategies that they can use to keep active teens from experiencing sports-related teeth problems.

Practice Better Oral Hygiene On a Busy Schedule

By now, your teen should know how to brush and floss their teeth properly, but it always helps to get a few pointers during their dental cleaning and checkup. They can also use this time to talk about problems that they run into with keeping up their oral hygiene. For example, a teenager may only have a few minutes to try to brush their teeth after lunch, or they may feel too exhausted at night to floss. Dental professionals are full of tips such as how to pack a hygiene kit for school that helps your teen stay on top of their oral health care.

Find Out How to Improve Their Smile

Teenagers are very aware of the appearance of their teeth, and even minor flaws such as discolorations or crooked areas could cause your teen's self-esteem to plummet. Family dentistry also involves treatments such as teeth whitening and orthodontic referrals that can all help to improve your teenager's satisfaction with their smile.

Now that your kid is a teenager, your role is to help them become an advocate for their own oral health. By arming your child with a few topics to bring up at the dental office, you can help them get the most out of their checkups as they develop a stronger relationship with their dentist that makes everyone smile. Contact a clinic, like Apollo Dental Center, for more help.