Are you a new parent and are curious about what exactly happens during a dental cleaning for children? Here at Hardy Pediatric Dental and Orthodontics, we are certified experts in dental care for children! Dr. Nam specializes in pediatric dentistry and is always ready to give your child the best dental experience possible!
The process will differ a bit depending on the age of your child and the needs of your child. Below is a breakdown of a more general dental cleaning procedure for children!
Making Sure Your Child Is Comfortable
Before we begin cleaning your child’s teeth, we try our best to get to know you and your child, listen to any concerns, and inform them of the dental process. It is important for children to understand the importance of dental care and that they are comfortable to go through with the entire dental process! At Hardy Pediatric Dentistry, we have special tools that we use to help show a child what we will be doing, like our alligator friend who has a beautiful smile! We also have other items that can help a child feel less anxious such as weighted stuffed animals and vibrating sticks to distract them from what’s going on around them. We try to lean into using other senses to help ground them during the whole process.
Scaling Your Child’s Teeth
We will start the appointment by taking a peek at your child’s teeth and begin scaling them. The scaling process is intended to remove any plaque buildup that can occur on teeth. We will explain every step of the scaling process to them to make sure they understand what the tools are doing for their health. This portion of the cleaning process will also help point out any problem areas that may need to be worked on a little more when brushing teeth at home. It’s completely normal for kids to miss a spot here or there as they are learning how to take care of their teeth.
This is also the portion of the appointment where we may spot any cavities. Dr. Nam will check carefully the teeth so see if they need to be filled or not.
Polishing Your Child’s Teeth
Like in an appointment for adults, we will polish your child’s teeth. A smooth surface will help make sure that less plaque and tartar will stick to the teeth in the future. Plaque loves rough surfaces, by keeping the teeth smooth, we can eliminate some of the need for future scaling work.
Introducing Flouride
We will use a fluoride treatment to set up long term strengthening for your child’s teeth. Fluoride helps protect and fortify the enamel, leading to less cavities. The type and amount of fluoride that we will use will depend on the amount of teeth and age of your child. Kids with less teeth will need less fluoride than a teen who has all their permanent teeth.
Other Dental Care Procedures
Sometimes we will need to do other dental care procedures, like x-rays. X-rays are not done every visit. Usually they are done every other year. We can also take a look and see what kind of orthodontic care your child may need in the future, or if they don’t need any at all! For other procedures like cavity fillings, we will have you book a separate appointment.
Conclusion
The dental cleaning procedure for children is very similar to that of adults, but we try to make it a little more fun! This is so kids can recognize that the dentist is a safe space and that it is so important for them to become superheroes and stay on top of their dental care!
Are you interested in learning more? We are happy to explain the specific needs your child may have during an appointment! You can book an appointment with us here!
