Starting good habits when young is a great way to help ensure that those habits stick and are carried on into adulthood. This is why we at Smile4U, your local dentist in North Geelong, recommend that you bring your children in to see us for regular check-ups to help demystify dentistry and ensure that your children have good oral health.
Preventing phobias
It is believed that adults with dental phobias either never went to the dentist as a child or they had negative experiences with a dentist while growing up, that resulted in an inherent, but unnecessary, fear of dental procedures. Working with anyone who has a phobia of dentistry can be difficult but it is avoidable; we aim to create an environment that makes our young patients feel secure in laying back and opening wide. We want to make our little patients smile, not cry, which is why each time your children come to see us it will be a positive and affirming experience that helps to foster good relationships with our dentists, so that they may continue to find it a positive experience in adulthood.
Phobias are, unfortunately, transferable to impressionable minds. If you have a fear of dentistry and you make it widely known, you may pass that fear onto your child without meaning to. Children learn from their caregivers, not only the good things but the bad too, so we recommend that you try your best not to speak ill of dentistry at home, but rather help make your children look forward to their visits so that they may break the cycle of fear.
Education
Children see dentists as being in a position of authority, similar to that of their teachers and as all parents know that what a teacher has to say is absolute law, even if you’ve been saying the same thing for years. A favourite dentist in North Geelong, or teacher will be able to drive the message home and in this case, that message is good oral care and healthy eating in order to prevent cavities. We aim to help children understand how to brush their teeth correctly and what foods are on the good list and which are on the naughty list, to help create healthy habits that are good for teeth and gums.
Treatments for children
While children are still young they have yet to lose their baby teeth, but it is imperative that they still create habits which are centred around looking after their teeth and gums, so that when the adult teeth do eventually come through, they will already be used to taking good care of them. We will also be able to monitor the growth of these adult teeth and advise on early orthodontics if necessary to ensure that the teeth and jaw grow straight, and incorrect alignment is corrected so as to avoid any complications in the future.
There are treatments at the dentist in North Geelong that your children may undergo, these are there to help ensure the health of their teeth.
Fissure sealant is a clear sealant that is placed over the top of the teeth to protect them and
fluoride treatment will help protect the enamel of the entire tooth as your child is growing up.
Disclaimer: All treatments carry risks. Before proceeding you should seek a second opinion to ensure that this treatment is right for you.