Kids Dentistry

All about your child’s first dental visit.

All kids should have their first dental check at the age of 1. The first dental visit usually stresses the importance of maintaining oral hygiene and includes parental counseling to help them with teething phase of child growth. The first visit should be followed by regular 6 monthly visits.

Our Pediatric dentistry services includes the following:

• Infant oral health exams, which include risk assessment for caries in mother and child
• Preventive dental care including cleaning and fluoride treatments, as well as nutrition and diet recommendations
• Habit counseling (for example, pacifier use and thumb sucking)
• Early assessment and treatment for straightening teeth and correcting an improper bite (orthodontics)
• Repair of tooth cavities or defects
• Diagnosis of oral conditions associated with diseases such as diabetes, congenital heart defect, asthma, hay fever, and attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder
• Management of gum diseases and conditions including ulcers, short frenulae, mucoceles,Mand pediatric periodontal disease
• Care for dental injuries (for example, fractured, displaced, or knocked-out teeth)

Frequently Asked Questions

How to take care of milk teeth?

Regular and gentle cleaning of gum pads with clean muslin cloth is highly recommended for infants before eruption of milk teeth. Once the milk teeth appear in oral cavity and child starts taking semi-solid food, it is recommended to use a gentle infant gum/tooth brush without any toothpaste to clean the oral cavity twice daily.

From second year onwards, regular tooth brushing twice a day with age appropriate brush size is recommended. Toothpaste can be introduced at this age. Toothbrush should be used with gentlecircular motions along with cleaning of tongue. Age 2-4 years is most crucial for dental health because most early childhood caries happens in this age group. Preventive anti-caries treatment like fluoride application and follow-up visits with dentist can detect and cure dental cavities at an early stage. Permanent teeth start appearing around 6-7 years of age and this transition stage continues till 13-14 years of age when all permanent except wisdom teeth have erupted and milk teeth have shed.

Why milk teeth should be taken care of till they are shed?

Milk teeth act as space maintainers for underlying permanent teeth. Functional and healthy milk teeth help the child in proper chewing, maintain adequate nutrition and play important role in jaw growth. Premature loss of milk teeth due to cavities/ infections can lead to irregular eruption of permanent teeth out of sequence and may hamper jaw growth.

What Should I do If my child has toothache?

The most likely cause of toothache in children is an infection due to deep cavities. Please do not delay and schedule an appointment with your dentist. Depending upon the condition of tooth and age of the child, appropriate treatment will be advised.

My child’s face got swollen on one side. What Should I do?

Facial swelling from tooth infection can occur due to long-standing deep cavities that were not treated on time. You need to immediately see your dentist in order to take care of the infection.

Why is milk tooth significant?

It is of utmost importance to take care of milk teeth till the time permanent teeth appear in the oral cavity.

Any infection in milk teeth can affect the permanent teeth buds present underneath the milk tooth inside the jaws.

Premature loss of milk teeth due to cavities can cause disruption in sequence of appearance of permanent teeth in oral cavity causing them to appear at odd locations, hence requiring correction in teeth alignment in future.

Healthy milk teeth help your child eat with greater efficiency, hence promoting overall nutrition.

When should a child’s first visit to dentist happen?

All children should see the dentist once their first teeth appear in oral cavity. Every child’s first Mdental visit should happen by the first birthday.

How to prevent cavities in kids?

Prevention of cavities in children begins at home with good oral hygiene habit development. Parental guidance is of utmost importance. We do provide parental counseling to help parents understand and inculcate oral hygiene habits in their children.

Oral hygiene measures are advised according to age of the child.

Twice a day tooth brushing using fluoridated toothpaste, flossing, Flouride mouth wash.

Professional preventive measures like fluoride varnish, fluoride gels, fissure sealants help prevent cavities in children with great efficacy.