At what age should kids start going to the dentist?
Answer: Generally speaking, we like to start seeing kids at about age three. However, if there is any concern to be addressed before age three, we will be happy to evaluate the child before age three.
At what age should the first adult teeth begin to show?
Answer: The first adult teeth to erupt in most cases are the "six year molars". These are the adult first molars and generally appear farther back in the mouth than all of the baby teeth and usually begin to erupt at about age six. Tooth eruption is generally earlier for girls and later for boys. The next adult teeth to erupt are usually the lover front teeth, which begin to appear at about age seven. The last of the baby teeth are not lost until the early teen years.
At what age should braces be considered?
Answer: This depends greatly upon the situation. In some cases it is best to do some early orthodontic treatment to address issues of growth and jaw size or tooth eruption. However, in most cases, braces are not started until all of the baby teeth are gone, or the early teens.
My adult teeth are coming in behind my baby teeth, is this ok?
Answer: Adult teeth generally come in behind the baby teeth on the lower jaw, and above or in front of the baby tooth on the upper jaw. If the adult tooth is clearly visible but the baby tooth is still present, you should see the dentist. It may be recommended that the baby tooth be removed by the dentist.
What should I do if I fall and break off a front tooth?
Answer: Falling and injuring a front tooth is fairly common, especially in kids ages 8 – 15. There are many good treatment options available. In most cases the broken tooth can be repaired quickly and comfortably in such a way that it will look as though it were never broken. Treatment options depend greatly on the severity of the break. So, simply get to your dentist as quickly as is reasonable. It is not necessary that you find the broken piece before coming.
What should I do if I knock out an adult tooth?
Answer: If you knock out a front tooth – time is very important. Do not go to the emergency room first – unless there are other more significant injuries to worry about. If the child is old enough and aware enough, the best thing to do is to place the tooth under the tongue to keep it warm and moist. If there is any reason to believe that the child might swallow the tooth, then placing the tooth in milk isalso acceptable. Do not attempt to scrub or clean the tooth that has been knocked out. If the tooth is only partially knocked out or loostened, do not remove it. Simply leave it as is and get to the dentist as quickly as possible. In most cases, a tooth that has been knocked out can successfully be placed back in the mouth if done within a short period of time.
How do I stop sucking my thumb?
Answer: Thumb sucking is a concern because it can affect the growth patterns (jaw shape) and eruption of adult teeth. Some thumb sucking in very young children is not too much of a problem. However, as the child approaches the age of five or so, thumb sucking should be addressed. In many cases, the child will simply outgrow this behavior or will stop on his/her own when starting school. In other cases, some parental intervention may be required. In our experience, we find we are most successful when the child wants to stop. Then some simple reminders are usually sufficient. Helpful reminders such as placing a sock over the hand at night, or applying a commercially available bad tasting nail polish is sufficient to bring the habit to the attention of the child. In cases where the child does not want to stop the habit, breaking the habit is difficult. There are appliances which can be placed in the mouth to prevent or greatly discourage the child from thumb sucking, these appliances are sometimes successful.
What is tongue thrust and what do I do about it?
Answer: Tongue Thrust – is the habit of forcing the tongue forward through the front teeth when swallowing rather than placing the tongue against the roof of the mouth. This is a concern because the force of the tongue can change the shape of the mouth and the position of the teeth. Addressing tongue thrusting can be done with behavior modification training or with tongue thrust appliances.
What is tongue tied?
Answer: Tongue Tied – is when the cord which attaches the bottom of the tongue to the floor of the mouth is too short or attached too far forward on the tongue. This can have a negative effect on speech. Correcting tongue tied is a very simple surgical procedure. Correcting of the physical issue sometimes requires follow-up with speech therapy to correct the learned speech patterns.
What are sealants?
Answer: Sealants or Pit and Fissure Sealants, are preventative. Studies have shown that the most common spot for a child to get their first cavity in an adult tooth is in the grooves on the biting surfaces of the adult molars. Sealants are a thin plastic like material that is flowed and bonded into the deep grooves to fill and seal the grooves thus helping to prevent decay in this area. Sealants are very effective and economical and should be done on all adult molars as they erupt. Sealants have been shown to have a one-year effectiveness of 83% in reducing caries. Research has also shown that children without sealants are 22% more likely to develop caries.
Why do we bother to fix baby teeth if they are going to fall out anyway?
Answer: There are many reasons we promote repairing and maintaining baby teeth – even though they will eventually be lost. However, if a baby tooth is gong to be lost very soon, we typically will not bother to fix it but rather will remove it or simply let it fall out on its own. Some of the reasons for repairing baby teeth that will not be falling out soon are:
- To prevent pain
- To prevent infection
- To remove disease from the mouth
- To preserve the baby tooth as a space holder for the adult tooth that will be coming into that same spot.
- Baby teeth removed too early actually slows the eruption of the adult tooth.
- To facilitate eating
For self-esteem of the child – appearance reasons if it's a front tooth
What is a space maintainer?
