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25 Shaw St, Bexley North 2207

info@smileinndentistry.com.au

02 9554 3180

Children’s Dentistry

Children’s Dentistry

As a family-oriented dental practice, we fully encourage and welcome children to our clinic. We suggest parents book a child’s initial dental appointment soon after their first tooth erupts and certainly by their first birthday. Although this may seem very young, it’s the perfect age to begin getting children accustomed to a new environment. We can check the development of their teeth and gums, and provide useful advice about caring for those brand-new teeth at home. Your child can begin getting to know our dental team, and we can start building a relationship with you both. Good professional and home dental care can prevent many common dental problems, allowing children to reach adulthood with strong, healthy teeth free from disease.

If your child is a little older and has yet to see a dentist, please don’t worry as you can trust us to look after them as if they were our own. We take especially good care of children who may be a bit nervous when first seeing a dentist and do everything we can to make dentistry fun and enjoyable.

Our children’s dentistry services include:

• Checkups
• Mouthguards
• Fissure sealants
• Oral hygiene education
• Fluoride treatment

Checkups

Most children benefit from six-monthly checkups and cleanings. These regular checks allow us to monitor your child’s dental health closely and to detect any small changes more quickly. The sooner we can detect any changes, the more easily we can treat these issues, which is most likely less invasive, quicker and more comfortable for your child.

What to Expect During Your Child’s Regular Dental Checkup?

We are extremely gentle when examining any child’s mouth, and their checkup allows us to assess the condition of their teeth and gums. Dental x-rays are necessary periodically, to check the development of teeth yet to erupt and their jaw growth. Our dentist will recommend dental x-rays if we suspect your child has a problem affecting the tooth. We only take x-rays when absolutely necessary and use digital imaging equipment that emits very low levels of radiation and which is very safe for use.

Professionally Cleaning Your Child’s Teeth

We suggest your child’s teeth are professionally cleaned at every checkup, just as we clean our adult patient’s teeth. Professional dental cleaning is an excellent preventative dental care treatment, removing hardened plaque in the form of calculus or tartar, helping your child to maintain healthy teeth and gums more easily. It’s also a great treatment for ensuring your child enjoys fresher breath.

Mouthguards

We see many kids who are keen athletes or who simply enjoy lots of sporting activities. It’s a great way for children to stay fit and participate as part of a team, but there is the risk of dental injury during many sports activities. A dental injury could severely chip or crack a tooth or knock it out entirely, resulting in a lifetime of expensive restorative dental care. It’s far preferable to prevent these injuries whenever possible using a well-fitting mouthguard. A mouthguard can cushion the teeth and jaws, avoiding dental injury or reducing its impact.

Why Choose a Custom-Made Mouthguard?

Your child’s teeth are precious, and custom-made mouthguards offer the very best level of support. Smile Inn uses high-quality dental materials to fabricate custom-fitted mouthguards that are comfortable to use and will not fall out. Our mouthguards are hard-wearing, odour and taste free and do not affect breathing. Because they are comfortable, your child is more likely to wear the mouthguard.

We can check the fit and condition of your child’s mouthguard at every checkup and can replace it when necessary.

Fissure Sealants

Adult molars are perfectly designed for chewing food but are prone to tooth decay as the chewing surfaces have deep grooves and fissures that easily trap harmful bacteria and food debris. Fissure sealants are an easy and cost-effective way to protect the chewing surfaces of adult molars, and we usually suggest applying them soon after these teeth erupt. We can only apply fissure sealants to healthy teeth that do not have any signs of tooth decay or fillings.

What Are Fissure Sealants?

Treatment consists of a thin, flowable layer of plastic material that is painted onto clean tooth surfaces, flowing into all the grooves and fissures. The sealant quickly hardens and forms a smooth surface that is easy to clean. Fissure sealants are durable and hard-wearing, and we can replace or repair them if necessary.

Using Fissure Sealants for Primary Teeth

Although fissure sealants are ordinarily only used for adult back teeth, we sometimes suggest applying them to a child’s milk teeth when the risk of tooth decay is higher. Sometimes primary teeth can have very deep grooves that are tricky to keep clean, and sealing these tooth surfaces can prevent tooth decay, so these teeth remain strong and healthy until they are ready to fall out naturally to make room for the adult teeth.

Oral Hygiene Education

Dental education is an important part of our practice. We gently explain to your child why good oral care is so important, using terminology they can easily understand. We also teach your child how to brush and floss their teeth correctly, so they learn the proper techniques right from the start and develop healthy habits and enjoy all the benefits of excellent oral health.

Fluoride Treatment

Fluoride is found naturally in some water supplies, in certain foods, and it is a mineral that is extremely helpful in preventing tooth decay by hardening tooth enamel. It’s important to ensure your child receives enough fluoride to protect their teeth, especially while their teeth are developing. When your child first visits our dental practice, we can discuss their fluoride requirements, and if needed, may recommend additional fluoride treatments.

Our dental team at Smile Inn can apply professional strength fluoride topically to your child’s teeth using gel, foam or varnish. Gel or foam can be applied to the teeth using mouth trays, whereas fluoride varnish is painted onto tooth surfaces. These applications are effective, quick and entirely painless.

Medicare Child Dental Benefits Scheme (CDBS)

The Child Dental Benefits Schedule commenced on 1 January 2014 and provides access to benefits for general dental services for eligible children aged 2-17 years. The total benefit entitlement is capped at $1,013 per child over two calendar years.

Eligibility basics for CDBS

  • Aged between 2 and 17 years on any one day of the calendar year
  • Getting certain government benefits such as Family Tax Benefit Part A for at least part of the calendar year
  • Eeligible for Medicare

To know more about the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS), click here