Children’s Dentistry
Keeping our kids’ teeth cared for can be a stressful business and good Children’s Dentistry is an art. Many dental practices are intimidating places for children, and a child who is apprehensive about dental care can be difficult to treat. At 818 Dental Armadale, we are set up to provide gentle dental care for all the family – and that includes the kids!
We have caring practitioners and staff who endeavour to make your child’s appointment comfortable and fun.
We have a range of strategies to put children at ease. For instance, we encourage our patients to allow their children to watch their own dental hygiene appointments. We find this helps kids to feel comfortable at the dentist and to be confident about their first visit.
We recommend organising your child’s first dentist appointment around the age of four. At this early age most kids’ teeth need little attention, and this helps make their initial dental experience a positive one.
If you have any questions or concerns about Children’s Dentistry or your child’s first dental appointment, call our expert team at 818 Dental Armadale or schedule your appointment online today.
What To Expect At Your Child’s First Appointment
Our 818 Dental Hygienists & Oral Health Therapists are trained specifically to manage a child’s developing dentition.
The first visit for a younger patient is very relaxed and light – often starting with a ride in our dental chair, often on Mum or Dad’s lap and counting the teeth. This also gives us a chance to check the condition of the teeth and plaque deposits. We will discuss with the parents and the child correct brushing and flossing techniques. It is a fun and enjoyable appointment and we find children often can’t wait to come back!
For older children and teens we spend time getting to know them! We begin by discussing with mum or dad their medical history and any dental concerns. A set of extra oral and intra oral photographs are taken so we can assess growth patterns over time. A comprehensive dental examination is also completed. If necessary we may take a set of small xrays known as bitewings to check in between teeth for decay and/or an OPG to asses growth patterns and position of teeth.
At 818 we place a strong emphasis on prevention. We want your children to be dental disease free so oral hygiene instruction plays a big role in the appointment. We use disclosing gel to show areas of plaque and then oral hygiene instruction, whether it be toothbrushing or flossing techniques to encourage them to remove most plaque themselves at home.
A gentle but thorough professional clean is performed, and if your child requires fissure sealants on newly erupted molars, these may also be done at this appointment. We find our children and teen patients are really motivated after a visit to 818 Dental Armadale and parents love the reassurance of someone else reinforcing the homecare routine to their child!
How To Brush and Floss Your Teeth
" You only need to floss the teeth you want to keep!"
Twice daily brushing and once a day flossing play an important role in preventing dental cavities and gum disease. This is most effective paired with limited exposure to refined sugars.
How to Brush
The majority of dental professionals agree that a small soft bristled toothbrush is the best option for removing plaque from teeth and the tongue. We recommend a minimum of two minutes is spent brushing to adequately clean all surfaces.
Hold the toothbrush at the gum line with the bristles standing up.
Move the brush in a circular motion focusing on one tooth at a time, ensuring all sides of each surface are reached. Do not scrub along the gum line as this can cause damage to the teeth and gums.
The tongue can also harbour bacteria, so be sure to gently brush that as well. Start from where it is comfortable on the back surface of the tongue and brush forward.
How to Floss
When done accurately, flossing removes plaque and food particles from where the toothbrush cannot reach, such as between your teeth and below the gumline.
Start by taking about 30cm of floss, wrapping each end around each middle finger, leaving about 5cm taught in the middle.
Gently slide the floss between the teeth, hugging the side of each tooth to ensure the floss can access the gumline and tooth.
Avoid forcing or snapping the floss between teeth as it may bruise or cut the gum tissue, resulting in bleeding.
Continue to use clean sections of floss as you work your way around your teeth.
If you are unsure about which floss or toothpaste you should be using, our friendly dental practitioners are here to help.
Fissure Seals
A sealant is a thin, plastic coating applied to the chewing surface of molars, premolars and any deep grooves (called pits and fissures) of teeth.
More than 75% of dental decay begins in these deep grooves.
Teeth with these conditions are hard to clean and are highly susceptible to decay. A sealant protects the tooth by sealing over deep grooves, creating a smooth, easy to clean surface.
Fissure Seals are the best preventive treatment available to minimise your child’s chance of experiencing dental decay.
The procedure takes only a few minutes and is happily tolerated by most children.
You can make an appointment for your child’s visit by contacting our team at 818 Dental Armadale by clicking the contact us tab in the top menu.
Sports Mouthguards
If you play contact sports then we advise the use of a custom fitted sports mouthguard.
To manufacture a custom fitted mouthguard we need to take an impression of your teeth which we send to our laboratory and then you can return a few days later for a fitting.
Our mouthguards come in a range of colours and fit perfectly.
This is important because the purpose of a mouthguard is to distribute forces evenly to all teeth if you suffer a blow. If the mouthguard does not fit well then, those forces can be concentrated on individual teeth and result in the very thing you were trying to prevent—tooth breakage.
It is always a sad day when a patient presents with broken front teeth and unfortunately commits them to a lifetime of significant and expensive dental treatment.
Committing to a custom fitted mouthguard is the best way to keep your teeth safe from injury.
Schedule your appointment today by booking online or calling our friendly team at 818 Dental Armadale.
Wisdom Teeth
Wisdom teeth can be a major source of pain and discomfort & often appear at an inconvenient time like the middle of high school examinations.
So, if you develop pain in your jaw towards the back of your mouth the source may be your wisdom teeth. Most people don’t have room in their mouth for their wisdom teeth and they get stuck at odd angles in the jaw. This leads to accumulation of bacteria and plaque and ultimately infection.
The solution can be to remove the teeth but sometimes it is possible to solve the issues using other strategies such as removal of an overhanging gum flap.
If you are experiencing pain it is always a good idea to have it assessed by the dentist. We can take a radiograph called an OPG to assess the position of your wisdom teeth. This is taken in a high-tech machine on site at 818 Dental and we can advise you of your options on the spot.
If your wisdom teeth need to be removed, we can remove most in the chair painlessly but for deeply impacted wisdom teeth we usually refer patients to an oral surgeon to remove them while you are asleep in hospital.
If you are experiencing jaw pain contact our friendly team at 818 Dental and we will arrange an assessment appointment.
