Healthy teeth are essential for your child’s overall wellbeing and growth.

As well as assisting your child’s appearance, healthy teeth and gums will also help your child to speak clearly, chew food correctly and have positive social experiences.

Your Child’s first visit

The ideal time for a child’s first visit is six months after the first primary teeth erupt, or around 3 to 3 ½ years of age.

The team at Robert Duhig Dental is specially trained to make children feel comfortable and relaxed during their visit.

We recommend bringing your child along to your own dental appointments to help:

• familiarise them with your dentist and hygienist
• them see what happens in a dental appointment
• show them there’s nothing to be scared about!

What will the first visit entail?

We’ll spend time with you and your child discussing toothbrush skills and food choices that prevent tooth decay. We’ll review your child’s medical and dental history and if possible, we’ll count and examine their teeth. Our biggest aim is to make your child’s first visit fun, friendly and positive. We provide toys, DVDs and colouring books to help entertain them.

Tips for making the visit a good one

• Discuss the visit with your child beforehand. Tell them about the fun ride in the special chair. Avoid telling them it ‘won’t hurt’, as the child may not have developed a preconception about this.
• Try not to share any personal anxiety you might have about going to the dentist.
• Select an appointment time that’s best for your child’s routine – mornings are often better.
• Read some ‘toothy’ books to your child .

Ongoing visits

Robert Duhig Dental believes it’s never too early to start healthy, life-long oral hygiene habits. Ongoing appointments for children will involve preventative evaluations, dietary advice and education about gum and tooth care. We will also show you how to help your child with brushing and flossing.

Parents are the best teachers

Your child can learn healthy oral health habits from you!

• Make sure you brush twice a day and floss once a day
• Choose snacks carefully and check their nutritional value and sugar content
• Keep drinks other than water or milk to a minimum

Dental Concerns with Children

Thumbsucking

Thumbsucking can affect the alignment of your child’s teeth. It should be discouraged and should cease altogether by school age. Talk to us about options if your child is a thumbsucker.

Loss of a tooth

If your child loses a permanent tooth by trauma, don’t rinse it under water as this can damage the root surface of the tooth. Place it in a cup of milk and come immediately to Robert Duhig Dental. Time is important, so bring the child and the tooth as quickly as possible.

Fluoride

Queensland’s drinking water is now supplemented with Fluoride. Additional Fluoride supplements are no longer needed.

Fissure Seals

Fissure seals are a plastic coating that gets bonded into the grooves on the top of teeth (called ‘fissures’) to help protect teeth from the decay that can typically start in these grooves. The seals act as a barrier to prevent retention of debris, plaque and bacteria in the grooves. Fissure seals are usually placed onto six and 12 year-old molars. Although the seals don’t have a retention rate quite as good as fillings.

It is the preferred method for children because:

• Fillings can ultimately weaken teeth, and a fissure seal may be sufficient to prevent further treatment
• Fissure seals are far less traumatic for the patient and require no drilling

Toothy books for kids

Here is a selection of fun and easy books about teeth to read to your child.

Baby-2

• Whose Teeth? by Jeanette Rowe

Ages 3-5

• The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist by Stan and Jan Berenstain
• Bright and Early Beginner Books: The Tooth Book by Dr Seuss
• Charlie and Lola: My Wobbly Tooth Must Not Never Ever Fall Out by Lauren Child
• My Loose Tooth by Stephen Krensky

Ages 6-12

• Andrew’s Loose Tooth by Robert Munsch
• Arthur’s Tooth by Marc Brown
• How Many Teeth? by Paul Showers
• Nice Try, Tooth Fairy by Mary W Olson
• Open Wide: Tooth School Inside by Laurie Keller
• The Troublesome Tooth Fairy by Sandi Toksvig

Contact us online. Or call our friendly reception team on 07 3269 2443