Cosmetic Dentistry Blog

Kids should be taught all about good dental health, beginning with brushing and flossing, and ending with visits to a pediatric dentist twice a year.  Most children understand that they need to brush morning and night. But getting them to go to the dentist may be an entirely different story.

At Dream Smile Dental, we know how hard it is for parents to convince their child to go to the dentist. Inherently, many kids are afraid of the dentist, most likely because they hear adults worrying about it. If your child does not want to go to the dentist, please don’t put it off. Oral health is very important in children and neglecting oral health can lead to other health problems as well as serious oral problems as an adult. Help your child overcome their fear of the dentist.
 
Firstly, don’t let them hear you complaining about going to the dentist, or overhear your fears of the dentist chair. Talking to them about the importance of dental health can have very positive results. Talk to your kids and tell them why it is important to visit the dentist.

Try to make the visit as fun as possible. In fact, at Dream Smile Dental, we have a WII which your child can play as they wait. This may be encouragement enough! Talk to them about our Cavity Free Club. There are many benefits to joining, not the least of which is great oral health. But even better according to the kids, is getting their picture on our website, along with an initiation certificate. If they become the member of the week, they will even have their picture in the newspaper!

Pediatric Dentistry is very important for good oral health. At Dream Smile Dental we want to help you foster this in your children. Contact us with questions or for an appointment today.
 

Snoring can be a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea and is a noise created by the partial blocking of the airway. When you fall asleep your muscles relax, including those that control the tongue and throat. The soft tissue at the back of your throat can sag, narrowing the air passage. Incoming air then makes the tissue at the rear roof of the mouth, the uvula, and the throat vibrate: a sound we know as snoring.

Moderate sleep apnea can be treated using multiple methods. However, studies have shown positive results with the use of a dental sleep apnea device with regular follow up visits may be a long term solution for sleep apnea sufferers. A customized night guard called the SomnoDent is created for your specific bite and actually positions your jaw in such a way that it opens up your airway. This allows more oxygen to enter your body and prevents or minimizes symptoms of sleep apnea.

The SomnoDent also prevents the tissues of the upper airway from vibrating as air passes over them, which is one of the main causes of snoring. This is a custom made medical dental appliance by combining a number of key design features which represent vast improvements on existing snoring appliances. SomnoDent has been reported to be a more comfortable and effective sleep apnea appliance. With the SomnoDent you’re not restricted to sleeping in only one position and you’re much more likely to use it, which is the main aspect of successful treatment. Feel free to contact us to learn more about sleep apnea and be sure to schedule your next appointment with us.

Do you have a hard time getting your children to brush their teeth? Is it a battle every time? This task may seem simple enough, until you have to pry open your sweet toddler's mouth on the day he has determined that he no longer wants you to brush his teeth! If you, like most parents, have experienced some difficulty getting your child to cooperate, then try these helpful, affordable dental hints.

Using the child's interests to your advantage works wonders. There are many affordable dental products available that are attractive to children -- you can find an affordable dental toothbrush and affordable dental toothpaste with almost any character that your child loves to watch on TV. If your child has an emotional bond to Minnie Mouse, then buy her an affordable dental toothbrush shaped like Minnie, and when it is time to brush her teeth, let her know that Minnie Mouse wants to help her get her teeth clean!

Try to make your child's brushing experience as fun as possible. If your children like to sing, then create a special song to sing to them for the duration of the brushing. A brushing song also gives them a time frame for how long they should be brushing. Many children want to briskly swipe the toothbrush across their teeth once and call it good -- having a song or chant ready will help them to be a little more thorough.

Letting your kids know that plaque causes cavities that hurt and make it hard to eat might encourage them to be preventive with their dental care for a healthier, more affordable dental future. Contact us today should you need to set up your next dental appointment and be sure to check our out pediatric dental page for more information on children and dental care.

Most dental problems can be avoided by educating your children on the importance of dental hygiene at an early age. Teaching them to brush regularly is just one part of the education process. We need to teach our kids the importance of brushing and flossing, but we need to teach them how to look after their teeth in other ways as well.

We all know that sugar is bad for the teeth, unfortunately it also tastes great. It is not possible to just cut sugar out of the diet. Kids and sweets just attract each other like metal and magnets. What we can do though is teach the kids to moderate the amount of sugar they eat. We need to provide alternatives in the lunch box and teach them that fruit is also a snack.

When the kids do snack, show them that a drink of water after the snack will help remove the sugar from the mouth area. Make it a condition of the snack that they drink a glass of water after they have finished eating. Try and get them to swish it around the mouth before swallowing. It is about minimizing the time the mouth is in contact with the sugar.

Be careful of the chewy sweets as they often stick in the small gaps of the teeth causing problems. It is advisable to avoid these types of sweets, especially if it will be a long time until the next brushing and flossing. If the kids insist on these treats then get them to brush their teeth afterwards as a condition, kids will do just about anything for sweets. Encourage your kids to drink juices and milks rather than fizzy soft drinks and cordial. By drinking milk they will also get the benefit of calcium, an essential mineral to healthy teeth and bones.

The key here is to teach our children that sugar is fine, as long as we eat in moderation and take the proper steps, like drinking water after a snack. Again it is the younger kids that will pick up on this faster, but with persistence and some advice you can easily teach your children the importance of diet and how that links to healthy teeth.