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Dental Tips for Parents of Special Needs Children

When you have a child with special needs, having them practice good dental hygiene is another everyday activity that may be difficult for you and your family. A lot of developmental conditions can affect the health and placement of your child’s teeth and gums. There are some steps that you can follow that will make dental hygiene practices easier for your child. Read More

Kids and Mouthguards

Today, it is very common that children are involved in some form of sporting activity, from football to dance. Over two million teeth are knocked out every year in the U.S. largely during sporting activities. Wearing a mouthguard could have prevented a lot of those incidents. Read More

Five Ways to Help Your Child Through Dental Emergencies

Kid’s emergencies can happen at any time, especially dental emergencies. Dental emergencies tend to happen more frequently during summer or vacations when kids are active and participating in physical activities such as playing sports, jumping on a trampoline and riding bikes. During an emergency, it is critical that you as a parent remain calm and reassure your child that everything will be ok. The following will outline five common dental injuries and how you should react if they happen in your family.
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Tongue Thrust

All babies have a tongue thrust or reverse swallow when they are younger. When a baby swallows, his tongue pushes forward toward his gums or front teeth. When a baby is being feed pureed food, his tongue pushes forward while pushing some of the food back out of his mouth. The adult scoops the food off of his lips and puts it back in his mouth. The cycle continues on and on until all of the food is gone. As babies grow older and more mature, they will learn how to swallow with their lips closed and how to move the food back towards the throat with a mature swallow.
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Kids and Space Maintainers

Primary (baby) teeth are important for your child’s dental health. They help her eat and speak and serve as space holders in your child’s mouth to ensure that permanent teeth grow in straight. Baby teeth are also important for the jawbone and mouth muscles to develop normally.

If a child’s baby tooth comes out too soon due to accident or tooth decay, problems may occur. The neighboring teeth may crowd out the space where the permanent tooth should come in or cause the tooth to come in crooked. A space maintainer may be recommended by your pediatric dentist to reduce the risk of these problems. Read More

Signs of Baby Teething

Having a new baby in your life is an exciting thing! However, after three to four months, your child may start to show different behaviors even though a tooth will not show up for another few months! Some behaviors that act as signs that your baby’s teeth are coming in are excessive drooling, crankiness, coughing, cheek or ear pulling, night waking and sticking objects into their mouths. While these can be signs for teething, it is important to consult a doctor to make sure these symptoms are not caused by something else. Read More

Steps to Solving Thumb Sucking

Thumb sucking is a habit common for young children that most parents want to stop. However, a lot of parents have a hard time figuring out a good systematic way to help the child break the bad habit. Below are four steps that you can take as a parent to help your child break the habit of thumb sucking. Read More

Dental Sealants for Children

Dental sealants are acrylic based coatings that protect the chewing surfaces of your teeth from bacteria and plaque that cause tooth decay. They are usually applied where decay occurs frequently, which is along the molars and premolars. Tooth decay often happens in children as well as teens. When dental sealants are applied to the teeth, they protect the teeth from germs and food getting stuck to the grooves of the teeth. One of the best ways to protect your child’s (and even your adult) teeth from decay is to apply dental sealants. Read More