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Perhaps you’ve heard your friends talking about dental sealants, and how well they prevent cavities. And as soon as your child’s permanent molars come in, you absolutely plan to make an appointment at our Anchorage, AK office for this treatment. But should you also be concerned with your child’s baby teeth? Could they benefit from sealants too?

Even though those beautiful baby teeth are going to be replaced with permanent teeth, they should still be protected. Primary teeth help with speech development, enable your child to develop proper chewing and eating habits, and serve as place holders so that permanent teeth can erupt in the correct place. That’s why you’ve been so careful to help your child brush and floss twice daily, and make regular visits to our office for exams and cleanings.

But some teeth are just harder to keep clean with regular brushing than others. Primary molars, just like permanent ones, have depressions and grooves on the chewing surfaces. These grooves collect bacteria and food particles that are hard for bristles to reach, providing a perfect opportunity for cavities to develop in those little molars.

Cavities are not the only problem which can affect primary teeth. Because baby teeth have thinner layers of protective enamel, a cavity can actually reach the pulp (the center of the tooth) more quickly, leading to pain and potential infection.

While baby teeth can be treated, with fillings, restorations, and even stainless steel crowns, preventing tooth decay is always our first, best choice. And dental sealants are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Dental Association as one of the most effective ways to prevent cavities in both baby teeth and adult teeth.

Dental sealants are safe and effective.  Sealants are thin coatings (usually a plastic resin or other dental material) that cover a molar’s grooves and depressions, making it impossible for bacteria and food particles to collect there. Applying them is a simple, pain-free process.

Each tooth will be examined first. If we find any signs of decay starting, we will gently treat that area before applying the sealant. After the tooth is cleaned and dried, an etching solution will be brushed on to the surface area being sealed. This etching roughens the surface so that the sealant will hold to the tooth more effectively. A thin coat of the sealant is then painted on and hardened under a curing light.

That’s all there is to it! Sealants typically last from three to five years, and some last even longer. Keep up your regular careful brushing and flossing, and we will monitor the condition of the sealants at each exam.

Talk to Dr. Michelle Slezewski and Dr. Paul Engibous about dental sealants. We’ll let you know if your child can benefit from the procedure even before those baby teeth give way to permanent ones. It’s never too early to prevent tooth decay!

Braces and aligners help straighten teeth and create a confident, attractive smile. And those visible benefits are amazing! But orthodontic treatment has an even more important purpose than transforming the appearance of your smile—and that’s protecting and improving your oral health.

If you’re ready for orthodontic treatment, you know you can look forward to a future of beaming smiles. You can also look forward to healthier teeth and gums and a more comfortable and functional bite. For some people, orthodontic treatment can make speaking and eating easier, and could even contribute to a better night’s sleep.

How can orthodontic treatment accomplish these goals? Let’s set the record straight!

Protecting Tooth and Gum Health

• Lowering Your Risk of Cavities

Perfectly aligned teeth are considered aesthetically pleasing, but there’s a more practical reason to appreciate straight teeth. Crooked and overlapping teeth make it easier for food particles and plaque to stick in between the teeth and harder for your brush to remove them. Straight teeth allow you to remove cavity-causing plaque more effectively and with less effort.

• Promoting Healthy Gums

When plaque and tartar build up around the gums, the gum tissue becomes irritated, which is the first stage of gum disease. When teeth are straight and evenly spaced, brushing and flossing are easier and more effective, and your gums reap the benefits.

Creating a More Functional and Comfortable Bite

A malocclusion occurs when the teeth and jaws aren’t properly aligned—they don’t fit together the way they should when you close your mouth. There are different types of bite problems, and these can impact both your oral health and your overall health depending on the type and the severity of the malocclusion. Once a malocclusion is corrected, patients can experience:

• Stronger Teeth and Healthier Gums

Teeth and jaws which don’t fit together properly put extra pressure on your teeth and gums, leading to problems such as worn enamel, cracked teeth, and gum recession. Protect your oral health by creating a well-aligned bite.

• A Pain-Free Bite

Left untreated, malocclusions can cause problems like temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD), headaches, face and neck pain, earaches, limited jaw movement, and painful chewing. Correcting your bite will protect your temporomandibular joint from harm and will relieve the discomfort and pain caused by a malocclusion.

Other Possible Benefits of Treatment

For those with more serious malocclusions, orthodontic treatment might improve daily life in unexpected ways:

• Improved Speech

It takes a lot of coordination to produce different sounds. The lips, the tongue, the alveolar ridge which holds our teeth, the hard and soft palates, parts of the throat, and, yes, the teeth all play a part in creating speech. Some kinds of malocclusions contribute to speech disorders such as lisps, which orthodontic treatment can help correct.

• Improved Digestion

Digestion starts in the mouth, not the stomach! As we chew, we break down our food into particles which are easier for the stomach to digest. If you can’t chew properly because your teeth are misaligned or a bad bite makes it too painful to chew food as thoroughly as you should, you won’t be getting the full nutritional benefits of your healthy diet. Orthodontic treatment helps you bite down painlessly and break down foods easily for better digestion.

• Improved Sleep

Bite problems can sometimes lead to sleepless nights. More serious malocclusions may cause mouth breathing, which, in turn, can affect the quality of your sleep. If you’re having trouble sleeping, a sleep specialist can help you discover the source of your problems. If your troubled sleep is caused by tooth or jaw misalignment, orthodontic treatment might be the solution.

