The best way to have a great dental visit starts at home. The mouth is a remarkable and complicated part of the body, and what is good or bad for dental health can be complicated. We are passionate about preventing dental disease by any means possible which includes diet and hygiene education, professional dental cleanings, sealants.

A pediatric dentist attends an additional 2-3 years of specialty training to focus on all the unique aspects of a child’s anatomy and physiology. We become experts on how to safely offer dental care to children with the use of sedation when needed, and how to keep the baby teeth healthy to successfully guide the adult teeth into place. Sometimes those adult teeth need a little help coming in and a baby tooth may need to come out early or early braces and appliances may be needed.

One of the greatest tools we have in preventing dental disease is fluoride, prescribed in appropriate doses. A fluoride toothpaste used at home daily will help tremendously in preventing dental disease and can rebuild very small cavities. A boost of fluoride is giving during dental cleanings via fluoride varnish. Fluoride supplements can also be used for children whose water source (well or bottled water) does not have a source of fluoride.

There are many things that can cause cavities, and it can be very complicated. If your child gets a cavity, it is not the end of the world and does not make you a bad parent. Catching a cavity early leads to the best and least invasive or expensive treatment options. Most cavities can be fixed with a white tooth-colored filling, but larger cavities may need a crown to cover the entire tooth. Painful cavities may involve a nerve treatment to alleviate pain and keep the tooth healthy.

A unique aspect of teeth is that they don’t grow in size, only in length. Many parents ask when the first adult teeth come in “why are they so big?!”. The answer is that the teeth aren’t big, their head is just still small! Many children lack adequate space for the adult teeth, and they may need to come out early. When a tooth is lost early, a space maintainer (spacer) is needed to allow the adult tooth to erupt into the proper place.

When a tooth has a large cavity, a white filling may not be an option. In this case a full-coverage option is needed, or a crown. A crown allows the baby tooth to be maintained for function (speech, diet) and esthetics. For many years the only option for a crown on a baby tooth was a metal crown (stainless-steel crown). We now offer tooth-colored options (Zirconia) that look and function just like the natural tooth. Both crowns are very compatible with the body and usually last the life of a baby tooth.

A large part of a pediatric dentist’s specialty training focuses on safely administering sedation to a child as needed to complete dental treatment. These sedations can range from Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) to general anesthesia. Just as each child is unique, so are their sedation needs. Most children require nitrous oxide to complete basic dental treatment (fillings). If a child has several cavities and multiple appointments are needed, a child may need a deeper sedation. If a child has cavities in all parts of their mouth, general anesthesia may be needed to complete the child’s care and prevent pain, infection, and further complications in the future.

There are many tissue components to the mouth, and some of those tissue acts as anchors to other parts of the mouth. Those anchors are called tissue-ties (frenum) and they attach our tongue to the floor of our mouth and our lips to gums. Sometimes these ties are tooth tight and can prevent proper feeding in infants or can cause speech issues in toddlers. The release of these tissues is called a frenectomy and will allow proper feeding and speech progression. This is a minor surgery performed with a laser that is made to cut the tissues.

Wisdom teeth are the last teeth to erupt in the mouth usually come in from ages 17-21. Not everyone has wisdom teeth, and not everyone who does has enough room for them when they come in. Wisdom teeth are usually extracted due to lack of space, and to prevent complications later in life. Many times, a patient needs to be put to sleep to remove their wisdom teeth, and they would be referred to an oral surgeon. When the teeth are erupted into the mouth and need to be removed, treatment can be performed in our office.