Taking care of children
Pedodontics or pediatric dentistry is a specialty of dentistry concerned with children. It is aimed at our little patients, from birth until their permanent dentition is complete. Successfully treating children is not for every dentist... Caring for children requires special knowledge and expertise in understanding child psychology.
Ideal care from a children's dentist
The paediatric dentist’s responsibility is to accompany the child as the baby teeth appear, to keep them healthy and caries-free, to ensure a smooth transition to the permanent teeth, and to refer adolescents to an orthodontist if necessary.
This responsibility begins at an early age, with the introduction of good lifestyle and hygiene habits to ensure that children grow up free of oral pathologies.
When should you take your child to the dentist?
The first visit to a paediatric dentist is recommended even before the first teeth appear in the first year of life. There are then important stages in a child’s growth that require a dental check-up, enabling early diagnoses to be made. These early diagnoses are of the utmost importance for short, effective, less invasive and decisive long-term treatment of your child.
Check out the important ages to bring your child to the pediatric dentist.
The first consultation should therefore ideally take place before any problems arise, with the sole aim of getting to know the paedodontist and playfully explaining the treatment room that may one day welcome them.
The more children feel at ease with the dentist, the more relaxed they will be, and the more likely they will be to come to appointments.
consultation(s)
The specifics of children's dentistry
Pediatric dentistry is a wonderful branch of general dentistry, and pedodontists have a duty to help their patients understand the care they receive, by listening to the emotional aspects of dentistry for children.
Caring for children implies the ability to adapt to each child who comes to us, and therefore to understand their limits during consultations and adapt to them without making them feel guilty.
The duration and number of consultations will be adapted to the needs of each child, and age is not always a criterion. That’s why our team works in an empathetic way, and why we’ll always praise a child for doing his or her best.
How can you prepare your child for his or her first visit to the dentist?
It’s important to know that no child is born with the famous “fear of the dentist”. This apprehension is generally passed on involuntarily by those around them, or through previous, inconclusive experiences with the dentist.
However, children are very cooperative, provided they are approached in the right way, accompanied in a relationship of trust and in a playful atmosphere.
The frequent reality of a first dental appointment
Unfortunately, we often see our patients in emergency situations, or in cases of dental trauma.
These “emergency” consultations can be a source of great anxiety for the child and, above all, for the parents, sometimes leading to feelings of discomfort or pain.
The importance of follow-up by a children’s dentist is to find the best way of approaching your children and working together in this emergency situation, with the idea of reassuring the child and taking appropriate care of him or her.
Following this emergency consultation, it is also essential to continue close follow-up in a more peaceful atmosphere, so that they retain positive memories of their visit to the practice.
What kind of care is provided for children?
Pediatric dentistry is very similar to general dentistry in adults. Indeed, as soon as the first milk teeth appear, a child may have hygiene problems such as tartar or plaque deposits, more or less deep and sometimes even painful cavities, infections, gum problems or oral pathologies (mouth ulcers, etc.).
Milk teeth deserve to be treated just as much as permanent teeth. The sooner the diagnosis is made, the shorter and more painless the treatment, and the better the prognosis.
For the vast majority of children, all these treatments go smoothly, thanks to the trust that is built up from the very first consultation. New technologies are also very useful for children’s comfort
(new caries detection camera, adapted X-ray equipment, use of dental lasers, new anesthesia techniques…).
Some children will find it more difficult to overcome their fears, despite the confidence-building sessions. In these cases, light sedation with nitrous oxide (laughing gas) may be considered, but will not be offered immediately.
