Children's dentistry

We aim to see children from the age of 2 ½ so they get used to the dental environment from an early age and the visit is something they will look forward to. 

We encourage good oral hygiene and healthy eating at their visits and try to make it a fun occasion for them where they can play and chat to the dentist and of course get a ‘sticker’ from the dentist!

How to brush your child's teeth

Start by finding a comfortable position. This could be with your child sitting on your lap facing away from you with their head resting against your body while you cup their chin with one hand.

• Start cleaning your baby’s teeth as soon as they come through
  
• Brush your child’s teeth twice a day – in the morning and at night before bed
• Brush the teeth and along the gum line to clean every tooth thoroughly 
• Brush gently in small circles. Brush along the inside surfaces and the outside surfaces.
• Brush back and forth on the chewing surfaces of teeth.
• After brushing, ask your child to spit out toothpaste, and not to rinse with water. The small amount of toothpaste remaining keeps protecting teeth.

Encourage children to take part in toothbrushing as they get older. At around age two or three, help them develop the skill by letting them have a go first before you follow up to make sure all surfaces have been cleaned.

At around the age of eight years, children have developed the fine motor skills needed for tooth brushing. However, supervision is often needed past this age until you are sure they can do it well by themselves.

Tips for brushing children’s teeth

Not all children will enjoy toothbrushing at first, but eventually most come to understand it as something we do every day as part of keeping our bodies healthy.

Some tips to encourage toothbrushing are:

• Make it fun! Sing a song, make silly noises play a children’s toothbrushing video or app - anything that will make the time enjoyable.
• Children like to copy others, so ask other family members to show children how they brush.
• There are many dental-themed story books that can be used to help teach young children about brushing teeth.
• Try using two toothbrushes. One for them to hold and use and one for you to brush properly. Other children respond to ‘your turn, my turn’, where the child brushes first then the parent brushes.
• If your child doesn’t like the taste of toothpaste, try brushing without toothpaste first. Then use a small amount of children’s low fluoride toothpaste to get them used to the flavour. There are also toothpastes with fruity flavours or milder flavours which kids may like more.
• If you are not having any success in the bathroom, try another location in the house.
• For older children, try a reward system. For example, mark the number of times their teeth are cleaned twice a day on a calendar and offer a reward when they reach a goal.