At Chermside Family Dental we love providing dental care to children! Bringing your child to the dentist is a great opportunity for them to become familiar with what we do in a children’s dentistry check up and for your child to start a lifelong journey of good oral health.
We recommend your child has their first visit at a dentist about the age of 1, or 6 months after their first tooth erupts. At this stage, the appointment isn’t so much about their own check up, but more about spending time talking with you, as a parent, about your child’s oral health. Taking time at this age sets your child up well for the best oral health lifelong by starting health oral health routines at home from the beginning.
Your children may be eligible for the Child Dental Benefits Scheme – a Medicare-run program. Eligible children are entitled to $1000 of dentistry. At Chermside Family Dental we bulk-bill children’s dental treatment through this program (if eligible).
If you would like more information about children’s dental health or would like to book an appointment with Chermside Family Dental, please call us on 07 33503530 or contact us online.
Your child’s dental health and their diet are closely related. A diet high in carbohydrates and added sugars (e.g. sticky muesli bars, processed fruit bars, sweet biscuits and cakes) places your child at high risk of decay of their baby teeth.
Children need a wide range of fresh, healthy foods everyday for vitamins, protein and calcium. Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet reduces your child’s risk of decay. Some great suggestions are from the Healthy Kids Assocation, here.
Drink lots of fluoridated water – tap water!
Bring your child to the dentist every 6 months for a checkup and fluoride, so we can keep a close monitor on your child’s dental health, and nip any issues in the bud early.
A baby tooth may need a filling due to wear, damage or decay. Baby teeth form an important role for eating, speaking and aesthetics and despite their name may remain in your child’s mouth until their teenage years. When needed, a filling in a baby tooth can prevent the hole progressing to a toothache for your child – preventing sleepless nights for you and your child. At Chermside Family Dental we will be honest with you about your child’s teeth and your child’s oral health.
Fissure sealants are thin coatings of a filling material applied to cover the deep grooves (fissures) of teeth. This is a common treatment in children for permanent molar teeth to prevent decay. The grooves in these teeth are often very deep which means that removing plaque and food with tooth brushing can be difficult. Fissure seals ‘seal off’’ these grooves to stop food and plaque getting caught, making it easier to maintain healthy teeth with regular tooth brushing.
Injuries to the teeth can be painful, disfiguring and costly! Each year far too many children and adults injure their teeth during sport, which may have been reduced or prevented with a well fitting mouthguard. Mouthguards reduce the severity and damage potential of a blow to the face. A custom mouthguard made by your dentist at Chermside Family Dental provides important protection to the teeth and jaws of the mouth – helping to absorb the shock of a blow to the face which otherwise could chip teeth, damage the soft tissues of the mouth, or worse.
Investing in a mouthguard may prevent these costly and difficult treatments required to restore teeth back to normal function and appearance. Plus the mouthguard is more comfortable and stays in place well. Mouthguards are recommended for any child or adult playing contact sport. Our mouthguards for children and adults are custom fitted, cost effective and of high quality to provide the best dental protection during sport.
This website by the Australian Dental Association includes useful information about mouthguards for sport: www.ada.org.au/oralhealth/mouthguard