CHILDREN’S DENTAL CARE IN PUGET SOUND

Pediatric Dental Services for Healthy Teeth and Gums

Our children’s dental care helps your child start life right with a healthy smile.

Tooth decay is the #1 chronic disease affecting American children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Without proper children’s dental care, kids may experience oral decay and disease that can cause a lifetime of pain and complications. The good news is that our pediatric dental office provides preventive care so your child can avoid cavities. Our pediatric dentists will monitor your child’s oral development as they grow, ensuring their permanent adult teeth come in healthy. We recommend your child get an oral examination and teeth cleaning at least every six months. We offer a range of children’s dental care services so your child can enjoy having healthy teeth and gums.

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Why A Pediatric Dentist?

Pediatric dentists have at least two additional years of residency training in dentistry for infants, children, teens, and children with special needs. Children are not just small adults. They are not always able to be patient and cooperative during a dental exam. Pediatric dentists know how to examine and treat children in ways that make them comfortable. In addition, pediatric dentists use specially designed equipment in offices that are arranged and decorated with children in mind.

Why Baby Teeth Are Important

Baby teeth help your child chew, talk, and smile. They also hold space in your child’s jaw for their permanent adult teeth. If your child prematurely loses a baby tooth, other teeth will tilt toward the empty space unless we place a space maintainer. This is why preventive dental care is essential for your child.

Infant Dental Care

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that all children see a dentist as soon as their first tooth erupts or by their first birthday. The first few visits with our pediatric dentists will help you better understand important developmental milestones for your child. During the infant oral health exam, we will review how you manage your child’s dental hygiene and offer tips.

During your child’s first dentist appointment, we’ll gently inspect your child’s mouth with a soft-bristled toothbrush and mirror. Our pediatric dentists will make sure everything looks okay and answer any questions you might have during this time.

Preventative Care – Performed At Least Every Six Months

The health of your child’s teeth and mouth is very important to the well-being of his or her entire body, and while routine brushing and flossing at home are necessary to keep your child’s smile looking its best, visiting the dentist for a comprehensive exam and cleaning is essential. The American Dental Association recommends that your child visit the dentist every six months to ensure his or her teeth stay healthy and beautiful.

By routinely seeing the dentist for exams and cleanings, your child can:

Prevent tooth decay, gum disease, and bad breath
Avoid costly and extensive dental procedures
Have white teeth by reducing staining from food and drinks
Shorten the time spent in the dentist’s office
Have a smile that will last a lifetime

Oral Examinations

An examination of the lips, tongue, teeth, gums, inside of the cheeks, and roof of the mouth is used to identify oral disease, especially tooth decay or other oral conditions, such as delayed tooth eruption or premature tooth loss, abscesses, or trauma.

The dentist may also want to take X-rays to see what is happening beneath the surface of the teeth and gums. The images provided will help the dentist discover dental issues not visible to the naked eye. The exam provides guidance to the dentist for dental health management and treatment.

If the dentist or hygienist finds tooth decay or gum disease, they will talk to you about changing your child’s brushing or flossing habits. In severe cases, they may recommend antibiotics or other dental treatments. If your child’s teeth and gums appear to be healthy, the dentist will probably recommend that your child continue his or her brushing and flossing routine as usual.

Teeth Cleanings

The dental hygienist will begin your child’s cleaning by exploring the surface of the teeth to determine if there are any cavities and to examine the quality of existing fillings. Next, the hygienist will carefully clean your child’s teeth with various tools to remove any hard mineral buildup (tartar) from the teeth. Then, the hygienist will floss your child’s teeth, use a polishing compound, and apply fluoride.

Cleanings are an integral part of children’s dental care, and usually aren’t painful, but if your child has any anxiety about the dental exam, be sure to let the hygienist know.

Fluoride Treatment

If one of our dentists determines that fluoride treatment is needed, we will discuss this at the child’s dental checkup. Fluoride treatments are a strong concentration rinse of fluoride that is gargled and then spit from the dentist’s chair. This is done in the control of the dentist or assistant.

Fluoride treatments cannot completely prevent cavities. They can best help prevent decay when a child is also brushing, using the right amount of toothpaste with fluoride, flossing regularly, getting regular dental care, and eating a healthy diet.

Restorative Care

Fillings

Cavities can be common in children for many reasons, and they need treatment to restore tooth health and prevent greater damage. We provide fillings for any cavities that form in your child’s mouth, and we will work with you to guide your child through better oral health strategies to prevent cavities from developing in the first place.

When tooth enamel is subjected to decay, tiny holes are formed in the surface called cavities. Unfortunately, cavities don’t go away on their own and get worse with time. During your child’s regular dental exam, we will identify if there are any cavities present.

If your child happens to have a cavity, dental fillings are necessary to treat it so that the decay doesn’t progress. Our pediatric dental team will remove the decayed material from your child’s tooth and replace it with a protective material known as a filling. This restores the health and function of your child’s tooth.

Parents may assume that their child’s primary teeth won’t need fillings if cavities are present. Though your child’s baby teeth will fall out and be replaced by permanent ones, fillings may still be necessary for primary teeth. This is because tooth decay can spread from one tooth to another. Filling cavities in baby teeth can prevent future oral health problems for your child.

Space Maintainers, or Spacers

Spacers hold the place of a tooth that has prematurely fallen out of a child’s mouth due to decay or injury. A spacer can be a band or crown attached to another tooth. The dentist will remove the spacer once the permanent tooth starts to grow in. If a spacer is not put in the vacant space, the surrounding teeth can crowd and take over that space. This makes the permanent tooth come in crooked or crowded, which can lead to difficulties in chewing and talking.

Tooth Extraction

Tooth extraction is the surgical removal of a tooth. Tooth extraction is typically necessary after a child’s tooth becomes damaged due to an injury, disease, or severe tooth decay.

Our pediatric dentists will only recommend tooth extraction as a last resort when other treatment options won’t work. In addition, if your dentist must remove baby teeth as the result of trauma or decay, we will place a space maintainer that will allow permanent teeth to properly erupt when they are ready.