Providing The Perfect Start To Your Childs Oral Health

Find out more

Children's Dentistry

  • Intro to Children’s Dentistry
  • Caring for your baby’s teeth
  • Caring for your child’s developing teeth
  • Children’s Treatments
  • Hygiene

Intro to Children’s Dentistry

Children grow and change quickly in their earlier years, and these changes include their dental development too. This is why it’s essential to make sure children are seeing a dentist regularly for check-ups. This allows dentists to keep a close eye on your little one’s dental development.

Help them get used to the dentist by bringing them along to your appointments, even before their first teeth arrive. Once their first teeth arrive, be sure to book your child in for their check-up.

Young children should see the dentist every six months just like adults. Your dentist might recommend more regular visits if they feel there is a medical need.

Any child under the age of 18 is eligible for NHS dental treatment (or up until the age of 19 if they’re still in full-time education).

Caring for your baby’s teeth

As soon as your baby’s teeth emerge, it’s advisable to get them used to the idea of keeping their teeth clean. Get them into the routine of brushing morning and night until they are 3 years of age.

Use a small, soft toothbrush and a flat smear of fluoride toothpaste to gently clean. Whether you’re doing it for them or they’re able to do it themselves, brushing should be done under supervision until around 7 years old. Stick to your dental appointments and bring them along to get used to the new environment.

Caring for your child’s developing teeth

Maintain hygiene routines for both yourself and your little one and increase the amount of toothpaste to a pea-sized amount. Maintain supervision to minimise swallowing and ensure a good and thorough brushing technique.

Try to minimise your child’s intake of sugary foods or sweets and encourage a healthy balanced diet in general. When they do eat these sorts of foods, encourage swilling their mouths with clean water afterwards. This helps to flush out sugars and acidic residues.

Making sure your child is attending their own regularly scheduled dentist appointments – accompanying you to your appointments when they were younger should have helped them get accustomed to the sights, sounds and smells of a dental practice so they’re more at ease.

Caring for your child’s emerging adult teeth

At this stage, your child will be taking more responsibility for their oral health as you won’t be around as often to guide their decisions. Accidents and sporting injuries may arise, so taking precautions with protections like mouthguards could be considered for additional safety and peace of mind.

Good hygiene routines and diet should hopefully be instilled in your child at this stage. If you and your child are comfortable, you could try to get them to attend their dentist appointments on their own, to build more confidence. This also means they can get further guidance on hygiene routines straight from the professionals.

Fluoride Varnishing and Fissure Sealant

From the age of 3 onwards, children should be offered a fluoride varnish application at least twice a year. This may be offered for children younger than three if the dentist sees a medical need.

Fluoride varnish can be applied to baby teeth and adult teeth. It involves a high-strength fluoride varnish painted onto the surface of the tooth every 6 months. This is to strengthen tooth enamel and make it more resistant to decay.

Once your child’s permanent back teeth have started to come through (usually at the age of about 6 or 7), a fissure sealant can be applied to the chewing surfaces of the back teeth. This creates a thin plastic coating to keep germs and food particles out of the grooves.

Be sure to ask your dentist about fissure sealant and fluoride varnish for your child’s teeth.

Braces

When your child starts to attend their appointments with Astley Dental Centre, we’ll be monitoring how their adult teeth grow through the gums. This is to watch out for signs of overcrowding or irregularity among the teeth. Should these signs present themselves, we can make recommendations for your child to have dental braces.

Because they’d need to have most or all of their adult teeth through for braces to be effective, braces wouldn’t normally be started below the age of 12.

Children under the age of 18 are entitled to dental braces on the NHS if they show a clear orthodontic requirement.

Hygiene

For a burst of freshness and your ongoing peace of mind as a parent, our Astley Dental Centre practitioners can perform a 20-minute hygiene procedure. This is to remove any tartar build-up or stubborn stains on your child’s teeth. These build up naturally over time and cannot be removed by regular brushing. The dentist will also carefully clean the gum line.

This hygiene appointment gives us a chance to safeguard your child from dental problems further down the line, identifying any underlying issues sooner rather than later. This also allows the dentist to provide hygiene tips.

We’d recommend booking in for a hygiene treatment every six months to maintain good oral health and avoid problems later.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if my child loses a baby tooth too soon?

If your child loses a baby tooth due to an accident or while playing sports, do not try to re-insert the tooth as this can cause harm to the adult tooth that rests below the gum. Have your child bite down gently on a clean cloth for any bleeding.

Additionally, try a cold compress to soothe the area and reduce swelling. Don’t hesitate to see a doctor or visit your local hospital if you have deeper concerns for your child’s wellbeing.

Is thumb sucking bad for my child’s dental health?

This habit if it persists for too long can encourage your child’s teeth to buckle outward. It also encourages their mouth to narrow their mouth during its development, leaving them at higher risk of developing misalignment in the future.

Be sure to take them to see your dentist if the habit persists past the age of 4 years old. This allows any developmental issues to be noticed and addressed promptly.

When should I start brushing my child's teeth?

Teeth brushing can begin when the first teeth begin to emerge through the gum, with a gentle technique, a soft-bristled child’s toothbrush and a smear of toothpaste.

It’s recommended to increase the amount of toothpaste to a pea-sized amount once they are around 7 years old.

When should my child visit the dentist?

When your child’s first tooth arrives is a good time to start booking them in for regular visits with us, but getting them used to a dental practice sooner than this by bringing them to your appointments is also a good idea.

Dental practices are full of lots of noises, sounds, smells and strangers which could be unsettling for them.

What if my child is afraid of the dentist?

The best way to address this is preventative, handling a fear after it’s developed is harder than not allowing fear to develop in the first place. A parent’s positive attitude can make a world of difference.

If your child sees you feeling and acting positively and amicably about your dental visits, they’ll pick this behaviour up. Similarly, they’ll notice your anxieties about a dentist, believe there’s something to feel scared of and will likely copy this behaviour too.

If they’ve already developed a fear of the dentist, taking them to see a paediatric dentist is advisable so they are seeing a professional who is used to dealing with other children in the dentist’s chair.

We don’t like to brag, but when people say such nice things...

”Amazing, made me feel comfortable and got the exact treatment I wanted!

N. Matic

”Great experience!! They have new(ish) receptionist who is very helpful and welcoming and the dentist is excellent. Dentist did everything he could to save my tooth, and managed to fill it. He is very patient and professional and explains everything simply even drawing on a white board to help. I would definitely recommend.

Dave G

”I recently used this dental practice, and I must say, the quality of service was superb. I don't normally post reviews, but in this instance you've got to give credit where credit is due. The dentist was very considerate (I get quite nervous with dental work) and talked me through everything. The quality of the work was top notch as well. Excellent service around and l wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

Sean W

”I honestly cant thank them enough! Claire on reception is absolutely lovely

K. Lou

Our Treatments

Our dentists are experts in their field. Each specialising in specific treatments to provide our patients with the best possible results.

Clear Aligners

Veneers

Composite Fillings

Teeth Whitening

Dental Implants

Dental Crowns

Scale & Polish

Emergency Dentistry

Let's have a chat

Give us a call on 01942 882070

or use the contact form below.