Common Pediatric Dental Conditions
Oregon City, OR
 Getting your child to practice good brushing and flossing habits can be challenging, especially when it comes to younger children. Our professionals at Jacobsen Pediatric Dentistry can help you on this journey by providing you with guidance and helping you to empower your kids to care about their teeth. Teaching your children about the importance of dental care and letting them have a sense of being involved in the process can make the experience enjoyable.
Without proper brushing, flossing, and regular dental visits, there are several common pediatric dental conditions that can occur in children.
Tooth Decay
Children are particularly susceptible to tooth decay due to their developing teeth and varying oral hygiene habits. Parents play a crucial role in maintaining their children's oral health. Clean your child's mouth even before their first tooth appears by wiping their gums with a clean, damp cloth. Once teeth emerge, brush them with a soft-bristled toothbrush and a small amount of swallow-safe toothpaste.
Children need help brushing their teeth until around age seven or eight. Ensure they brush for two minutes twice a day. Make brushing and flossing fun with games, songs, or rewards.
Encourage healthy eating by limiting sugary snacks and beverages. Offer water or milk instead of sugary drinks, and choose healthy snacks like fruits, vegetables, and cheese.
Schedule regular dental check-ups for your child, starting at their first birthday.
Dental Sealants to the Rescue
Dental sealants are a resin-based material that bonds to the grooves and depressions on the chewing surfaces of teeth. These grooves, known as fissures, are susceptible to decay because food particles and bacteria often become trapped in them, making them difficult to clean with regular brushing and flossing. Dental sealants create a smooth surface that is easier to clean and less likely to harbor food particles, bacteria, and plaque. We highly recommend having dental sealants applied to children's teeth to prevent cavities.
Frenectomy
While most patients probably have no idea what a frenectomy is, this procedure is very common and used to correct a variety of symptoms patients—especially young ones—experience due to excessive tissue found in two different locations in the oral cavity. This tissue can be found above the front teeth, reaching to the back of the upper lip. This tissue, when removed, is known as a labial frenectomy (or a lip tie). There can also be similar tissue along the underside of the tongue (called a tongue tie). When patients have this tissue removed it is known as a lingual frenectomy.
This tissue, regardless of location, is known as frenum. They are naturally occurring, and every patient has them in their mouth.
Patients who have either of these conditions should have them addressed as soon as possible. Both of them can complicate brushing and flossing and proper speech development. If left untreated, it can lead to tooth decay and gum disease.
We can do a simple surgical procedure, for either condition, that only takes about 15 minutes to perform.
Baby Root Canals
A pulpotomy (a baby root canal) is a procedure done to eliminate pain in a baby tooth. In a way, it is similar to a root canal, although we only remove the pulp that is located in the crown or visible part of the tooth. The pulp that is in the root of the tooth is left. The team here at Jacobsen Pediatric Dentistry typically performs pulpotomies for our young patients who are unable to eat or drink without experiencing pain and there is no other way of eliminating this pain.
Contact Jacobsen Pediatric Dentistry
We are here for all of your child's dental needs, from common pediatric dental conditions, to first time visits, to emergencies. Whatever your need, give us a call at (971) 459-2431 today. |
