Children’s Dentistry – Fanwood, NJ

Dental Checkups & Teeth Cleanings for Kids

Routine preventive care is especially important for children as regular trips to the dentist can help a child realize the importance of their oral health, ensuring they form healthy habits as early as possible. At their regular appointments, we’ll keep an eye out for cavities and make sure your child’s teeth and mouth are developing correctly as well. If we find an issue, we’ll be able to address it right away to prevent bigger headaches down the road.

Dental Sealants

Once your child’s back teeth come in, they are in quite a bit of danger of developing cavities. Between their location and rough surfaces, they are the perfect place for plaque and tartar to gather and cause decay. Thankfully, dental sealants can provide these teeth the extra protection they need while young children learn to brush properly. We simply apply a thin layer of composite resin to the enamel and then harden it to create a barrier that blocks plaque, bacteria, and acids from harming the tooth.

Fluoride Treatments

Regular exposure to fluoride is great for patients of all ages, but it’s especially helpful for children because of their elevated cavity risk, plus it can aid in the development of their adult teeth even before they come in! At the end of your child’s checkups, we can briefly coat their teeth with a fluoride gel to give them an extra boost of cavity protection. This treatment only takes a minute, but the benefits will last all the way until their next visit with us (which should be in about six months).

Silver Diamine Fluoride Treatments

Silver diamine fluoride enables our team to stop active cavities and preserve a child’s teeth without having to use a dental drill or needle, which our little patients certainly appreciate! Applied directly to an active cavity, the silver in the solution quickly kills any bacteria that is breaking down the enamel while the fluoride strengthens the enamel at the same time. This is a fast way to address many cavities at once, and it can also help children who have excessive dental sensitivity.

Tooth-Colored Fillings

We do our best to help our child patients avoid cavities altogether, but if one pops up, we’re able to fix it in just one quick appointment. We’ll use a specially-shaded composite resin to replace any decayed enamel in your child’s tooth that will blend seamlessly with the rest of their teeth. This way, your child won’t have to worry about their friends and classmates noticing their dental work whenever they smile, talk, or eat.

Athletic Mouthguards

Do you have a future sport’s star at home, or does your child just like to play the occasional pick-up game with their friends? Whatever the case may be, young athletes should always wear a mouthguard every time they play to keep their teeth protected from unexpected impacts. We can provide your child with a completely custom-made guard that is designed to fit over their unique teeth as well as offer premier protection. It will be much smaller and more comfortable than any guard you’ll find at the store, meaning your child will be more likely to use it and enjoy the benefits!

Children's Dentistry FAQs

We’re here to help kids achieve great oral health from the very start. Our friendly, experienced team will help your child feel comfortable in the dental chair and pave the way for a lifetime of healthy smiles. Keep reading below for answers to several children’s dentistry FAQs, and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions. We can’t wait to meet your little one!

When Should Kids Get Their First Checkup?

The American Dental Association recommends a child’s first checkup within 6 months of getting their first tooth or around their first birthday. These early visits are designed to find and address any issues before they lead to bigger problems. They’re also an opportunity to get valuable education as well as preventive treatments that help children minimize or avoid oral health problems altogether.

What Is the First Checkup Like?

Sometimes called a “happy visit,” the first checkup is relatively simple and helps toddlers feel comfortable with dental care. First, we’ll visually examine their teeth and jaws (for this part, many children do great by sitting on their parent’s lap).

After making sure everything is healthy, we’ll discuss how to brush and floss your child’s teeth, dietary recommendations, fluoride, how to prevent baby bottle syndrome (which causes severe tooth decay on the front teeth), and more. Cleanings and X-rays aren’t usually done until kids are 3 to 5 years of age.

Are Baby Teeth Really That Important?

Yes! It’s a common misconception that the baby teeth don’t matter much because they’ll eventually fall out, but it’s actually very important to keep them healthy. To begin with, children of all ages need a full set of healthy teeth to eat, speak and smile with confidence. And some of the baby teeth aren’t lost until around age 12, so they need to function for quite some time.

The baby teeth also affect the permanent teeth, so if they get severe cavities or have to be pulled earlier than they should, the adult teeth may not come in properly.

What Are Sealants and How Do They Benefit Kids?

Sealants are thin coatings of tooth-colored material that “seal” over the tiny pits and grooves in the chewing surfaces of the back teeth. Toothbrush bristles are too large to fit into these spaces, so even good brushing habits can’t keep these areas clean, which means they often develop cavities. Sealants prevent cavity-causing bacteria from getting into these grooves and have been found by the Centers For Disease Control to prevent 80% of cavities in school-aged children.

We’ve found that getting sealants is much easier on kids than having cavities and toothaches treated, so we recommend them as soon as the first permanent molars come in (typically around age 5 or 6). The procedure is relatively fast and easy, doesn’t require being numbed, and usually takes just 10 to 15 minutes per sealant.