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Dentistry for Kids at the Children's Dental Centre
 

What is a Paediatric Dentist?

A paediatric dentist is a specialist dentist with a minimum of three full-time years of post-graduate university training.

Paediatric dentists perform their training at tertiary level hospitals and specialist dental departments to help manage all children, including those with anxiety, medical and developmental histories.

They have additional training in managing complicated dental conditions, dental trauma, special needs patients, behavioural conditions and oral diseases. They also work with other dentists, dental specialists, doctors and allied health professionals to ensure that the children they see get the best outcome for the rest of their lives.

This means they provide comprehensive oral care to all children.

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COMMON DENTAL CONDITIONS AND PREVENTION

A dental examination, performed by one of our paediatric dentist, will involve lots of questions and a very thorough look at your child’s mouth. This is done to identify any current issues your child may have, as well as to help you prevent any future issues.

Dental caries is the most common preventable disease in Australia and affects 1 in 2 children under the age of 6 years. It is a complex disease that cannot simply be fixed with fillings or extractions. This is why our team will work with you to help prevent this disease from causing significant damage to your child’s teeth. Sometimes, there are lots of things to consider, like social, medical and behavioural situations. However, rest assured that we will work with you to get the best results we can.

Molar-Incisor Hypomineralisation is a common condition that affects 1 in 6 children. It can be difficult to know what has caused it in a particular child. It can cause many problems for children’s teeth, including; hypersensitivity, poor aesthetics, easily broken/decayed teeth. Providing treatment to those affected can be particularly difficult, as the hypersensitivity can make it difficult to achieve adequate numbing. Children often report pain with attempts at restoring or extracting these teeth. Although it cannot currently be prevented, early detection can help reduce longer-term problems.

Dental trauma is very common in children and adolescents and sadly cannot always be prevented. Proper diagnosis and management is required to help achieve the best long-term outcomes for a child.

These are just a few of the things that we will look for when we see your child. There are lots of other things to consider, however we strongly believe that preventing problems from arising is the best thing we can do for your child. It will also save you lots of dental visits and money long-term. It is the reason why early examinations are so important.

Preventive measures include:

  • Review of oral habits including diet and oral hygiene

  • Oral hygiene instructions and demonstrations

  • Fluoride: has been used successfully in water and dental products for over 70 years. Fluoride is incredibly successful in reducing the decay rates of children and adults in the World. It is also very safe, with no

  • Silver diamine fluoride: can be used in some cases to stop or slow down decay, however it is important to understand that the decay (not the whole tooth) will turn and remain black. It is also particularly useful to decrease sensitivity in hypomineralised teeth. It is painted on the teeth for one minute and then fluoride varnish is applied.

  • Providing instructions on the early management of dental trauma

  • Mouthguard: very important to wear in any contact sports and sometimes other very active sports where accidents could happen. Custom made mouthguards have been shown to be more successful than pre-made ones, including the boil-and-bite mouthguards.

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LAUGHING GAS FOR KIDS

Laughing Gas is safe and effective for most children. Our highly trained specialists will use nitrous oxide in appropriate cases, to help your child have a pleasant and stress-free dental experience.

Laughing Gas is commonly used in paediatric dentistry to help children cope with procedures they may otherwise struggle with. It is a mild sedative gas that is delivered through a nose piece. As well as reducing anxiety, nitrous oxide also has a mild analgesic (pain relief) effect. This means it is excellent for use in dental procedures.

Laughing Gas has safely been used for many years in medical and dental procedures. Prior to undergoing nitrous oxide sedation, our paediatric dentists will review your child’s medical history, answer any questions you may have and also go through some fasting instructions. This is because some children can feel nauseous when they receive Laughing Gas.

When using Laughing Gas, children commonly report that they feel happy, floaty and/or light headed. Sometimes they can feel tingles in their fingers or may feel their arms or legs are heavy. These effects start within minutes after the introduction of Laughing Gas and also stop, within minutes, after the gas is turned off.

Laughing Gas is not a sedative however, as it is not safe and legal to medically sedate children in dental practices in Australia. It will help a compliant but anxious child get through their dental treatment more comfortably.

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • Start cleaning with a toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste when the first tooth appears. CLeaning should be twice a day, with no food or drinks after the night clean

  • Most kids don't like minty (spicy) toothpastes. However, the infant/young children toothpastes in Australia do not have enough fluoride to stop decay. The toothpastes we find most kids accept include; Maclean's Little Teeth and Big Teeth Toothpastes and the Colgate 6+ Toothpastes. For children less than 3 years only use a grain of rice amount and STRICT supervision. DOn;t be worrie if they can's spit, the amount they will swallow will not cause any harm.

  • The first baby teeth generally start coming through at 6 months with all 20 teeth there by 2 years. There is a lot of variation, but if you are worried, please call us

  • Seeing a dentist when the first tooth erupts, or before they turn 1, will reduce the chance your child will need fillings and extraction throughout their life. It may seem quite early but we are going to have heaps to talk to you about!

  • We will talk to you about putting fluroide varnish on your child's teeth. We paint it on with a small brush and it is very safe. Did you know by doing this early it reduces the amount of decay in your child's teeth by 40% (WOW)

  • Sucking is a basic instinct of infants. The benefits of pacifiers before 2 years of age outweigh any possible risks for children younger than 2. After 2 years of age if your child is still sucking a dummy or their fingers/thumbs this can cause changes in their teeth and jaws. Ideally, we want this to stop before 5 years of age to prevent damage to their permanent teeth

  • The importance of baby teeth has been underrated for many years. Your child will have baby teeth in their mouth until they are around 11 or 12 years of age! They help your child talk, eat and smile. They are also VERY IMPORTANT to allow their mouth and jaws to develop properly. We need to make sure that your chhild's teeth are healthy to give them the best chance at having healthy teeth for life!

  • If your child's teeth are tightly together food and bacteria can get stuck between them. If left for too long, this can result in decay which is hard to treat. By flossing, you are removing the bacteria and food and helping your child have healthy teeth for life

  • X-rays help us to see if their are holes between teeth (50% of all decay occurs between teeth). If we can't see the holes, we can't prevent them from getting worse. If a child has had cavities recently, or if there are no spaces between the teeth to check them directly, the dentist may recommend x-rays as frequently as every 6 months. There are other factors that may influence the decision to take x-rays. If a child has had fillings in the past, we may need to x-ray to follow-up on them. If other children in the family have cavities it is more likely we need x-rays to check for cavities in all children. X-rays are very safe and we have the most modern technology to reduce the amount of radiation. It is similar to spending a few minutes outside in the sun!

  • When a tooth has a cavity, it is unable to be cleaned and will get worse. Eventually it will result in lots of pain and possibly severe infections. When you have a filling, it removes the bacteria and fills the hole. This will help your child keep their tooth until it needs to fall out.

  • Any dentist can do a filling, but we need to make sure your child has a positive experience of the dentist. Nowdays we are much better at making a denta visit enjoyable and something that your child can view positively. We have spent many extra years on behaviour management so we can make your child's dental visit the best it can be

  • Australia has some of the safest hospitals in the world. We also have excellent medical and dental professionals and would not do a procedure on your child that has a high risk of a major complication. Modern medicine is amazing and if your child needs a general anaesthetic to have their teeth fixed, we will talk to you about the risks of the procedure and how we can make it as safe as possible. We will assess each child for the safety of the procedure. We have had several years of extra-training when treating children that are under general anaesthetic. This means we provide the most successful treatment and are very efficient at this to make sure they are 'under' for the least amount of time. If you have any questions about this surgery, please call us