Humans have two sets of teeth in their lifetime. 20 milk teeth followed by 32 permanent teeth.

Milk teeth usually start erupting at 6-7 months of age and by the age of 2.5-3 years, most children will have a complete set of 20 milk teeth. There are 2 incisors, 1 canine and 2 milk molars on each side of each jaw. Some children may have teeth (natal or neonatal teeth) at or soon after birth. They may require some intervention by the pediatric dentist. The milk teeth are replaced by the permanent teeth, the process starting from the age of 6-7 years till the age of 12-13 years. By the age of 13-14 years most children will have a complete set (barring wisdom teeth) of permanent teeth. There are however, certain age variations for the process of eruption. Your pediatric dentist can guide you on these variations and can help you anticipate the changes that may occur in the oro-facial structures at this time.

During the process of the teeth breaking in the oral cavity through the gums, the child may temporarily suffer from discomfort, pain, irritation of the gums, bleeding gums, fever, swelling, stomach ailments etc., which can be easily managed with the aid of the pediatric dentist or the paediatrician.

The most important reason for an early visit is to begin a comprehensive preventive program. A major problem that can begin at a very early age is Early Childhood Caries (also called nursing caries or baby bottle tooth decay). This condition occurs if an infant is allowed to nurse continuously from a bottle of milk (with sugar) or fruit juice during nap time or sleeping hours. It can also result from prolonged and ‘on demand’ breast feeding. If these liquids pool around the child’s teeth for a prolonged period, the teeth will be prone to acid attacks and develop cavities at an alarmingly fast rate. Remember, 4 things are required to cause cavities 1. Teeth 2. Bacteria 3. Sugars (fermentable carbohydrates) 4. Time We can share with you how to strengthen your child’s teeth, how to minimize transmission of bacteria, develop healthy eating habits and keep cavities at bay. We can help prevent the disease before its occurrence by sharing information with you.

Tooth decay, like many other diseases, is a lifestyle disease. It is the result of a modern civilization that has high consumption of refined sugars in the form of chocolates, biscuits, chips, soft drinks, ice-creams to name a few. A restriction on the intake of soft and sticky food items, especially between meals can help prevent tooth decay. In addition, eating raw fruits, salads and a balanced diet can go a long way in ensuring good oral health. We can assess the diet of your child and can recommend certain changes for your child’s good oral health. We believe that dietary modification, good oral hygiene maintenance and routine preventive interventions are the keys to good oral health.

The process of dental care is a lifelong journey from womb (starting when the baby is inside the mother’s womb) to tomb (continues lifelong). We at Kidzdent, deal with dental care needs of pre-schoolers, school going children and teenagers (including those with special care needs). Preventive dentistry for children includes a knowledge and practice of correct tooth brushing technique, flossing, fluoride therapies, management of deleterious oral habits, preventive orthodontic care, parental counselling, sports safety, sealants etc. The effort is to avoid the disease from occurring or (if detected early) limit the spread and the damage caused by the disease.

We, at Kidzdent, believe in complete and comprehensive oral care for your child. To achieve this a variety of treatments like scaling (cleaning) , tooth coloured fillings, root canal treatments, crowns (caps), dental extractions, space ,maintainers, preventive and interceptive orthodontics and preventive therapies like fluoride applications, fissure sealing etc. are performed.

Root canal treatment is sometimes the only option to save a badly decayed or traumatised tooth. When a cavity or a traumatic injury leads to damage of the pulp (blood vessels and nerves), the pediatric dentist/dentist recommends a root canal treatment to save the tooth. Just like permanent teeth, even milk teeth can be treated with root canal therapy and preserved till they are replaced by permanent teeth.

About 80-85% of the children can co-operate for all the above mentioned treatments, most of them enjoy and look forward to it after they overcome the initial phase of unco-operative or preco-operative nature. Your pediatric dentist can deal with them (with some preparation) to carry out the requisite treatments in a comfortable manner. Sometimes, the use of sedation or general anesthesia may be required to carry out quality treatments in a preco-oerative or unco-operative child.

