For a child, going to the dentist’s office can be a scary thing. At Nevada Dentistry and Braces, we believe that children should have their first visit before their first birthday. This is also in line with the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Having your child come in at this early age helps establish important dental habits that will ensure that your child will be used to dental visits throughout their childhood. Additionally, establishing these habits will provide a lasting impact on your child’s smile.
If you are looking for a child-friendly dentist in Las Vegas, then our office is what you are looking for. Each of our child dentists is committed to providing some of the best care available in the Las Vegas, NV area. They will even encourage parents to help their children feel more at ease by actually being in the room during their child’s dental treatments. This will help your child feel better about the types of dental procedures that they’ll be receiving, which will also help cement healthy dental habits.
The Very First Visit
It’s just as important to take care of your child’s baby teeth as it’s important to take care of their adult ones. Baby teeth that are healthy will actually affect the healthiness of permanent teeth as well. Additionally, early dental treatment will help your child build a trusting bond with their dentist, which is can last a lifetime.
This first, early visit can establish whether your child has any missing baby teeth that will require orthodontic treatment as they grow. You, as the parent, can also learn from the very first visit what you’ll need to do to ensure that your child’s dental health and hygiene are maintained.
During this first visit, general dentistry will be practiced on your child, but in such a way that your child can enjoy the experience as well. This first visit can include any of our state-of-the-art procedures like digital x-rays or a simple mouth exam. Additionally, you dentist may also check your child’s gums and teeth for any irregularities that will need to be addressed.
For younger kids, our specialist will show you, as the parent, the best way to maintain your infant or toddler’s teeth. As not every parent will bring their child in during their first year, our dentist in Las Vegas will also show your older child how to properly exercise dental hygiene.
Comprehensive Pediatric Oral Exams
From time to time, our pediatric dentistry specialists will want to administer a more comprehensive oral exam for your child. This type of exam will help our Las Vegas dentists to determine what’s going on with your children’s oral structures. These exams can ascertain whether cavities are present in your child’s mouth, whether decay has taken hold, or whether more comprehensive procedures and appliances are needed.
The digital x-ray portion of the comprehensive oral exam will help determine whether there are structural issues in your child’s mouth that could be missed with the naked eye. Decay can spread to the structures of the jaw and the roots, so it’s important to catch these things as early as possible with digital x-rays. Between the initial parts and the digital x-rays, our pediatric and general dentists will be able to piece together the larger puzzle and will be able to better meet your child’s dental needs.
Prevention
As Ben Franklin once said, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And at our practice, we firmly believe that prevention is almost always the best course of action. These pediatric preventative procedures can range from regular dental cleanings to applying space maintainers that are made of acrylic or metal that allow permanent teeth to erupt naturally.
Another great method for prevention is the administration of sealants onto your child’s new teeth. To administer a sealant, a white colored resin is placed on the teeth. The teeth most often selected are molars for this preventative procedure. With dental sealants, your Las Vegas, NV pediatric dental specialist will apply the sealant to your child’s new teeth.
Since the molars are the most neglected teeth, the sealant will fill up the small crevasses where cavities can form. This procedure is pain-free so that your child won’t have to be numbed during the procedure. Additionally, your specialists can even apply it after a fresh dental cleaning. The chief benefit of this procedure is that it can give younger patients up to ten years of protection.
In addition to these preventative measures, we also offer night guards for children that grind their teeth in their sleep.
Orthodontics and Endodontics for Your Child
In addition to the preventative and restorative dentistry that we perform for your child, we also perform orthodontic and endodontic treatments that can help your child’s teeth and jaw line form attractively.
Once they’ve had their comprehensive exam, our Las Vegas, NV specialists can determine if a root canal (an endodontic treatment) is required or whether an orthodontic treatment like braces is needed. Braces can help align teeth and root canals can save teeth that are candidates for extraction but can be saved by our children dentists.
Pediatric Oral Sedation
As we mentioned, dental visits can be scary for youngsters, especially when there’s a lot of work to be done. With this in mind, Las Vegas, NV practice offers pediatric conscious sedation for our youngest patients. This sedation method doesn’t put your child fully under but places them in a more relaxed state of mind. This uses a prescription medication that’s administered based on your child’s weight and leaves your child still able to respond to commands. Since it’s so relaxing, it’s a great way to make the visit less stressful and more comfortable for your child.
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