Pediatric Smiles of Bloomington Blog

The American Academy of Pediatrics defines a dental home as “the ongoing relationship between the dentist and the patient, inclusive of all aspects of oral health care delivered in a comprehensive, continuously accessible, coordinated, and family-centered way.” But what does that mean? Well, it means that a dental home is almost the same thing as your average dentist. But there’s a couple more benefits of a dental home:

1. It’s patient/family centered which means your child comes first.
2. A dental home reflects the AAPD’S clinical guidelines.
3. A dental home provides referrals to other dental specialists when your general dentist cannot provide the needed care.
4. Children that have a dental home are healthier, have fewer hospitalizations, and have fewer emergency room visits.

The AAPD (American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry) updated their guidelines on sedation in 2019. The guidelines state that there will always be at least two people in the room who are trained to provide advanced life support measures in case there are any problems. One of the people in the room will be the dentist performing the procedure. The other will be an independent observer who must be a trained anesthesiologist or a trained pediatric dentist.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Baby bottle tooth decay is the severe decay of the baby teeth of infants and young children. It occurs with the frequent and prolonged exposure to drinks that contain sugar (this includes natural sugars found in breast milk, formula, soda, and fruit juices). The sugar in these liquids coats your child’s teeth and turns into acid. The acid attacks the enamel on the teeth. This causes your child to get cavities.

Most people understand the importance of keeping your teeth healthy. It prevents cavities and helps keep your teeth in your mouth for years to come. Here are some tips to help your child keep up with their dental health.

Being a new parent presents many challenges, from feeding to changing to healthcare, and even oral care. There’s a lot to learn, and it’s okay to ask questions along the way. While you may not always be able to turn to a grandparent or partner for advice, you can always turn to a professional for information on your child’s needs. Your child’s pediatric dentist can answer quite a lot for you, and they likely know what you may have questions about. Here are a few questions that might come up on (or before) your first visit to the pediatric dentist.

When you go to the dentist, it can seem like they’re using strange sci-fi tech to take care of your teeth. There may be strange products used to clean or weird looking equipment you’re not sure about. Here are a couple things dentists use to keep their patients’ teeth bright and healthy.

Everything that comes into contact with your teeth can affect their health. While some of these dietary items may be well-known, others could surprise you. Here are 5 dietary choices that could harm your child’s teeth.

Parents know the importance of brushing. They begin brushing their baby’s teeth the first moment they break through the gums and teach their children the importance of brushing their teeth later on. The importance of flossing, however, often goes overlooked. Flossing out food particles between teeth can polish the sides of the tooth and irreversible tooth decay. But how soon should a child be flossing? And how can parents instill the behavior?

"Preventative care" is a kind of catch-all term for the daily habits you undertake to maintain your oral health. This includes brushing your teeth, flossing, and limiting your intake of certain acidic and sugary foods and beverages.

Whether you’re a new or repeat parent, one of the major milestones you can expect from your child’s development is the appearance of baby (or primary) teeth. While the time it takes for baby teeth to appear, also called “tooth eruption,” can vary for every child, it’s something that most parents can expect to happen within the first year of their child’s life.