The general perception that all dental treatments are painful is nothing but a myth, thanks to the advances in the field of local anesthesia and pain control. However, fear of pain and injections does reduce the pain threshold and therefore increases the intensity of pain. The pediatric dentist is trained to successfully raise this pain threshold through different techniques and can administer a local anesthetic with minimal discomfort to your child. Remember, the pain (if at all) is momentary, but relieves all the subsequent discomfort.

The first thing in the event of a traumatic injury is that the parent/caretaker should not panic. Reassuring the child is also necessary. A basic first aid that includes cleaning of the injured area causing as little damage to the tissues and the control of bleeding, if any, can be done at home or the place where the incident has occurred. Contact your pediatric dentist at the earliest. Prompt action can save the tooth, prevent infection and reduce the need for extensive dental treatment.

Despite the efforts taken by you and your child in brushing and flossing, it is difficult, sometimes impossible to clean the small grooves (especially on the biting surface of the molars) on certain teeth. Food and bacteria accumulate in these tiny grooves and place your child at a risk of tooth decay. Sealants are materials that are applied in these grooves to prevent food accumulation and thus reduce the risk of tooth decay.

Fluorides are agents that make the enamel of the tooth stronger and more resistant to decay. Fluorides may be present in drinking water (dependant on the area you live), in some dietary items and are a part of some toothpastes, mouth rinses etc. In some western countries, fluoride is added to drinking water and this has shown to reduce tooth decay by almost 50%. All children must brush with a fluoride containing toothpaste. Your pediatric dentist can also apply topical fluoride (recommended once every 6 months) to ensure decay free teeth for your child. Excessive fluoride can, however, be harmful to teeth. At Kidzdent, we assess your child’s fluoride needs and advise you accordingly.

Space maintainers are appliances designed by your pediatric dentist that preserve the space left by a lost milk tooth till the permanent tooth erupts. In short they prevent movement of adjacent teeth into the gap created by the loss of a milk tooth and hold the space that is required for the proper eruption of the permanent tooth. Most children easily adjust to these appliances within a few days. It is easier and affordable to keep the teeth in their positions using space maintainers than to move them back in place using orthodontic treatment.

Malocclusion is the improper alignment of the teeth and the jaws. It is a variation of growth and development that can affect one’s ability to clean the teeth properly, may cause problems of the gums and the underlying bone, hinder with proper growth of the jaws and the face and affect the speech and appearance of an individual. There could be variety of reasons for malocclusion, some of them can be prevented by timely intervention by your pediatric dentist or the orthodontist. The earlier the detection of the malocclusion, the easier it is to correct the same.

Each part of our body has been created to play a specific role for a specified period of time. Milk teeth also have some important functions. These teeth aid in maintaining the proper nutrition to your child by efficient chewing of the food, play a role in speech development, affect the appearance and the psychological development of the child through esthetics, are critical for the proper development of the jaws and the face and guide the permanent teeth into their desired positions. Hence, it is important for the milk teeth to be kept in a healthy state till they are naturally lost. Milk teeth that are diseased and lost prematurely can adversely affect all these functions. It has been shown that children in pain are not able to concentrate on the tasks at hand including their school activities. Studies have shown that poor oral health is associated with poor general health, below par school performance, poor social relationship and poor self esteem, all of which may hinder the normal development of the child into a healthy adult.

A dental check up is recommended for all children at least once in 6 months. Some children may require more frequent follow ups because they may be at an increased risk of oral disease or may have an unusual growth pattern. Your pediatric dentist will recommend the frequency of follow ups required for your child.

The tongue is one of the most important structures in the body. It is also one of the most powerful muscular structures that is important not only in taste, but also in functions like speech, swallowing and correct breathing pattern. It also plays a key role in shaping the upper and lower jaw (thus alignment of teeth) and the facial structures.

Many children as well as many adults, have a restricted tongue mobility, this affects the position of the tongue and limits the functioning of the tongue. The most visible problem is mal aligned teeth. Research has shown that this could also be associated with a variety of life style related disorders ranging from malaligned teeth to sleep disturbances to cardiovascular diseases over a lifecourse perspective.

Orofacial myotherapy and some minor (painless) surgical intervention, especially at a younger age, could provide a solution to all these problems. At Kidzdent, we can help you and your ward with this integrated therapeutic approach. (for more details, please ask us).