It’s a Treat to Treat Kids!
A Child’s Dental Care Starts Early – in the Mother’s Womb!
We are committed to increasing awareness and educating patients so the focus shifts from treatment to prevention. Please find important information about prenatal care below as well.
We see children as young as two years old and recommend that children accompany their parents and siblings to get familiar with the dental office environment and just play in the play area. A pleasant first visit goes a long way in establishing a bond with us! We offer all aspects of preventive care, and treatments are conservative and as non-invasive as possible. Laughing gas is available for mild and safe sedation for anxious kids, although generally, children do amazingly well with us!
Important Information regarding Children’s Oral Health!
- Nutrition: Limit processed foods and avoid refined sugars in candies, juices and sodas. Food is medicine. We recommend organic whole foods.
- Airway: Be vigilant about chronic mouth breathing, snoring and recurrent tonsils infections. It is very critical that every child breathes through the nose, as opposed to mouth breathing. Mouth breathing causes dry mouth, cavities and gum inflammation, visible as swelling and bleeding. It also decreases the quality and quantity of oxygen available to the growing brain and body. Nasal breathing allows proper growth and development of the jaws and the bite and potentially avoiding the need for orthodontics.
- Speech Impairment: Sometimes a child may have difficulty in speech due to the tongue being attached too much to the floor of the mouth. Early intervention is important for proper swallowing, chewing and speech. Lip ties or frenum attachments also pose problems. We take care of this issue painlessly and efficiently with the laser.
- Habits: like Thumb sucking and Finger sucking: We can make appliances that will help eliminate these habits which have deleterious effects on jaw development and the bite.
- Prevention of cavities: Brush twice a day after meals or after every meal if the diet consists of highly processed, sugary and sticky foods.
Dental Care During Pregnancy:
The significance and safety of Dental care during pregnancy has been substantiated by American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Dental Association, with ample research and scientific literature to back it up.
Great oral health and control of oral disease protects a woman’s health and quality of life before and during pregnancy with the potential to reduce the transmission of pathogenic bacteria from mothers to their children. Hormonal changes during pregnancy can affect the gums, making them slightly swollen and bleeding can be noticeable during brushing. The timing of this care is crucial. The most common complications of pregnancy include spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), preterm birth, preeclampsia (pregnancy-induced hypertension or high blood pressure) and gestational diabetes.
Current scientific studies indicate:
• There is no evidence relating early spontaneous abortion to oral health care or dental procedures during the first trimester.
• Control of oral diseases (e. g gum disease) has the potential to reduce the transmission of oral bacteria from mother to child.
• High blood pressure during pregnancy (Preeclampsia) is not a contraindication to dental care.
• All available evidence shows that periodontal treatments during pregnancy is safe for the mother and the fetus and can be helpful in avoiding pre-term labor and low preterm birth weight and gestational diabetes.
Prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of oral diseases, including the need for radiographs and local anesthetics, is highly beneficial for the mother and the fetus with no additional risks to both, as compared to the risk of not providing care. Dr. Sahota always works very closely with the OBGYN team to ensure all risks are reduced for the mother and little miracle in the making.
We prevent oral health risks in infants and young children with appropriate intervention, along with anticipatory guidance for the parents and other caregivers. Growth and development of head and neck are monitored and is critical since form follows function. Any deviation from the normal form will then create an abnormal function, becoming a perpetual loop of cause and effect.
Breastfeeding is highly encouraged since “suckling” action of breastfeeding is a very different phenomenon compared to “sucking” milk via an artificial bottle and this effects the growth and development of the jaws and lip posture for the baby. Mother’s milk is also ideal for the nutrition and immunity needs of the baby. Nursing Bottle Caries in the babies is a tremendous problem when bottle-fed babies are fed juices and milk that pools in the mouth for longer periods causing rampant decay.
More information is available and please call us at (510) 744-9009 for further queries.
Kids are a treat to treat!
