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(08) 8384 7322

Childrens Dentistry

Baby teeth are important

Christies Beach - Morphett Vale - Adelaide

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  • Tue, Thu, Fri: 8:30am – 5pm 
  • Sat: 8:30am – 1pm
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Coast Dental cater to patients of all ages

If you look after your child’s oral health even before their teeth have erupted they have better chance of developing healthy teeth. You can do this by gently wiping their gums after they’ve been fed or have been drinking juice or milk. This prevents sugar from damaging the gums or adversely affecting the way milk teeth erupt.
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Milk teeth work as place holders for adult teeth

The importance of milk teeth

Your child’s milk teeth are important for three main reasons:

  • They get your jaw used to having teeth (and help them learn to chew properly)
  • Help develop speech
  • Act as place holders for their adult teeth (this is one of the reasons why ensuring your child’s milk teeth don’t develop decay is so important)

Best time to bring your child to Coast Dental

The Coast Dental team recommend you bring your child to our south Adelaide dental practice six months after their first milk tooth erupts. We can assess their oral health, the health of their first tooth and explain in detail the best way to look after their tooth. The main goal is to avoid dental decay. In Australia, dental decay is quite prevalent among young children.

One of the reasons for this is the pervasive idea that milk teeth aren’t important because the adult teeth will replace them. The problem with this is your milk teeth act as place holders.

Protecting your child’s teeth

There are three main ways to help prevent your child from suffering dental decay:

  • General oral hygiene—helping them brush their teeth: even if they only have one tooth you should clean this with a pea-sized amount of toothpaste and keeping the tooth clean.
  • Fluoride treatment: check-out our fluoride treatment page for more information.
  • Fissure sealants

Fissure sealants are similar to filling. This material is applied to the biting surface of the tooth to prevent cavities from forming.

Benefits of fissure sealants

This coating, once applied, lasts for around a year with the proper care. If your child doesn’t brush then decay will eat away at the fissure sealant like it would their enamel. The main benefit of fissure sealants is they make it easier to keep your child’s teeth clean.

The process

First the tooth that is to have the fissure sealant is cleaned, dried and prepared. Secondly, the fissure sealant is applied to the tooth using a small brush and then an ultraviolet light is used to harden the material.

Children’s Dentistry Morphett Vale

To find out more about how Coast Dental can help you, or to book an appointment at our Christies Beach dental practice, please contact us today.

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