In accordance with the Australian Dental Association, we recommend bringing your child when they are 6 to 12 months old. A good sign is when they start teething in order for us to desensitize them to the dental setting.

Your kids should visit the children’s dentistry as early as possible to prevent or detect any signs of tooth decay. Prevention is always better than cure.

When the child has tooth decay, he/she will be in pain plus the treatment is costlier than having regular dental check-ups.

Bring your child with you during your dental appointment to familiarise him/her with the environment. This will reduce their anxiety when it comes to seeing the dentist to have their dental health checked.

Even if the child seemed reluctant to come and see us, our paedatric trained team are happy to see them.

Expect the first appointment to be fun, short, and lighthearted, as this is how we like to structure these appointments for our young patients. From getting used to lying in the chair, the lights and multiple sounds and sights, our team of paedatric trained dentists and oral health therapists are here to help navigate the child through the world of the mysterious dental setting.

This could involve desensitizing activities like, a little polish, some photos and a brushing session where your child can show us how they brush or demonstrate how you brush their teeth. Diet advice and management of oral complications can be discussed in order for you as a parent to feel reassured about what to do when it comes to the young one’s oral health.

What you can expect to be done on the first appointment:

1. A comprehensive examination
2. A scale and polish
3. Fluoride treatment

This is all if our young patient is compliant. Our paediatric team are trained to gauge and work within your child’s comfort level, making sure to not push them to be distressed during the appointment.

Discussions that you can also expect to have with us include:

1. Risks of dental decay and what to do about it
2. Diet advice to help prevention of decay
3. Gum health and other soft tissue features – tongue, cheek, tonsil, and palette
4. Oral habits and its effects on their dental health
5. Milk teeth and Adult teeth growing
6. Prevention of trauma – such as in sports
7. Orthodontic consideration – whether braces may be needed in the future for alignment or bite related complications

But overall, remember to have fun! Like with all firsts in the child’s life we understand that it can be daunting to a small child to see us, so taking photos of them with the dental equipment and letting them ask questions and interact with all the dental staff as much as possible is highly encouraged by our pediatric dentist team. And get involved! This may include having your child sit with you on the dental chair and going through the examination together.

• Check your child’s teeth for any signs of tooth decay
• Removes plaque or tartar from your child’s teeth if any
• Examines your child’s oral tissue, gums and jaw for any potential problem.
• Assess your child’s bite
• Apply fluoride to your child’s teeth if necessary
• The pediatric dentist Sydney dentist will give advice on proper nutrition and good oral hygiene practices

We recommend before bringing your child in to see us to not set any expectations for them. Children are very sensitive to their parents’ emotions and environment, so in order for them not build any misconceptions about us we recommend not to:

1. Scare the child about dental ‘pain’ and treatments with words like ‘scary’, ‘drill’ or ‘needle’
2. Tell them to be brave when seeing us or that reminding them that we are not scary constantly
3. That you are dentally anxious yourself or that you ‘don’t like the dentist’

What we do recommend:

1. To just tell your child that we take care of teeth by cleaning, similar to brushing
2. That we work with ‘the tooth fairy’ and
3. We would like to help count how many teeth they have

Making sure to use positive words and remaining neutral about seeing us is the best way to help your child to not have dental anxiety for all their future dental visits.

The paedatric team here at Parramatta Dentistry places a strong focus on preventive treatment and conservative treatments for our young patients.

Preventative treatments will usually involve seeing the child every 6 months to monitor their dentition, fluoride treatment, fissure sealants or protections to help lower the risks of dental decay and oral hygiene education.

If your child does require treatment, simple white fillings can be placed for the child. Simple extractions can also be done if required.

In the face of dental trauma, we will see and assess the situation. X-rays and photos will be taken to document the issue and manage with the child’s best interest and comfort placed first.

• Using a soft bristle toothbrush for children, brush your child’s teeth twice a day, once in the morning and once before bed.
• Use pea-sized toothpaste with fluoride that is suitable for children.
• Replace toothbrush every three months.
• Make sure your child eats healthy meal to improve his/her dental health.
• Keep your child away from sweets to avoid tooth decay.
• Do not let your child fall asleep with a bottle of milk or any fruit juice as this will lead to cavities.
• Visit the children’s dentistry once every six months to check on your child’s dental health.

At Parramatta Dentistry, the paediatric trained dentist and oral health therapist are that main team in managing your child’s oral health. With both individuals trained in handling children and their teeth at all ages, they have seen it all when it comes to young frightened toddlers to nervous teenagers.

The team at Parramatta Dentistry understands that handling a growing child can be hard, especially regarding their dental health. As guardians and parents to the little ones, most of us are reluctant to go see our own dentist despite knowing the benefits.

This principle also applies to our young patients and that’s why with the paediatric team at Parramatta Dentistry, we are determined to set our young patients on the right track with their oral health.