Answer: A space maintainer is a device used in the child's mouth to hold the baby and adult teeth in their proper positions when a baby tooth is lost too early. Failure to hold the space for the adult tooth results in the adult teeth moving into the wrong spot and crowding out adult teeth that will be erupting later.
My adult teeth look too big is this OK?
Answer: Adult teeth come in as full sized adult teeth, even though the child is not yet adult sized. Keep in mind that the mouth and face will continue to grow to adult size for years after the adult teeth have come in. So, adult teeth, when they first come in, should look too big and too crowded. The rest of the body will get bigger around the teeth.
What are those white spots on the front of my adult teeth?
Answer: White spots or "hot spots" on the front on the adult front teeth is fairly common. Typically these are caused by the child taking a tumble and hitting the front baby teeth hard enough that the root of the baby tooth bumped the adult tooth as it was forming and disturbed the formation of the adult tooth. These are usually not a concern and can easily be cosmetically corrected if desired.
Are these spaces between my front baby teeth ok?
Answer: Spaces between baby teeth are common as the child gets older. When the child is a baby the jaw is small. As the jaw grows, the teeth do not, so spaces between the teeth develop. This is a good thing, as it allows more room for the adult teeth when they begin to erupt.
What kind of toothpaste should I use?
Answer: Spaces between baby teeth are common as the child gets older. When the child is a baby the jaw is small. As the jaw grows, the teeth do not, so spaces between the teeth develop. This is a good thing, as it allows more room for the adult teeth when they begin to erupt.
Should I use a fluoride rinse or fluoride tablets?
Answer: Fluoride is great stuff. It hardens teeth, prevents cavities, kills bacteria, helps to prevent or treat gum disease. Fluoride tablets provided fluoride to your growing adult teeth and are recommended until all of the adult teeth have finished growing (about age 18 – 20). The only exception to this would be kids who have fluoridated water and drink enough of this water that they don't need the fluoride supplement. Fluoride rinses can be a nice addition to the tablets for kids who are having a problem with cavities, or as prevention for kids with poor brushing habits or those who are wearing braces.
If I'm taking fluoride tablets, do I still need the in-office fluoride treatment done by the hygienist?
Answer: The in-office fluoride treatment provided by the hygienist as part of your six-month hygiene appointment is a special fluoride designed to penetrate the outer surface of the tooth's enamel and harden the teeth to prevent cavities. This is completely different than the tablets which primarily address teeth that are growing but have not yet erupted into your mouth.
Can you put kids to sleep for their dental work?
Answer: Putting kids to sleep for dental work is something we do not recommend except in sever cases. For most kids, our experience has been that if the child is treated well, in a trust building, fun, non-treating manner, they do very well. We have many times taken children who have had bad experiences with other dentists and successfully turned them into great little patients without the use of drugs. However, in some cases, some sedation is helpful to the children. In those cases, we do offer sedation with nitrous oxide (laughing gas). This is an extremely safe, quickly reversible, pleasant feeling gas that relaxes the child, decreases pain awareness, and creates an amnesia effect (the child does not remember the visit).
Are parents allowed to be with the child during treatment?
Answer: As parents ourselves, we certainly understand and support the parents desire to be present during treatment. However, in all honesty, after years of trying it both ways, we can sincerely tell you that, with the possible exception of very young children (1 – 3), most kids really do better if the parent is not present. We'd suggest that you be present for the first visit – during the exam, and during the start of any appointment so that we can discuss what will be done and answer any questions that you have. We'd then suggest that, if possible, you slip out of the room when we are ready to start treatment. The point is not that we see your child without you being present; the point is that the child believes that you are not present. You are welcome to hide around the corner and listen and watch what is taking place if you like. We don't have anything to hide from you, we just want the visit to go as smoothly as possible for our little patient. Our staff and doctors are experienced and trained in helping kids through their dental visits and often well-meaning parents actually make the process more difficult for the child. We'd suggest that you discuss this with the dentist who is working with your child.
Do I need to have a shot?
Answer: It depends. In many cases, small cavities in baby teeth can quickly and easily be filled without putting the child through having an injection. And in many cases, the slight discomfort the child might feel during the drilling, is easily managed with the patient and is less than the discomfort that might be caused by the injection. So, for many patients, we will usually attempt to first work with the child without numbing the tooth to be treated. Obviously this depends a great deal on the circumstances, the age of the child, the depth of the decay, the previous experience of this child, and so forth. However, in general terms, we do not routinely get kids numb for dental visits and they do very well.
My child has had bad experiences in the past and has been referred by our regular dentist to a children's dentist. Can you see my child?
Answer: We are certainly willing to give it a try. We have on our staff a couple of dentists that are exceptionally good with children and have had many successes in treating children that were referred to specialist by other general dentists. If you have a child who may need this special consideration or has a past history of bad dental experiences, please bring this to our attention so that we can schedule you with one of our dentists who is exceptionally good with children.
