Children's Dentistry
Our doctors believes that a trip to the dentist should be fun, lighthearted, and not something to fear. The way your child is exposed to dentistry lays the groundwork for how they view dental care and dental visits for the rest of their lives.
Our doctors and their team love caring for their patients, and work hard to make sure each child is spoken to gently, treated with respect, and cared for as if they were our own child. We use simple words to explain procedures to our patients and make sure each parent or guardian is aware of the process as well.
Infant Oral Exams
Following the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, our doctors suggests infants should come in for their first oral exam between the ages of six months to 1 year old.
Our doctors will review proper diet, age-appropriate hygiene, and go over pacifier use to make sure your child's oral health starts strong and stays strong.
Children's Cleanings & Exams
Preventative care is one of the simplest and most important ways to make sure your child's teeth grow in strong and healthy. Giving them the proper tools and teaching them the right way to brush when they are young lays the groundwork that will create healthy habits they will carry with them into adulthood.
Most children have two cleanings a year, but children with a higher risk of caries may need more frequent visits.
During a checkup, will your child's hygienist will clean their teeth and, if necessary, take x-rays and give your child a fluoride treatment. The dentist will perform an exam and review if any treatment is needed.
Digital X-rays
Digital x-rays help diagnose cavities while they are tiny, often allowing for less invasive treatment. If they are caught early enough, decay may be stopped with some minor changes to your child's homecare routine.
Using digital x-rays, our doctors can look for teeth that haven't erupted yet, make sure your child's jaws and teeth are developing well, and monitor whether orthodontic treatment will be needed in the future.
Today's digital x-rays expose your child to less radiation than ever before. Lead aprons and taking x-rays only when necessary further reduce your child's exposure.
Fluoride
Topical fluoride treatments help keep your child's teeth cavity-free between visits by strengthening the enamel. Depending on your child's age, the fluoride may be brushed onto your child's teeth or put into a foam tray and allowed to sit on their teeth.
For younger children, a fluoride varnish is brushed onto the teeth. Fluoride varnish hardens when it comes in contact with saliva, forming a hard film that is brushed off later that evening.
Older children usually have a tray loaded with foam fluoride placed in their mouths for a specific amount of time along with a suction straw to remove any foam overflow and saliva. When the time is up, your child is told not to eat or drink for at least 30 minutes to allow the fluoride to work.
Our doctors and their hygiene team are happy to answer all your questions about fluoride treatments and treatment options.
Sealants For Children
Sealants help prevent decay by protecting the surface of the teeth, especially the back teeth where brushing can be more difficult for children. They are made of a clear, liquid resin that hardens when a special light is shined on it. This creates a smooth, hard surface that prevents food from settling in the grooves of your child's back teeth.
Research has shown that sealants can reduce a child's risk of decay in treated teeth by up to 80%. The CDC has even weighed in, stating that children without dental sealants may be 3 times more likely to develop decay in the same teeth than children with sealants.
How are Sealants Placed?
First, the tooth or teeth are washed, dried, and isolated with either cotton rolls or a rubber dam. Then the teeth are etched with a special gel that roughens the teeth, so the sealant material has a rough surface to adhere to. Once that is rinsed off, the sealant material is flowed into the grooves of the teeth and light cured. When all the teeth have been treated, the dentist checks for rough edges and makes sure floss can pass between the teeth.
Generally speaking, there are no side effects with dental sealants unless your child is allergic to one of the ingredients in the resin material, which is extremely rare.
Caring for Your Child's Sealants
Sealants are sturdy and should last up to 10 years, but may need replacing sooner, depending on your child's lifestyle. Avoiding chewing on ice and hard candy can prolong their life and prevent chipping which might allow decay to sneak in and rot the tooth from the inside. The dentist will monitor your child's sealants at each visit to make sure they are still intact.
While sealants don't eliminate the need for proper homecare such as flossing and brushing twice daily, they can offer some protection and can even stop minor decay from developing further.