Want to create a healthy smile for your child?
Preventative dental care will help.
A beautiful smile goes beyond appearance. It can also greatly impact our health, lifestyle, speech, growth, sleep health, self-esteem and more, making it a very important part of us to look after. Just like adults, it’s important for children to have regular dental check-ups and oral hygiene visits. By starting preventative dental care for your child from a young age, you’re helping ensure their little smile is a healthy one, and remains that way as they grow.
At Sparkle Dental, we welcome you to bring your child for check-ups from as young as 12 months old, or when their first baby tooth becomes visible.
Not only is this great for prevention and early detection, it gets your child used to visiting the dentist from a very young age. Even though baby teeth will fall out, they are the framework for their adult teeth, so it’s still important to look after them.
One of our dentist’s, Dr Shereen Lim, has additional training in the areas of dental sleep medicine and tongue-tie release for infants, and uses interceptive treatments to allow children to maximise their growth curves, through instilling the correct breathing and sleep practices. This encourages ideal jaw development which will then hopefully minimise any teeth malalignments, but more importantly, allowing the child to thrive avoiding possible issues later in life such as obstructive sleep apnoea.
Your child’s first dental experience
If you’re planning to take your child to the dentist for the first time, you and/or your child may feel a little nervous. This is completely understandable, normal and common. Rest assured that Sparkle Dental is very child-oriented, and our friendly dental team will do everything possible to make sure you both feel relaxed and comfortable. Your child’s first appointment won’t involve any treatment – it will simply involve a short examination to make sure their teeth and jaws are developing normally, and a chance to discuss any dental care issues, and answer any questions you may have.
If your child is a little older and has expressed some nerves about their appointment, here are a few things you can do to help them prepare:
- Playing dentist with your child at home – Pretend you are counting their teeth and then swap and let them pretend to count your teeth.
- Talk about their dental visit – in a positive manner so they see it as something interesting and even fun to look forward to.
- Take them with you to one of your check-ups – so they become familiar with a dental clinic and can see what happens.
- Make sure you book their appointment for a time when your child will be well-rested and more able to cope with a new experience.
- If you have dental phobias or anxiety, try not to pass these fears onto your child.
Happy smiles and healthy futures
We’re dedicated to creating a pleasant and fun experience for your child so that they enjoy coming to see us, and never have to experience fear of the dentist in their lifetime. Our aim is to create a gentle, calm and positive experience, and even some laughs for both you and your child along the way. Our practice is continually expanding the possibilities of health for children by focusing on not only preventing oral disease, but preventing poor facial growth patterns too.
Don’t feel quite ready to come into our Joondalup dental clinic with your child?
We offer complimentary video consultations too, allowing you to discover how we can help you, without leaving the comfort of your home.