Children's Dentistry

Children's Dentistry

Oral hygiene is important in early years, to prevent tooth decay and gum disease. Regular Dental check-ups help your dentist to help you prevent and treat decay it causes cavities and toothache.

Children should start to visit the dental practice as young as possible, so bring them along with you to your check-ups. They may be too young for an examination but the visits helps to familiarise them with the surroundings, the smells, noise and most important they meet the dentist.

The examinations will be informal to start, a quick look using a dental mirror. Counting the teeth and looking for signs of decay. As the child's confidence grows your dentist will carry out a more thorough examination.

The check up - The dentist will look at the following -

• Which teeth have erupted (come through the gum).
• Accessing the development of the jaw.
• Looking at the soft tissues (tongue, cheeks, lips and throat).
• Checking for cavities in the teeth.
• Assessing breathing and development issues

We give advice on

• Diet to prevent decay, encourage jaw development and a healthy biome
• Brushing techniques.
• Fluoride treatments if necessary.
• Fissure sealants if there's a high risk of cavities
• Early orthodontic intervention

How to take care of your child's teeth

Oral hygiene starts as soon as your child's first tooth erupts through the gum, this is around six months of age.

• Use a small and very soft child's toothbrush and a rice sized amount of children's tooth paste. As this contains less fluoride than adult tooth paste
• Brush twice a day once in the morning and before bed, cleaning the teeth and the gum area. You will need to clean your child's teeth or supervise until they are around 8 years old.
• Do NOT allow your child to fall asleep with a bottle of milk, formula milk or any fruit juice as these have hidden sugars which will pool around the teeth as they sleep, leading to cavities.
• Limit the amount of sugars (including fruit sugars) in your child's diet. If they do have sugary snacks and drinks keep them to meal times only and give water and healthy snacks in between.
• Give them hard foods to chew on not puréed foods or smoothies as this will encourage good jaw growth.

"Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner."