Dental Care for Kids

While it is best for you to routinely take good care of your teeth and gums, they require special attention if you are planning a pregnancy or are pregnant. Hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy increase the risk of developing gum disease. This, in turn, can affect the health of your developing baby. Also, there are certain special precautions to be taken when undergoing dental treatment during pregnancy. Keep the following points in mind to keep smiling before, during, and after pregnancy.

Tooth decay affecting the teeth of the upper jaw in infants and very young children is often referred to as nursing bottle caries. This condition results when sweetened milk or liquids with natural sugars (like formula feeds and and fruit juice) are fed to the baby using a nursing bottle. These sweetened foods stick to an infant's teeth (especially the teeth of the upper jaw) for a long time because the baby is usually lying down with a bottle in his or her mouth. Bacteria in the mouth multiply faster because of this sugar and make acids that cause teeth to decay.

Many think that baby teeth are temporary, and therefore, not important. This is absolutely wrong. Just like adult teeth, baby teeth are important for chewing, speaking, and smiling. They also serve as a guide for the adult teeth. If nursing bottle caries is left untreated it can lead to pain, infection and the need to extract the tooth. Missing baby teeth is a major cause of crooked adult teeth which later need to be corrected using braces.

Management of Periodontal Recession

Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in many foods as well as drinking water. Fluoride makes the tooth more resistant to acid attacks from plaque bacteria and sugars and thus helps prevent tooth decay. It also helps to reverse early decay. In children under 6 years of age, fluoride becomes incorporated into the developing adult teeth, making it difficult for acids to harm the teeth. Fluoride also disrupts acid production in already erupted teeth of both children and adults. It is very important for infants and children between the ages of 6 months and 16 years to be exposed to fluoride. This is the time frame during which the primary and permanent teeth come in.

Although Fluoride is present in food, water and toothpastes, sometimes the quantity is insufficient to have benefit. Thus it is advisable to take our dentist’s opinion on whether you and/or your child require professional Fluoride treatments or not.

We offer Fluoride treatments in the form of gels, foams and varnishes. These help in meeting your Fluoride requirements. These treatments are especially recommended in the following conditions:

Thumb sucking, nail biting, lip biting, tongue thrusting and mouth breathing etc. all fall under the category of oral habits. Some habits like thumb sucking are considered normal in infants up to a certain age. If these habits are not controlled, they may lead to gums diseases, change in the shape of jaws & changes in the teeth position.

In order to control these habits and prevent any damage to the oral cavity and face, special appliances are designed and fabricated. These appliances are known as habit breaking appliances and they may be fixed or removable. These help train the child to give up his/her habit.

The mouth and face of a child or adult can be easily injured if the proper precautions are not used while participating in sports or recreational activities.

Interceptive orthodontics refers to the orthodontic treatment given to a child when the first signs of malocclusion appear. Instead of waiting for the malocclusion to worsen until the child grows up, we treat the condition right when the adult teeth are developing, thus preventing the malocclusion from setting in, in the first place. This helps in correct development of the teeth, face and jaws thus reducing patient discomfort, treatment duration and treatment costs. It ensure that the results obtained are stable, functional and aesthetic.

Dentistry for Children with Special Needs

Balancing the needs of a special needs child is very challenging for parents. Pressing medical conditions often take focus and dental care is most likely ignored. Studies conclude that children with special needs are almost twice as likely to suffer from dental problems as compared to children without special needs. Depending on their medical condition, they may have missing teeth or extra teeth, jaws defects, gum diseases or be prone to tooth decay and dryness of mouth. It is mandatory to schedule periodic dental visits for this group of patients so that existing problems can be identified and treated, and preventive measures can be instituted.

If you are the parent of a special needs child, it's important that you pay particular attention to his/her dental health care. A good set of teeth in a healthy mouth ensure that your child can enjoy the nutritious food you provide and sport a beaming smile!