PDH's Dental Care Services for Infants, Toddlers and Children

•  Dental Exams
•  Routine Cleanings
•  Fluoride Varnish
•  Sealants
•  Tooth Colored Fillings
•  Nitrous Oxide / Happy Air
•  Extractions
•  Water Analysis Kits
•  Orthodontics

ROUTINE CLEANINGS

Since we strive to provide your child with the best possible dental care, recommendations for routine cleanings may vary between children.

Some children will require their cleanings be scheduled in 6 month intervals, where other children will benefit from seeing us at Pediatric Dental Healthcare with greater frequency (every 3 to 4 months) depending on your child’s individual needs.

Our routine cleaning consists of:

FLUORIDE VARNISH

Pediatric Dental Healthcare is continually looking to provide the best treatment available to your child. And in keeping with that, we have recently changed our fluoride treatments from Fluoride Foam to Fluoride Varnish application.

Studies show that Fluoride Varnish is almost twice as strong as traditional Fluoride Foam (containing 22,600 ppm of fluoride to 12,300 ppm of foam fluoride). The fluoride varnish is also safe and very well tolerated by infants, young children and individuals with special needs that may not be as tolerant of the traditional fluoride foam application process. NO MORE TRAYS, yeah!

Fluoride varnish is proven to slow down, stop and reverse cavity formation. Infants, children and teens are all at risk of developing cavities.
Risk factors include (but are not limited to):

  • Continued bottle use past 1 year of age or sleeps with a bottle containing liquids other than water (i.e. milk, juice, etc.)
  • Breastfeeding on demand at night without cleansing mouth after feeding
  • Chronic use of high sugar oral medications
  • Continuously drinking beverages or snacking on foods containing sugars or starches
  • Previous history of cavities or decalcification/white spot lesions and stained groves
  • Has a developmental disability


What to know about Fluoride Varnish after it has been applied:

  • When your child leaves, his/her teeth will have been coated with fluoride varnish and will not look shiny as usual. Your child’s teeth will regain their shiny appearance once the varnish has worn off (usually by the next day).
  • Do not brush or floss until the evening, that way the varnish will have time to deliver the maximum fluoride benefit to your child’s teeth.
  • Eat a soft, non-abrasive diet for the rest of the day.

The varnish application should be repeated at six month intervals; for children with a high-risk of developing cavities fluoride varnish application in three-month intervals is recommended.

SEALANTS

Sealants are a clear or shaded plastic material applied to the chewing surfaces of the back permanent teeth. The sealant bonds to the grooves and pits in the back teeth and act as a barrier that protects the tooth from food, plaque and acid; making the tooth more resistant to decay.

Tooth Sealants

WHY WE USE TOOTH COLORED FILLINGS

Tooth Fillings
White fillings, also called composite fillings, are made from tooth-colored materials that restore the natural appearance of a decayed, broken or previously filled teeth. A composite filling usually requires one visit, during which the tooth is cleaned of any decay, prepared and restored to a near original appearance. An advantage of composite fillings, as compared with other dental restorations, is that they require less of the healthy portion of the tooth to be removed to hold the filling in place. This is due to the material's ability to adhesively bond to teeth.

The tooth must be kept completly isolated from saliva. The tooth is cleaned of the decay and disinfected with an etchant. The dentist then carefully applies an adhesive followed by a few layers of the tooth-colored composite. After each layer is placed, it is hardened, or cured, for less than a minute with a special light. The filling is then smoothed and polished to look and feel like a natural tooth.

Happy Air in use at Pediatric Dental Healthcare in Plainville, MA

WHAT IS HAPPY AIR?

Happy air, Laughing gas or N2O (Nitrous oxide & Oxygen) is used mostly by dentists as an analgesic. Its main effect is a sense of happiness (hence its name) which helps to lower a patient's level of anxiety. Nitrous oxide is simply a gas which you can breathe in. It has no color, smell and doesn't irritate.

The happy air is administered through tubing into a nose hood. This hood is placed over the nose and the children just need to breathe normally. The nose piece comes in lots of yummy scents- such as grape, bubble gum, orange and strawberry!

An advantage of using N2O is that it works quickly, within 5 minutes, and is removed from the body within 3 to 5 minutes after the gas has stopped. It is very safe since it is always mixed with at least 50% oxygen. The only contra-indication for nitrous is a stuffy nose - if you can't breathe it in, it won't work.

WATER ANALYSIS FOR FLUORIDE

Does your drinking water contain Fluoride?

Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that aids in slowing down, stopping or reversing cavity formation.

Most of us are unaware if our drinking water is fluoridated or not. To determine if the drinking water in your area is fluoridated you can contact your local water district.

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Pediatric Dental Healthcare
Specialists in Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics
Braces for Kids  •  www.BracesForKids.com
16 Washington Street (Rt. 1)  •  Plainville, MA 02762  •  508-695-2064

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