The best way to have a great dental visit starts at home. The mouth is a remarkable and complicated part of the body, and what is good or bad for dental health can be complicated. We are passionate about preventing dental disease by any means possible which includes diet and hygiene education, professional dental cleanings, sealants.

A pediatric dentist attends an additional 2-3 years of specialty training to focus on all the unique aspects of a child’s anatomy and physiology. We become experts on how to safely offer dental care to children with the use of sedation when needed, and how to keep the baby teeth healthy to successfully guide the adult teeth into place. Sometimes those adult teeth need a little help coming in and a baby tooth may need to come out early or early braces and appliances may be needed.

One of the greatest tools we have in preventing dental disease is fluoride, prescribed in appropriate doses. A fluoride toothpaste used at home daily will help tremendously in preventing dental disease and can rebuild very small cavities. A boost of fluoride is giving during dental cleanings via fluoride varnish. Fluoride supplements can also be used for children whose water source (well or bottled water) does not have a source of fluoride.

There are many things that can cause cavities, and it can be very complicated. If your child gets a cavity, it is not the end of the world and does not make you a bad parent. Catching a cavity early leads to the best and least invasive or expensive treatment options. Most cavities can be fixed with a white tooth-colored filling, but larger cavities may need a crown to cover the entire tooth. Painful cavities may involve a nerve treatment to alleviate pain and keep the tooth healthy.

A unique aspect of teeth is that they don’t grow in size, only in length. Many parents ask when the first adult teeth come in “why are they so big?!”. The answer is that the teeth aren’t big, their head is just still small! Many children lack adequate space for the adult teeth, and they may need to come out early. When a tooth is lost early, a space maintainer (spacer) is needed to allow the adult tooth to erupt into the proper place.

When a tooth has a large cavity, a white filling may not be an option. In this case a full-coverage option is needed, or a crown. A crown allows the baby tooth to be maintained for function (speech, diet) and esthetics. For many years the only option for a crown on a baby tooth was a metal crown (stainless-steel crown). We now offer tooth-colored options (Zirconia) that look and function just like the natural tooth. Both crowns are very compatible with the body and usually last the life of a baby tooth.