As another summer ends and a new school year approaches, many of us parents begin the task of preparing our children for their first day back to school. We shop for the necessary school supplies, we update their wardrobes, and we ensure they have the immunizations and booster shots necessary to continue in school. Children should also have a dental exam before returning to school to ensure they have a healthy mouth and the tools they need to maintain it. [Read more…]
Kids in the Dental Office
My dental practice treats everyone from toddlers to the elderly, and though we have a passion for cosmetic dentistry, children are usually the most fun and interesting patients.
I have had many enlightening experiences as kids surprise me with their perceptions of what is occurring during their dental appointments. After I extracted the tooth of a 7-year-old boy, the mother asked her son as they left our office, “Has your tooth stopped hurting yet?” to which her son replied,”I don’t know. The dentist has it.” In treating young patients I have learned that………… [Read more…]
The Dangers of Thumbsucking
Sucking is a natural instinct with which we are born. Babies and small children use fingers, pacifiers, and other objects to soothe and comfort themselves. Sucking is a normal, healthy part of our early development, but prolonged sucking – past the age of 4 – can cause a host of dental problems and may even indicate medical issues. [Read more…]
Snoring in Children – WARNING!
Overnight guests in our home have joked about my husband’s snoring. His sleep study results call him a “heroic snorer” meaning he can snore in any position, but his snoring has not been found to be connected to sleep apnea or breathing issues. When children snore, however, it is no laughing matter. A child may snore occasionally when he or she has a cold or is “stuffy,” but when a child snores regularly for more than just a week or two and is not ill, it may be a warning sign of sleep-disordered breathing which can lead to dental, behavioral, and health issues. [Read more…]
Fluoride (Preventing Tooth Decay)
In 1909 a dentist in Colorado noticed that many children were developing brown spots on their teeth. Those children also had fewer cavities than children living in other areas. It was later discovered that these children, who were living at the base of Pike’s Peak, were receiving high concentrations of natural fluoride. As rain water ran down the mountain, fluoride was released from the rock and flowed into the town’s water reservoir. [Read more…]
Back-to-School Dental Emergencies
In my dental practice, I have seen many of my school-aged patients with front teeth painfully reshaped by monkey bars, the school’s tile floor, or even another child’s head. So what is a parent to do when you get that call from the school? [Read more…]
A Child’s View of the Dentist
My dental practice treats everyone from toddlers to the elderly, and though we have a passion for cosmetic dentistry, children are usually the most fun and interesting patients.
With three children of my own, ages ten and under, I know that kids have unusual insights and yield their opinions and ideas freely. [Read more…]
Tooth Plaque
Every time you go to the dentist to have your teeth cleaned it is likely that a hygienist will gently remind you (and for some of you she must downright nag you) to brush your teeth twice daily and floss at least once a day. What’s the big deal about plaque? What is it anyway?
Plaque is a mostly colorless biofilm that builds up on the teeth. [Read more…]
The Importance of Baby Teeth
With the experience of parenting three small children, I have become adept at manipulating a Sesame Street spin brush with banana-berry toothpaste around the mouth of a wiggly child while, for the purpose of distraction, I sing “Great, green gobs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts.” [Read more…]