Talk to your dentist to learn about the many options available to align your teeth and jaws for a healthy, attractive smile. Braces or aligners might be all you need to correct a mild malocclusion. Appliances and headgear can influence the growth and position of the jaw if needed. In more severe cases, surgery, together with braces, can create a proportional, healthy bite.

Whether it’s a confident smile, healthier teeth and gums, a functional, comfortable bite, or any of the other benefits orthodontic treatment can bring, talk to the dental team at Pediatric Dental Associates in Anchorage, AK to discover how orthodontic treatment can help you achieve all of your smile goals!

As a patient at Pediatric Dental Associates, your opinion matters! Dr. Michelle Slezewski and Dr. Paul Engibous and our team love hearing what our patients think about our practice and the services we provide, and now we want to know, what do you think we should blog about?

Perhaps there’s a treatment you’ve always wanted to know about, or you’d like to learn about a specific way to improve your health and smile. Whatever your idea, we’d love to hear about it! You can let us know by posting here or on our Facebook page!

First word, first step, first day of school—these firsts are milestones every parent celebrates. And one of the earliest and most precious milestones is your baby’s first real smile! 

Keep that smile beaming and healthy from infancy to young adulthood with the help of dental milestones. These breakthrough events mark significant stages in oral development, and are a great guide to understanding, protecting, and supporting your child’s path to adult oral health.

• First Tooth

The first tooth often arrives around the age of six months. And this is the time to start cavity prevention, with twice daily gentle brushing with a soft-bristled, child-sized toothbrush. Talk to Dr. Michelle Slezewski and Dr. Paul Engibous or your child's pediatrician to learn how and when to brush and how much and what kind of toothpaste to use.

By the age of three, toddlers typically have all of their 20 baby teeth, and these little teeth are essential to children’s health. They help kids chew and eat, assist speech development and pronunciation, and act as placeholders so adult teeth can erupt in the proper place. Keep your child’s baby teeth their healthiest by partnering with the dental team at Pediatric Dental Associates in Anchorage, AK.

• First Visit to the Dentist

Once that first tooth has come in, or around age one, it’s time to bring your little one to the dentist for a first visit. Your pediatric dentist will do a careful exam to see if your child’s teeth and jaws are developing as they should, check the health of the teeth, and answer your questions about brushing, flossing, toothpaste, teething, pacifiers, thumb-sucking, or any other concerns. 

Why choose a pediatric dentist? Your pediatric dental team are experts at creating a “dental home,” a welcoming place which provides comforting continuity and specialized, child-oriented preventative care and treatment from infancy through the teen years.

• First Lost Tooth/First Permanent Tooth

Around age six, most children start to lose baby teeth, typically in the order in which they arrived. Losing a baby tooth is a big step for children, and might be a bit scary. You can celebrate this milestone with a visit from the Tooth Fairy, or a certificate, or a new toothbrush in your child’s favorite color. 

And as the permanent teeth come in, continue to encourage twice daily brushing and flossing, and consider proactive treatment with dental sealants. Even when children have learned to brush properly, and brush twice each day, it can be hard for kids to remove all the plaque and food particles from the grooved chewing surfaces on top of molars. That’s why molars are much more vulnerable to decay than any other teeth. 

Around the time your child’s first permanent molars erupt, the team at Pediatric Dental Associates might suggest sealants. Sealants protect the chewing surfaces of the molars from food particle and plaque buildup. This safe and invisible protective coating, usually a plastic resin, is applied in the office and typically lasts from three to five years. 

• First Orthodontic Visit

Pediatric dentists and orthodontists recommend an orthodontic examination by age seven (or earlier, if you have any concerns). At this point, children have a mix of primary and permanent teeth, allowing an orthodontist to assess tooth spacing and alignment and the way the jaws fit together. 

Your orthodontist might find no issues with your child’s teeth or bite. Or, perhaps, follow-up appointments might be scheduled to determine if and when future treatment is advisable. Sometimes, because some problems can be treated more easily when your child is young, early intervention with a fixed or removeable appliance is recommended right away. 

Having an orthodontic plan in place helps ensure that children benefit from the most effective and timely treatment at any stage of their development.

• Orthodontic Treatment

Orthodontic treatment commonly begins in early adolescence (ten to 14) when most or all of the permanent teeth have erupted. The facial and jaw bones are still growing in preteens and young teens, which makes it easier to reposition teeth and guide jaw alignment.

More treatment options are available than ever before—and today’s braces, clear aligners, smaller and more comfortable appliances, and even 3D technology make treating malocclusions and misalignments more efficient than ever before.

A healthy bite and properly aligned teeth are a foundation of lasting oral health. Orthodontic treatment helps prevent decay, gum disease, jaw pain, and even early tooth loss. And, of course, the value of your child’s increased self-confidence is impossible to overestimate!

• Wisdom Teeth

Wisdom teeth, or third molars, generally start to erupt in the late teens or early twenties and often have a harmful effect on oral health.

Erupting or impacted wisdom teeth can push neighboring teeth out of position, damage adjacent tooth roots, and cause inflammation and infection in gum and bone around the wisdom tooth. For these reasons, preventative extraction is often recommended. 

If your teen shows any symptoms of erupting or impacted wisdom teeth—irritated, swollen, or bleeding gums, bad breath, jaw pain or swelling—a visit to the dentist is in order.

As parents, you do your best to guide your child’s journey from infancy to healthy adulthood. Each dental milestone marks a new stage in your child’s oral health journey, and new ways for you to encourage and protect that oral health. Use these milestones to set your child up for a lifetime of good dental habits—and a lifetime of healthy smiles!