Children’s Dental Care at Eureka Dental Group
Early childhood is perhaps the most important stage for tooth care in terms of both growth and in laying the foundation for good oral health for the rest of the child’s life.
Bring the whole family to Eureka Dental Group to get started on a lifetime of healthy smiles! Our pediatric dental services help teach children the importance of regular dentist visits and good dental hygiene.
Our pediatric dentists can help monitor the development of your child’s teeth, ensuring that any potential complications—such as tooth decay—are spotted and cured as soon as they develop.
When to Take Your Kids to the Dentist
You are responsible for your child’s teeth, therefore, it’s important to know the proper schedule of dental checkups as they age. According to The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD):
- First dental visit – A child should go to the dentist by age 1 or within six months after the first tooth erupts. This is key because primary teeth begin growing in around 6 months of age. This first visit will include a lap exam and discussion of proper oral hygiene to help prevent frequent visits to the dentist over the years. The first dentist visit is as much for the child as it is for the parents to learn how to best care for the child’s teeth!
- All following dental visits – Just like adults, children should see the dentist every 6 months after the first visit. Some dentists may schedule even more visits—such as every 3 months— in order to catch any development problems or to build comfort and confidence in the child. Routine check-ups include full oral exams to check on growth and development; gentle cleaning and polishing; and demonstrations of proper hygiene while at home. Most children are able to have their teeth cleaned by their 3rd birthday, and between the ages of 6 and 12, we keep a close eye on the progress of baby teeth falling out naturally and the emergence of permanent teeth.
Our pediatric dentists want to do all they can to help facilitate this process because healthy tooth growth:
- Helps children chew properly and maintain good nutrition
- Allows for proper speech development
- Ensures children will feel good about the way they look as they grow up
Pediatric Dentistry Services for Children
Pediatric dentistry is meant to help maintain optimum oral health for the child as they lose and grow teeth. Services include:
Dental Fillings
It’s no secret that children are prone to cavities! When this happens, our pediatric dentists can perform a safe and gentle dental filling to patch the decay, keep the cavity from becoming larger, and prevent food and bacteria from collecting in the empty space.
Dental Crowns
Dental crowns are used to save baby teeth that are too damaged to support a filling, restore the appearance and functionality of your child’s smile, and protect the teeth of a child at high risk for tooth decay. They usually last on the tooth until it falls out.
Preventive Orthodontics
Preventive orthodontics may help you avoid more aggressive and expensive treatment later on, such as braces. Some of the most common tooth problems we try to get ahead of include:
- Overcrowding of teeth
- Too much space between teeth
- Overbite
- Underbite
- Protruding teeth
- Extracted teeth
- Extra teeth
- Missing teeth
- Other jaw abnormalities
Expert Tooth Development Knowledge
If your child is struggling with the effects of a sugar-heavy diet or thumb sucking, you can trust our pediatric specialists to give timely advice on nutrition as well as experienced guidance on oral health habits.
Easing Your Child’s Fear of the Dentist
Children are often afraid of the dentist and can end up dreading their routine visits. From the very first appointment and onward, we do whatever it takes to make your child feel comfortable and safe. We use a very effective tool called, “tell, show, do” to ease anxiety. It consists of telling the child what we will do, showing them what we will do, and then doing it! This type of behavior control helps to minimize the need for children to undergo sedation for their dental treatment, plus it promotes a lifetime of comfort and cooperation in the dentist’s chair.
In addition to technical training, the pediatric dentists at Eureka Dental Group are equipped with specially-designed equipment and fun strategies that make your child feel comfortable during their dental exam.
Finally, when speaking to your child about the dentist, we recommend that you emphasize how good it is to have clean teeth or to get rid of cavity bugs. Focusing on how much “it won’t hurt” or “is not scary” inadvertently causes children to question why we are focusing on that. This then helps to lead them to be afraid of their dental visit. By focusing on the positive, it helps children connect their dental visit with good things.
Eureka Pediatric Dentist Office
You only want the best for your child when it comes to their oral health. Our family dentists in Eureka, MO want to help keep their smile shining for years to come using our extensive dental experience and high-end equipment.
Contact Eureka Dental Group today to set up an appointment to get started on a lifetime of healthy, beautiful smiles!