Kids Dentistry 4 Parents
We believe every child should be treated the way we would like our own children treated. It is our goal to implement the highest standard of care at every patient encounter whether it is a child’s first visit to the dental office, a teenager who is headed off to college or a special-needs adult patient we’ve been seeing for decades. This treatment approach is fundamental to creating and maintaining exceptional life-long oral health. The following questions are ones often asked by parents about their children's dental treatments: “How early should I bring in my child?” The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends a child be seen by a dentist no later than 6 months after the eruption of the first tooth. The main purpose of the appointment is to provide the family with useful information to help prevent problems before they occur. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The early visits also help the child become more comfortable with the dentist by age 3 or 4 then starting fresh at that age. “If my child is older, how should I prepare them for their first visit?” Usually, the best indicator of a child’s anxiety before seeing the dentist is the parents anxiety. Kids are smart, and if they feel mom or dad has reason to worry, then they do too! There are many good books about going to see the dentist, and most do a very good job at preparing kids. Dora has a book out which has been very popular lately. “What is fluoride and why do you use it?” Fluoride is a mineral which is used to re-build a tooth’s surface. Over time, acids in the mouth damage the tooth’s surface by creating microscopic pits. Fluoride acts by filling in those pits, and it even makes the tooth more resistant to re-pitting when exposed to acids in the future. “Can too much fluoride be bad?”
Yes. Fluoride is a medicine and should be treated as such. Our practice uses an appropriate amount of fluoride whether or not your child is drinking fluoridated water or using fluoridated toothpaste. When used appropriately, fluoride had been scientifically proven to be a safe and effective tool in reducing decay.
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