Prevention

Early Prevention is crucial

Early Prevention helps provide parents and children with education about brushing, flossing, and nutrition. Beginning early can help us discover dental concerns that may help you save time and expense. Keeping kids’ mouths healthy can help improve their overall health and performance in school.

Dental Exams

Our doctors believe that preventive care should start with the arrival of the first tooth. We recommend that you bring your child to see us around their first birthday and that visits be scheduled every six months. However, if you didn’t quite make that 12 month visit, go ahead and make an appointment to see us. It’s never too late to establish a new dental home!

Digital Radiographs (X-Rays)

Digital x-rays are necessary to evaluate dental development and to look for cavities. They are also used to identify things such as extra or missing teeth, identify abnormal structures, evaluate bone and jaw health, and assess the need for braces. X-rays can be used as an educational tool to allow you or your child to see what is going on right along with our doctors. Our team will assess the right time to take x-rays based on each patient’s specific dental findings. We use state of the art digital x-rays that use very little radiation, and we only take films that are needed to provide a comprehensive examination.   

Cleaning and Hygiene

Keeping teeth and gums clean and free of bacteria, plaque, tarter, and other buildup is a big part of keeping smiles healthy for life. That is why we encourage consistent and regularly scheduled visits. During these visits we will thoroughly clean teeth to remove plaque and calculus (tarter) and polish teeth to remove topical stains or discoloration.

Fluoride

Topical fluoride is effective in preventing cavities and tooth decay by coating your teeth and preventing plaque from building up and hardening on the surface of your teeth. At Parkville Pediatric Dentistry we generally apply a topical fluoride varnish at every cleaning appointment until age 14.

Fluoride is also a key ingredient in many popular brands of toothpaste, mouthwash, and in most community water supplies.

Sealants

A sealant is a clear or shaded resin material that is applied to the chewing surface (grooves) of the back teeth (premolars and molars). They are often applied soon after these teeth have erupted around 6 and 12 years of age. The sealant acts as a barrier to food, plaque, and acid, thus protecting the decay-prone areas of the teeth.