Category: family dentistry

Many parents are surprised to find that the recommendation is you bring your child into a North York children’s dentist before they turned one year old. While some parents think that’s a little too soon, people should understand that piece of advice is supported by groups like the American Dental Association.

There are several good reasons why you should start familiarizing your son or daughter with the dentist early. The first one is obvious.  By getting an early start that will put them on a path of outstanding dental habits that will last a lifetime, North York children’s dentist professionals can head off any problems before they become bigger issues. Many different things about your child’s dental health are obvious even before they get a full set of permanent teeth.

One of the biggest advantages is making sure your child becomes familiar with the dentist early. Bring them into a clinic to see the hygienists. As well, the staff up front will help if they are feeling anxious. There’s even some research that says starting early will help them avoid feeling any kind of anxiety later in life.

When your son or daughter is getting their first baby teeth, an examination can even find decay early on. There are several factors like certain kinds of baby food and without proper brushing techniques, they can put these emerging teeth at risk.

These kinds of routine examinations can give you some helpful suggestions as well as head off any larger problems. Making sure you build a routine with your North York children’s dentist can keep more expensive treatments like space maintainers, fillings and caps at bay. Sometimes there are issues that could be addressed at earlier time before they get more complicated. For example baby bottle syndrome is an important factor that would lead to an early and rapid and rampant decay of baby teeth.  It happens when the child sleeps with a bottle of milk or sweet drinks in his mouth. Over night it can destroy the tooth structure and would lead to a very early cavity.  If we can see the chid earlier we can prevent that and educate parents and show them how to take care of it.

What to Expect from Your North York Children’s Dentist

You should expect that very first visit to be thorough, but not necessarily invasive. Taking a quick look at your child’s dental history is one big part. These dentists will also ask a few questions about your toddler’s teething and eating habits and will want to know a thing or two about their dental routine at home.

Quite often the parents can be involved in that first dental visit. To make sure that any professional has the best view and access, mom or dad might be asked to help position your child properly.

After that very first visit when you and your child have formed a new relationship with a North York children’s dentist, they’ll put together a treatment plan you can follow.

Preparing Your Child

Everyone wants to be sure that first introduction to the dental world goes smoothly and productively. Parents can have a big part in getting their children ready. Here’s a few tips so that everyone will get the most out of very first visit.

Tiring your son or daughter out the day before is a great idea. That way they’ll be ready to go to bed early and wake up refreshed on the day of their appointment. Parents can also write down any observations and questions they want to discuss with their North York children’s dentist professional.

If you’ve been using any dental products at home, you should bring them with you. Your dentist may have some questions about your routine and be able to tweak it to everyone’s benefit.

Here’s a few thoughts that you can take with you after that first checkup is in the books. It’s important to frame up that first visit properly. Your child should know that it’s going to be a regular occurrence and the dentist is there to help them maintain a beautiful smile. A North York children’s dentist could be a partner for life

If you are like most people, you’ve been brushing your teeth since you were a child. However, our North York family dentist team thinks that you might have been doing it the wrong way. There’s a lot more to brushing your teeth correctly than you might have imagined.

Here’s a few best brushing tips you might have missed.

Take Your Time (The Right Amount!)  

Proper oral hygiene is about making sure that you time yourself. Most of us understand that we need to put a little block of time aside in the morning and evening to brush our teeth. However, the amount of time that you actually use the brush inside your mouth is critical.

Our North York family dentist team likes to tell our patients that proper brushing takes around two minutes. If you cut corners and time, you’re more than likely going to miss some teeth and perhaps even cause yourself a few dental issues down the road.

Here’s an excellent tip. An electric toothbrush often comes with a timer to make the whole process simpler. You can even look for an app on your smartphone.

Brush Your Tongue

Here’s another interesting little tidbit that you might get to file under the ‘did not know that’ category. One of the places where bacteria likes to hide in your mouth is on your tongue. Making sure that you have an outstanding oral hygiene routine means brushing your tongue and your teeth.

It’s not as hard as it might sound. You can use a soft bristle toothbrush or even by a tongue scraper. Besides getting rid of all that nasty bacteria, your breath will also smell fresher.

Making sure that you have enough time to do everything properly is also very important. We’ve talked to a lot of patients who rush through their oral hygiene routine, and we like to tell them they’re more than likely pay for that in the end.

Block of Time

Put together a nice block of time, get yourself the right tools and formulate a plan of attack. There’s another interesting part and of course that’s technique. Brushing too fast and pushing too hard can actually do more harm than good. We’ve seen many cases of gum disease start with overenthusiastic brushers who push a little too hard and use of firm bristle toothbrush

Choose the Right Foods

When you come in and talk to our North York family dentist specialists, they want you to leave with all the information you need about a good oral hygiene routine. We are only too happy to share all the information with everyone in your family. We will help you with the right techniques for brushing and even suggest the right kind of toothbrush.

We can also suggest some foods that actually help to clean your teeth while you eat them. Most fruits and vegetables act like this. Chewing on a carrot for instance can help you knock down any plaque that’s building up on your teeth. As well, if you’re looking to put a stop to the kind of bacteria that can cause problems consider sugarless gum.

Stay Engaged

The last tip is about staying engaged with your dentist. It’s important they know what’s working for you and what isn’t doing the job when it comes to brushing and flossing. Having a comprehensive oral care plan means getting rid of what doesn’t work and expanding on what does.

It’s important to team up with your dental professional so that you can achieve your oral health goals. Our North York family dentist is always available to help.