Kids Dental
Fostering optimal oral health habits from an early age is crucial, and a significant aspect of this is ensuring your child feels comfortable with their dental professional. We recommend scheduling your child’s first dental visit by the age of 1. Even if they may not be fully cooperative initially, this initial visit provides an opportunity for them to build trust and rapport with their dentist.
During this early dental visit, our team addresses correct oral hygiene practices, conducts a dietary analysis, and discusses any early concerns, such as dummy use, bottle use, sleep, and airway considerations.Â
Our aim is to make the experience enjoyable for children, incorporating elements like a ceiling-mounted TV, small rewards, and the chance to join our Cavity Free Club displayed on our wall.
Moreover, we offer bulk billing for eligible children through the Medicare Child Dental Benefits Scheme (CDBS). For more information about CDBS, please refer to our dedicated page.Â
Choose us for your Children's Dental Needs
Just like adults, children need good oral hygiene and dental care for optimum health – it is an essential part of their overall well-being. Unfortunately, dental problems are often overlooked until a problem arises and it’s too late. This results in the need for complex dental treatment such as root canals or extractions.
Establishing a routine of regular dental check-ups early on can prevent many of those issues, ensuring your child grows up with a healthy smile and good oral habits. Preventing that fear of the dentist is an important part of life that should be developed early.
Here at Cranbourne North Dental, we pride ourselves on providing the best expert care for your kids dental needs.
We provide all the regular dental treatments for kids including check-ups, fillings, sealants, cleans, emergency treatment, orthodontic work and extractions.
Our specialised kids dental treatment in Cranbourne also include:
- Stainless Steel Crowns (Hall Crowns)
- Pulpotomies (partial nerve removal)
- Silver Diamine Fluoride application (SDF)
- Early intervention Orthodontics such as expander plates and functional appliances.
Occasionally, we may still need to refer to a Paediatric Dentist for kids dental treatment.
Need help with your Kids Dental Treatment?
We have a variety of Payment Plans available – giving you the flexibility of paying for your Kids Dental Treatment later.
Common dental problems in Children
Children as just as susceptible to oral health problems. In fact, many dental problems, if caught early – can be treated conservatively. Below are some common problems we see in kids:
- Tooth Decay: Tooth decay is an extremely common problem in children, often due to improper brushing, sugary diets, and poor oral hygiene habits. Holes in teeth can progress extremely quickly in baby teeth – so regular check-ups with us are highly recommended!
- Teething Problems: As kids grow, they will experience teething (new teeth coming out of the gum), which can cause discomfort, irritability, and gum tenderness.
- Bad Habits: One such example is thumb sucking. Whilst this is a natural reflex for babies, prolonged habits can lead to problems like flaring of teeth and bite issues.
- Gum Disease: Children can develop gum inflammation if plaque and calculus are not properly removed from their teeth and gums.
- Dental Trauma: Kids as we know, are prone to accidents that can result in chipped, fractured or avulsed teeth. Emergency dental care is crucial in these situations.
- Orthodontic Issues: Teeth crowding, overbites, underbites, and crossbites are common orthodontic problems. Early detection allows for timely early intervention treatment such as expander plates or functional appliances
- Poor Airway: Kids can suffer from Sleep Disordered Breathing (snoring), resulting in conditions such as Sleep Apnoea which severely affect their dental health.
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Common Problems
Frequently Asked Questions
My kid’s adult tooth is coming through but the baby tooth isn't loose yet. What should I do?
The dreaded double teeth are the source of many a parent’s worried calls to the clinic. Double teeth do not always need intervention. If the baby tooth is loose, we do not usually have to do anything. If that adult tooth is significantly displaced and the baby tooth is not loose at all, we may need to intervene. As always, this would be on a case by case basis and only if really required. Seek your Dental Professional’s expert opinion.
Why do my kid’s adult teeth look yellow?
Interestingly, the adult teeth are meant to yellow. The inner layer of the tooth, dentine, is yellow. The reason the colour is very stark on kids, is because baby teeth are usually very white in appearance because of a reduced dentine layer. So when adult teeth start to erupt, side by side with a baby tooth, the adult tooth can look very yellow in comparison. As always, it is important to still consult your Dental professional because at other times, it could just mean that your child may be due for a Professional Dental clean.
Is it worth filling baby teeth?
The most simple answer is YES! The main role of the baby tooth is to provide a placeholder and guide the positioning for the erupting adult tooth. If a baby tooth is lost too early due to tooth decay or a broken tooth, then the space may be lost and the adult tooth eruption may be compromised or the tooth may become impacted.
If tooth decay is allowed to progress in a baby tooth, it can cause a tooth infection and abscess and in severe cases a facial swelling which can be very dangerous. This infection can also affect the developing adult tooth.
In some instances, if the adult tooth is close to eruption, depending on the age of the child, sometimes fixing the baby tooth may not be required. Your Dental Professional will advise you once they have examined your child and taken any relevant x-rays.
Do baby teeth affect permanent teeth?
Yes, depending on the situation.
The baby teeth position and retention until natural exfoliation is extremely important for positioning and eruption of the adult tooth.
If your child has a lot of dental crowding in their baby teeth, it is likely that they will also have crowding on their adult teeth.
If they have had some trauma on their baby teeth (e.g. knock to the tooth), it may have flow on effects on the adult teeth.
If your child had a lot of tooth decay on their baby teeth, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the adult teeth will be the same. As long as oral hygiene habits and the diet has improved, the adult teeth may be unaffected.
Healthy baby teeth play a vital role in having healthy adult teeth.
What age should I bring my child in for their first dental appointment?
It is important to introduce your child to their Dental professional as early as possible. This is so they get used to the lights and sounds and the people of the Clinic. This ensures that when it’s their turn to have a ride in the chair, they will have a great time. Early check ups result in much better oral health outcomes. Early detection of problems and setting up excellent oral hygiene and diet outcomes make a huge difference in your child’s future oral health.
It is important to have a proper check up at 1 year old. Prior to that, you can bring them in for a quick ride in the chair or to say hi when you’re in for your appointment or a sibling’s appointment.
We are lucky that the generation of children growing up now, have a largely positive experience at the dentist and the whole dental team works hard to make that happen.
What if my kid doesn’t let the dentist have a look?
Don’t be disheartened if they do not let the dentist have a good look around. Kids don’t like staying still for the best part and staying still to have someone stick their fingers in your mouth seems strange for them! Rest assured, with time, nearly every single child gets better and they will become very comfortable at their future dental appointments.
