When Should I Schedule My Infant's First Check-up?

We recommend that you bring your infant for a check-up by their first birthday.
You may wonder, "Why are baby teeth so important if they're only going to fall out anyway?" That's a question we hear quite often. Well, baby teeth may be more important than you think — early loss of baby teeth can lead to overcrowding and crooked adult teeth. Our goal is to treat small problems before they become big problems.

We're here to baby your infant's smile because early dental care today leads to a healthy smile tomorrow.

How Often Should My Child Visit a Pediatric Dentist?

A check-up every six months is recommended. However, we'll recommend how often your child should visit based on their personal oral health. Because we stress preventive dentistry, it's important we regularly monitor the development of your child's teeth for cavities or other problems so we can stop small problems from becoming big ones.

How Important Are Baby Teeth?

Many parents wonder why we need to fix baby teeth if they're only going to fall out. There are many reasons and they're all important to your child's dental and overall health. Baby teeth have an important role — they act as a guide for adult teeth. If baby teeth are well taken care of, the adult teeth will be able to follow properly. If baby teeth are lost prematurely, problems such as overcrowding and a delay in the development of adult teeth can occur.

If cavities in baby teeth are left untreated, children may be unable to eat properly. Cavities are contagious and can spread from tooth to tooth and to new permanent teeth as they erupt. Premature loss of baby teeth can also lead to poor speech development.

Baby teeth are important for a healthy and beautiful smile. And a great looking smile goes a long way in building a child's self-esteem today, and tomorrow.

How Can I Stop My Child From Sucking Habits?

Many children suck on their thumbs or digits until they are two to four years old. This is a completely normal habit but it can cause severe problems to the development of your child's teeth and bite if it continues too long.

Most children eventually stop the habit on their own and many will stop when they are old enough to understand that it can be harmful to them. However, in some cases the pediatric dentist is required to insert a habit breaker — a custom fitted device that is designed to block the offending digit.

How Important is Diet to My Child's Dental Health?

Diet is very important to a growing child's dental and physical health. Children need a well-balanced diet in order to get the vitamins and minerals their growing body demands. Snacking can be teeth's worst enemy as all too often snacks are sticky, sugary treats and it is sugar that reacts with plaque on teeth to promote dental decay.

In short, try to limit your child's snacks and try to avoid foods heavy in sugar, and have your child brush after every meal to remove food particles from the mouth.

What is Preventive Dentistry?

Our practice stresses preventive dentistry because it is key to stopping problems before they start. Preventive dentistry is a team effort between you, your child, and our staff and includes the teaching of proper brushing and flossing techniques as well as regular check-ups and cleanings.
Preventive dentistry includes the use of sealants to protect teeth from cavities as well as custom fitting mouth guards to protect teeth from dentistry. To find out more about Preventive Dentistry, click here.

What is Malocclusion?

Malocclusion means 'bad bite'. One of the goals of a pediatric dentist is to monitor the development of your child's teeth and jaw and to spot early warning signs of malocclusion.
Sometimes bad bites are hereditary but they can also be a result of sucking or tongue habits. For example, if a child doesn't stop their sucking habits while their teeth are emerging, it could lead to an open bite or a crossbite.

We can identify and treat some forms of malocclusion and minimize or reduce the development of further problems including excessive wearing of teeth.

How Often Should My Child Have X-rays?

It depends on your child. Often, with children that have a high-risk of tooth decay, we take X-rays every six months. For children less at risk, the frequency is less.

It's important for us to take X-rays because they give us information that we can't otherwise see. For example, X-rays allow us to see the progress of erupting teeth, allows us to evaluate injuries, or to monitor for bone disease. And of course, X-rays allow us to look for hidden cavities.

What is Interceptive Orthodontics?

To ensure the best overall dental and facial development, all children should have an orthodontic consultation sometime between the ages of five and seven. Usually, nothing more than observation is needed but if a problem is evident, taking action early (interceptive orthodontics) can spare a lot of treatment and expense down the road.

By age seven the first permanent molars and incisors have usually come in, and crossbites, crowding or protrusions can be evaluated. At this time, we can identify current or anticipated dental problems and determine the best time for treatment. For more information about your Orthodontic options, click here.

How Do I Schedule An Initial Appointment?

It's easy-just give us a call. Our number is 845-634-8900.

What About Treatment Costs?

A beautiful, healthy smile is one of the best investments you can make in your child's future. And to help you fit this investment into your budget, we offer a variety of payment methods:

• Outside financing that offers no down payment and low monthly fees paid over your treatment time
• Automatic Credit Card payments (all major credit cards accepted)

During your first visit and evaluation, our treatment coordinator will be happy to explain all the financial options to you and work with you on customizing a payment plan that fits your needs.