Paediatric dental offices offer various strategies to ease children’s fears during visits to the dentist’s office, helping keep young patients calm.
Prevention – Establishing healthy oral care habits among children will reduce their risk of dental decay and gum disease in later life. This may involve providing advice regarding thumb-sucking, pacifier usage and smoking cessation.
Preventive care
“Prevention is better than cure” applies particularly when it comes to dental health. Early preventative care like visiting a childrens dentist Seaton reduces your risk of tooth decay, infections and other serious oral issues.
Regular brushing and flossing reduce bacteria that create plaque, as well as any potential abrasions to teeth, which in turn lower the risk of cavities for children. Professional cleanings remove tartar build-up from teeth to lower risk for cavities in kids; while low radiation digital X-rays allow dentists to detect hidden abnormalities.
Persistent bad habits such as thumb sucking and pacifier use can lead to alignment issues that require orthodontics or appliances for correction. We offer counselling, behaviour modification therapy or appliance treatment services that can stop these harmful habits before they become problematic; typically these preventive treatments are covered under your child’s dental plan.
Cleanings
Childrens dentists specialise in regular dental cleanings to remove tartar and plaque deposits that build up over time, leading to gum diseases, tooth decay and cavities in children. Furthermore, paediatric dentists can offer nutrition information, useful habit counselling strategies and sealants that protect vulnerable areas on a child’s teeth.
Paediatric dental exams are more comprehensive than their adult counterparts and necessary to ensure your children’s milk teeth are being replaced by permanent ones as soon as possible. Paediatric dentists will conduct a medical history review of your child in order to identify any risks they might pose to their oral health and address them immediately.
Paediatric dentists take an interactive and playful approach to dentistry that helps connect easily with children while alleviating any dental anxiety they might be feeling. By employing the ‘tell-show-do’ method they show patients which tools they will be using before explaining why and what the goal of this process will be.
Fillings
Dental fillings (also referred to as tooth restoration or composite fillings) are minimally invasive treatments used to restore function, integrity and morphology of damaged tooth structure due to caries or external trauma. According to childrens dentist Seaton, these provide relief with minimum side effects.
These dental crowns can be constructed of composite resin, porcelain or gold; alternatively glass ionomers that release fluoride may also be available and should be applied in the grooves of back adult teeth (molars). However, other teeth may require crowns too.
Children can be difficult to manage when in pain and having behavioural issues, but paediatric dentists are trained to communicate effectively with children in order to reduce discomfort and help them feel better. They use behaviour management techniques while distracting kids with games or toys during a procedure.
Root canals
Inside every tooth lies highly vascularised tissue known as dental pulp. This substance nourishes and hydrates the tooth to reduce brittleness and fracture while also serving a sensory purpose, such as sensing hot or cold temperatures.
If a root canal is needed, a fistula may appear on the gum as pus, blood, and infectious materials try to escape through it.
Root canal therapy uses specialised dental instruments to remove damaged dental pulp and decontaminated space. Gutta percha is then placed inside the tooth with dental cement for added support, returning its normal functions while protecting from further microbial infection. Dental insurance typically covers root canal therapy and crowns; coverage varies depending on individual plans.
Sealants
Dental sealants provide one of the best preventive dental services available to children at an extremely cost-effective price point. Sealants work by filling in grooves and pits on chewing surfaces to help guard against cavities in children’s molars, making dental visits simpler. They have proven themselves an essential preventive service and remain very cost effective.
Application of dental sealants is quick and painless. A childrens dentist Seaton will first clean and prep each tooth, before applying a mild acidic solution to roughen its surface to help bond more securely to teeth. Once this step has been completed, the tooth is cleaned again before sealingant fills any grooves and pits around its edges.
Sealants are made from medical-grade resin similar to composite, or white, filling material used when filling cavities. However, their consistency allows it to easily flow into all the tiny crevices on premolars and molars of children’s mouths.
Fluoride varnish
Fluoride varnish is an easy, safe and quick solution for treating tooth decay in children. Simply paint it onto the top and sides of their teeth using a small brush – sticking firmly to their enamel surfaces as soon as it contacts saliva – and hardens to protect their enamel surfaces from decay – taking only minutes and with no pain involved!
Studies show that professional fluoride treatments are very effective at preventing tooth decay and can even reverse cavities at an early stage. Most dental insurance policies cover fluoride treatment for children.
For optimal dental health, children must practice good oral hygiene habits, visit their dentist twice annually for cleanings and checkups, and consume a diet rich in fluoride-rich food sources. In addition, parents can use topical fluoride gels at home to strengthen their child’s teeth.