Children’s Dentistry at Dandenong Dental Care
The team at Dandenong Dental Care provides compassionate, gentle dental care to people of all ages. We love seeing children who are beginning to learn about addressing their oral health. Your children will respond well to our friendly staff and learn to enjoy their dental checkups, ensuring that they can have a happy and healthy smile for their lifetime.
Gentle Care for Kids
We invite you to bring your child in with you to your appointments so that they can become familiar with our environment. At their checkups, we’ll offer them “rides” in the dental chair, give them lessons about brushing and hand out goodie bags with gifts that will help them improve their oral health care.
The many solutions we provide for children include:
- Bite assessments
- Checkups
- Custom-created mouth guards
- Early intervention orthodontics
- Emergency dentistry
- Fluoride treatments
- Teeth development assessment
- Teeth grinding assessments
- Thumb sucking/tongue thrusting or mouth breathing assessment
When to Begin Dental Checkups
By having your child’s teeth checked and teaching them the proper oral hygiene habits, you’re ensuring their future health. We recommend that your child come in for a checkup when their first teeth erupt, which usually happens between 6 months and 1.5 years of age.
We’ll check their teeth, gums and bite. If they’re older, we can talk to them about brushing, flossing and which foods are the best for healthy teeth, making it fun for them.
FAQ
A pediatric dentist focuses exclusively on children’s dental needs, including baby teeth and mixed dentition. They receive specialized training and have experience with kids. In contrast, a general dentist treats patients of all ages
Pediatric dentists perform surgeries that include implants, tooth extractions, gum surgery, and tissue grafts. If your child has been recommended for oral surgery, and the surgery required is not a common surgery done by your pediatric dentist, they will refer you to an oral surgeon.
The first dental visit is recommended by 12 months of age, or within 6 months of the first tooth coming in. The first visit often lasts 30 to 45 minutes. Depending on your child's age, the visit may include a full exam of the teeth, jaws, bite, gums, and oral tissues.
Special needs dentistry focuses on providing professional and friendly pediatric dental care to children of all ages who have physical, mental, cognitive, sensory, or developmental disabilities.
A clean at the dentist is different from your brushing at home. While brushing and flossing go a long way towards keeping your mouth healthy, professional cleans can reach tartar buildup that brushing at home alone can’t. Our hygienists are extremely thorough, ensuring each tooth is scrupulously cleaned.
Yes, early detection is critical. Your hygienist will inspect your mouth at your 6-month appointments to look for any signs of oral cancer.
We recommend they come in at age 2 unless you can see an issue or have a particular concern. Our hygienists have extensive experience caring for kids’ smiles. During your little one’s visit, the hygienist will count their teeth, check tooth alignment and see how your child is cleaning and if they need extra guidance.
Rest assured we always make visits pleasant for children of all ages!
Yes. Flossing removes debris between teeth and gums and can help to prevent tartar buildup. We understand that many people don’t like to floss. The good news is there are many flossing options available, not just the conventional string floss. Other methods include floss picks and water flossing.
We understand that many people had negative experiences at the dentist, perhaps when they were younger. At our friendly practice, our dentists and hygienists will put you at ease. We can offer numbing gels to keep you comfortable while you’re receiving treatment.
Brush your teeth at least twice a day and use a tongue scraper daily as bacteria that cause bad breath collect on the tongue. You also can use a mouth rinse. Drinking plenty of water is helpful as well. And of course, avoid bad-breath-causing foods such as garlic and onions.
Yes, these include teeth whitening, the taking of scans and impressions for braces, and identifying if wisdom teeth may be extracted.
FIND OUT IF YOUR CHILD IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE CDBS
The Child Dental Benefits Schedule, or CDBS, covers up to $1000 every two years for eligible children who are between the ages of 2 and 17. If you’re unsure if your child is covered, get in touch with our team and we can look it up for you. Contact us today to schedule a time for children’s dentistry Dandenong! Health funds are accepted and can often be bulk-billed.
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health practitioner.