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Complete Children’s Dental Care
Dr. Fahimay Naqvi has provided Dentistry for Children for over 30 years. Both she and the team at Orion Dental Milton and Orion Dental Scarborough, are very good with children who have a fear of the Dental office.
Your child deserves a lifetime of excellent oral health. Our mission with children’s dentistry is to help you raise your children with great oral health and great dental care habits. Please read here our blog post about a guide to oral health.
The Canadian Dental Association (CDA) recommends a child’s first dental visit should be scheduled when the first tooth comes in and no later than their first birthday. This will help establish an early schedule for your child’s oral care. Our approach to the child’s oral health is family-friendly and focused on prevention.
First Visit To The Dental Office
Bring your child to your dental checkup when they are about two so that your child can become familiar with the sights, sounds, and friendly helpers in our dental office. We call this a Happy Visit to the Kids Dentist!
The first visit dental visit is designed just to make the child comfortable with a dental office. On this visit, your child will meet with the dentist and with our staff who will show the child around the office, demonstrate equipment, in a fun and engaging way.
The kids dentist will brief you, once the consultation for your child has been completed. If there are any concerns that you want us to be aware of then filling these out in our new patient intake form would be the ideal place to convey this to us.
The office visit will include a thorough oral examination, X-rays if required, a cleaning and fluoride application.
After The First Dental Exam
After the dental exam, the kids dentist will sit down with the child and parents and talk them through whether there are any issues that need to be further investigated. The dentist will also make recommendations about any treatments needed for your child’s oral health.
We will also introduce you to how to care for your child’s oral health. And to try and ensure that your child grows up cavity-free.
Our office regularly cares for the dental needs of children as young as three years old. If you notice that your child has a problem with their teeth or gums prior to age 3, please schedule an appointment.
Fillings Or Other Kids Dentistry Treatments
If any fillings are needed, these will be done in a second visit to the office once the child has developed familiarity and comfort with the Dental office.
Your child’s independent checkup at age three will involve a tooth-by-tooth inspection and periodontal exam. The dentist will check for proper development, as well as tooth decay and other areas of concern.
Your child will also get an opportunity to pick a gift. Please do note that this gift is dependent upon availability.
Kids Love Orion Dental!
Big Perks for Little Patients:
- An aquarium in both the Scarborough and Milton offices that are full of colorful fish
- Coloring crayons to draw
- Books for reading
- Activity games for the kids to play
- Once in the dentist’s chair, they have a huge choice of children’s movies to watch.
Children’s Dentistry Services:
- As your child grows, he or she will need regular checkups and hygiene visits to ensure optimal oral health.
- Oral home care techniques – Kids learn to effectively brush and floss with help and then by themselves!
- Dental Sealants, to protect hard-to-clean back teeth from the sugars that cause tooth decay.
- Fluoride – Attracts minerals to strengthen tooth enamel and ward off cavities.
- Conscious Sedation Dentistry – For fearful children or those with disabilities.
Let us help your children learn the importance of optimal oral health from a young age. We help you make the best choices for your child’s unique and precious personality. You may find this blog post about dental sealants to be useful.
Orthodontic Procedures:
Orthodontic consultations for your child will include an oral examination and generally a set of X-rays. Your Milton dentist or Scarborough Dentist will then present to you a set of recommendation and timelines for when the treatment should ideally happen and also discuss with you treatment options of orthodontic therapy, which could include some of the following:
Oral Health & Dentistry for Children
How Children’s dental needs change in the early years:
Birth to 6 months of age:
This doesn’t really need to be said but it is really important to care for your child’s teeth and their oral health right from birth. A good start will ensure far fewer problems along the way!
A simple and visible result of healthy habits is the prevention or a substantial reduction of tooth decay or cavities in infants and young children.
So, what can you do to help with your child’s oral health?
– Make sure to always clean your infant’s gums after feeding. Use a moistened washcloth wrapped around your index finger, and with that gently massage your child’s gum tissues.
– Try not to put your baby to bed with a bottle by just propping it in their mouth. Try also not to allow your baby to feed any amount and at any time.
– Infants normally begin teething between four and six months of age. If your child’s gums appear reddish or swollen this could cause their saliva flow to increase. To help reduce the child’s discomfort you could give them a chilled teething ring or a cold wet washcloth.
– Do not test the temperature of your child’s bottle by putting it in your own mouth. This could cause the transmission of bacteria to your child.
– Do not clean a pacifier or a bottle nipple by putting it in your mouth. This could similarly cause the transmission of bacteria to your child.
Remember, that dental decay is a disease that can be transmitted by bacteria.
6-12 months of age:
The lower end of this age band is the time when your child would get their first tooth. It is therefore extremely important that good oral care be maintained at this age.
Healthy oral care habits can prevent or reduce tooth decay or cavities.
– Cleaning your child’s gums and teeth continues to be important. Move from just the wet washcloth that you have been using to a soft bristle toothbrush with no toothpaste.
