pediatric dentistry
It is great news that the incidence of tooth decay has significantly diminished over the years due to the use of fluorides, sealants, and increased patient awareness. However, teeth are still susceptible to decay, infection, and breakage and sometimes need to be restored back to health.
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Helping children chew properly to maintain good nutrition
Involvement in speech development
Helping save space for permanent teeth
infant/toddler exam recommendation:
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) recommends that a child go to the dentist by age 1 or within six months after the first tooth erupts. Primary (baby) teeth typically begin growing in around 6 months of age.
Children exams and
Cleanings include:
Cavities detection, developmental assessment, tooth alignment/pre-orthodontic screening, education, cleaning, fluoride treatment for prevention.
These appointments
Accomplish three things:
Early detection of disease and risk assessment, education on dental health for parent/caregiver, create familiarity with dental visits.
Children who maintain good oral health are more likely to have healthy permanent teeth
When baby teeth are lost early, (before the permanent teeth are ready to erupt) it can lead to poor nutrition, speech impediment, and crooked/crowded teeth. Children who maintain good oral health are more likely to have healthy permanent teeth, meaning less dental treatment over their lifetime.
faqNON-invasive treatment
All children reach developmental milestones at different points in time. Every child is unique; therefore, we try to cater our treatment to your child, based on where they are in their stage of development. All three-year olds and six-year olds are not the same. We want to meet your child where they are today.
Sometimes when young children aren’t able to cope with long dental appointments, we can do certain treatments that are quick and easy and that will get them by until they mature and can handle longer dental appointments. Some of these treatments are explained below. None of the treatments explained require the use of anesthetic (the numbing shot).
sdf (silver diamine fluoride)
SDF is a liquid compound, that when applied at six-month intervals can stop the progression of moderate decay. In the past, a filling would be needed to stop a cavity from progressing, but now in just a couple of minutes, we can apply SDF and stop the decay from progressing. The biggest downside with SDF is its tendency to stain the area of decay. Typically we like to use SDF as a temporary solution until the child becomes mature enough to sit through a filling. This is a great option for many young children.
art (atraumatic restorative technique)
ART is a technique that involves removing the softest portion of the cavity with a spoon instrument: no drilling or cutting is necessary. The remaining cavity is filled with a GI (Glass Ionomer) material with high fluoride release. The material hardens when set and smothers the cavity. This can be a great option in certain situations, especially for young children.
"hall" crowns
Hall crowns are a progressive approach to treating moderate-to-large cavities on baby teeth. A traditional approach to using stainless steel crowns, involved grinding the tooth down and removing all of the decay prior to cementing the crown. With this new approach, none of that is needed. We simply select a crown that best fits the tooth and cement it over the top. This seals in the decay and prevents it from progressing. The whole process takes less than 15 minutes, and requires no anesthetic shots or drilling.
