The best method to ensure your child has a healthy happy smile is through preventative dentistry. At Durango Kids Pediatric Dentistry, our staff receives additional training to assess and identify your child’s level of comfort or disability. We support the establishment of a dental home and encourage the first dental visit to occur before your child’s first birthday.
Each child receives a comprehensive treatment plan that addresses individual dental, developmental, and behavioral needs.
Teeth cleanings gives your child’s teeth a deep flossing in areas they might not be able to reach. We also scrape plaque from the surface off the teeth, which can cause cavities if left untreated.
Space maintainers are necessary for some children to help keep the space open to allow a permanent tooth to erupt and grow into place.
How To Take Care of Your Child’s Space Maintainer:
The space maintainer may feel a little unusual at first, but after a few days, they will probably forget about it and not even know it is there.
It is very important to brush regularly. Although most all of our space maintainer designs are fairly easy to keep clean, they can act as a bit of a food trap. You may need to make a little extra effort to make sure that your space maintainer stays nice and clean.
Avoid eating sticky/ tacky candies, such as chewing gum, caramels, Jolly Ranchers, Starburst, Tootsie Rolls, Milk Duds, etc. as it will loosen the bands and get caught in the wires of your space maintainer.
Avoid pushing on your space maintainer with your fingers or tongue because that can bend or loosen it.
Should your space maintainer come loose for any reason, please contact our office the next day.
Sealants are used to fill in narrow grooves in a tooth that cannot be adequately cleaned by brushing. In some cases, the tooth structure has fine grooves or pits which accumulate plaque which will develop cavities over time. We apply a coating that seals the grooves and pits, making it possible to prevent decay. We recommend that all children should have sealants.
Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) is an inexpensive, non-invasive medicament that is applied topically to cavities. SDF is an effective interim therapy used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan supervised by a dentist within a dental home when patient cooperation for restorative dentistry is limited due to young age, situational anxiety, or intellectual and developmental disabilities.
SDF has been used internationally for decades to arrest dental cavities in primary and permanent teeth. Studies show that 66-70-% of all dentinal caries lesions (cavities into the dentin) were found to be arrested after treatment. SDF received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2014 as a device for treating dental hypersensitivity and is safe with very low toxicity.
SDF applied to dental decay causes significant, irreversible black staining due to formation of silver oxide. Superficial black staining of the skin and oral mucosa tends to resolve within 3-5 days.
Cavities in between central incisors
Cavities treated with SDF; arrested decay
In our office we use FlouroDose, a 5% sodium fluoride varnish. This treatment delivers the highest concentration of fluoride possible which is effective in the prevention of tooth decay when used in conjunction with a comprehensive oral hygiene program.
To receive the maximum benefits of your fluoride treatment, the varnish needs to remain on the tooth surface for the next 4 – 6 hours. During this time, we recommend the following::
• Do not brush or floss your teeth
• Eat a soft food diet
• Avoid hot beverages and products containing alcohol
• When dry, any excess varnish may appear “spotty” and may slide off the tooth surface. Do not worry, this will not affect product performance as there is still a full layer of varnish on the tooth. After treatment period is over, FluoroDose may easily be removed through tooth brushing and rinsing.