Preventive Dentistry
Preventive dentistry means a “healthy smile” for your child, and it begins with your child’s first tooth. Make sure to schedule your child’s first visit by his/her 1st birthday. After evaluating your child’s dental health, the Dr. will design a personalized program of home care for your child. This program would include all or several of the preventive services. By following the designed program, you can help giving your child a lifetime of healthy habits.
Oral hygiene instructions
Preventive dentistry starts with instructing patients and/or parents the proper brushing and flossing techniques. We provide and reinforce oral hygiene instructions at every recall visit.
Tooth Cleaning and polishing
Tooth cleaning or polishing treatment is a part of your child’s preventive program. We use a special paste to polish teeth and remove any plaque build-up. Some children’s teeth may require to be scaled if the tartar build-up is present. Tooth cleaning or polishing is recommended twice a year followed by a Fluoride treatment. Children with braces or special needs may require more frequent cleanings as recommended by the doctor.
Fluoride
It has been scientifically proven that excess amounts of fluoride intake will cause discoloration of permanent teeth, and insufficient fluoride would promote weak enamel. Weak enamel is more susceptible to caries. In order to assure that our young children are getting just the right amount of fluoride, we provide fluoride intake analysis in our office. If you have concerns about fluoride levels in your drinking water, especially if you are on a private well, we can discuss your child’s Fluoride intake in detail and arrange testing your well water if necessary.
Diet Counselling
It is normally recommended for children to have a balanced diet that would include major food groups for a healthy growth and development. Teeth are equally affected by the diet. A balanced diet would help teeth to grow properly. In fact, a diet full of carbohydrates, (sugars and sticky starches) would place your child at a risk of having cavities. At the initial examination visit and subsequent recall visits, we evaluate your child’s diet and make recommendations to help your child’s teeth stay healthy.
Oral Habits
Some Children suffer from oral habits such as thumb/digit sucking or tongue thrusting. These habits can be very normal for infants and younger children. Prolonged oral habits can cause dental deformities such as bite problems. The doctor would evaluate your child with prolonged oral habits. Proper recommendations will be made. These recommendations may consist of behavior management techniques and/or simple habit appliances for older children.
Orthodontics
Young children may suffer from orthodontic problems such as cross-bites, crowding of teeth in the jaw, congenitally missing teeth, extra teeth, and so on. Some of these orthodontic problems need to be addressed at a young age when the child still has some baby teeth as well as some permanent teeth. This is called Phase I orthodontic treatment. In some cases, if the child responds well to Phase I, extensive orthodontic treatment can totally be prevented. If major orthodontic problems are not detected or the child patient has high caries risk, Orthodontic treatment can be postponed till all permanent teeth are present. At our office, dental growth and development is checked and recorded at every recall visit. Proper recommendations and/or orthodontic referrals are made by the doctor after this thorough assessment of dental health and growth of your child.
Sealant
It is extremely important for children and adults to wear a mouthpiece or a mouth guard when involved in any kind of sports activity. Wearing a mouth piece can not only protect the teeth, it can also help reduce any damage on the jaw joints (TMJ) and concussions. A dental trauma can range from soft tissue bruises to tooth fractures, avulsed teeth, Jaw fracture and so on. Mouth pieces can be purchased from sport stores or custom made by the dentist office.
Sports Safety
It is extremely important for children and adults to wear a mouthpiece or a mouth guard when involved in any kind of sports activity. Wearing a mouth piece can not only protect the teeth, it can also help reduce any damage on the jaw joints (TMJ) and concussions. A dental trauma can range from soft tissue bruises to tooth fractures, avulsed teeth, Jaw fracture and so on. Mouth pieces can be purchased from sport stores or custom made by the dentist office.
Calming The Anxious Child
Our first visits start with getting acquainted. Child friendly names for the instruments are used. With younger and more anxious children, we try to make the first visit very happy and short. We also believe that children should be praised and rewarded with small toys and stickers for their cooperation and good behavior. This in turn would help the children to be more willing to cooperate for future visits.
We highly encourage parents to stay with their child during his/her dental treatment to help him/her to feel more secure. To alleviate potential anxiety, we request that parents do not discuss the details of the dental treatment with their children. The Dr. and staff explain procedures in a child friendly manner. This Doctor-child communication can often be enhanced if other siblings can stay in the waiting room during procedures.
Occasionally, a young child’s behavior during treatment requires assertive management. An example would be voice control, speaking calmly but firmly. Some children require other modalities such as sedation in order to receive the needed dental treatment. If such modalities are needed to be used, the Dr. and staff would review the detailed information with you in advance.
Dental Care for Special Child
Dr. Rahul as a dentist in Vikaspuri has advanced training to manage patients with special needs. Our office is also specially designed to be physically accessible for special patients. Special children have special dental needs. Some special children are more susceptible to gum disease, cavities or dental trauma. Most of these dental problems are highly preventable. We recommend that you start your child’s first dental visit by his/her first birthday. The doctor would recommend routine preventive visits or needed dental treatment after a thorough examination.