– Continue to massage the gums
– Teething can be painful for the child. Therefore, to lessen the symptoms of teething you could give your child a clean teething ring or a cold wet washcloth. Remember that cold temperatures are soothing for the child at this time and so you could chill the teething ring prior to giving it to the child.
– Begin to wean your baby from the bottle as your infant begins to eat more solid foods and drinks from a cup.
– Transition your child to drinking a cup for water or juice.
– Do not allow your baby to walk around with their bottle in their mouth. It is important to begin limiting the frequency and amount of sweetened beverages and foods you give your child.
– You should be familiar with your child’s mouth and gums. Should you see any suspicious brown or white spots on your child’s teeth; this may be dental decay. Should you notice this, schedule an appointment with your child’s dentist right away.
– Your child’s first dental appointment should ideally be around 6 to 8 months of age or at the latest within 6 months after the first tooth appears.
– Speak with your child’s dentist about whether fluoride supplements are needed for your child.
– Do not test the temperature of your child’s bottle by putting it in your own mouth. This could cause the transmission of bacteria to your child.
– Do not clean a pacifier or a bottle nipple by putting it in your mouth. This could similarly cause the transmission of bacteria to your child.
Remember, that dental decay is a disease that can be transmitted by bacteria.
12 to 18 months of age:
By the age of one, your child should have had an oral examination by a dentist.
– You should continue to brush your child’s teeth with a soft bristled toothbrush and using water. You should brush your child’s teeth twice a day.
– You should be familiar with your child’s mouth and gums. Should you see any suspicious brown or white spots on your child’s teeth; this may be dental decay. Should you notice this, schedule an appointment with your child’s dentist right away.
– In the event that your child has not had a dental appointment as yet, then you should definitely schedule an appointment with a dentist at a Kids dentistry for your child’s oral exam.
– Avoid anything that can transmit bacteria to your child’s mouth as described in the earlier stages.
18 months to age 5:
Between 2 and 3 years of age, or at roughly 30 months of age, all your child’s primary teeth should have come into the mouth.
About 3 years of age onwards your child would be developing language skills and exploring the world. Even though its tough to get a child to sit still at this age, yet this is the age during which you can teach your child good dental health habits.
– Look out that by this age of 30 months your child should have stopped using a pacifier and also stopped sucking their thumb.
– At the age of about 24 months initiate your child into using fluoridated toothpaste. The amount used should be small. Generally the amount of toothpaste recommended is “pea sized”.
– Children will need help with brushing technique while they develop their hand coordination to do this independently. A good teaching method is to have your child brush in the morning and you brush at night until your child masters the hand coordination needed for an effective brushing technique.
– You need to ensure that the child doesn’t swallow the toothpaste. Teach them to spit out the toothpaste.
– You should begin to floss your child’s teeth as soon as they touch each other. It would be best to speak with your dentist about the right timing and technique to floss your child’s teeth and to help teach your child how to floss.
– If by about the age of 4 your child is still sucking on his or her fingers or thumb, you need to train them to stop this habit. If the child can’t stop, see your child’s dentist, who will help you deal with this problem.
– You should be familiar with your child’s mouth and gums. Should you see any suspicious brown or white spots on your child’s teeth; this may be dental decay. Should you notice this, schedule an appointment with your child’s dentist right away.
– At this age you need to begin scheduling for your child a regular checkup with a dentist.
This is also the age when children begin to play unsupervised and sometimes play hard enough to cause an injury. This injury could be to a tooth too. For example – here are our top seven tips for safe trick-or-treating this Halloween!
You should learn about what you can to prevent injuries to your child’s teeth. And as importantly learn about what to do in a dental emergency. For more information please visit our Dental emergencies page.
Fluoride Application
Most Canadian tap water contains fluoride today. However, most bottled water doesn’t. Many people have fluoride deficiency, which puts teeth at a greater risk for getting cavities. In some cases, parents think that they are protecting their babies by using bottled water to mix formula, but actually, tap water is better in this case. Many children pack bottled water in school lunches, and adults tend to toss a bottled water in the car instead of filling up a reusable water bottle with tap water.
Fluoride is an interesting mineral because it attracts other minerals and strengthens tooth enamel. At your checkup, we can determine whether your teeth would benefit from a fluoride supplement. If we find that your teeth could use a boost, we’ll recommend a simple solution.
Fluoride mouth rinse in many flavours is available at our office. One quick rinse and your teeth will have a better chance of staying healthy. We offer supplemental fluoride for patients of all ages. Oftentimes, our hygienist will recommend additional ways to keep your fluoride levels up between dental visits. These may include switching to tap water or using a fluoride-rich mouthwash at home.
Kids Dentist Milton ON and Kids Dentist Scarborough ON
If you live in Milton Ontario or in Scarborough Ontario then Orion Dental is the answer to your question of who is an outstandng kids dentist near me!
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