Children’s Care

A dental sealant is a good preventive dentistry treatment that parents usually make their children wear for the purpose of preventing them from having cavities. A sealant is considered an easy solution against tooth decay because it involves a painless procedure and it is effective at saving teeth from decay that starts in the deep grooves of your back molars. The process of applying a dental sealant includes cleaning the teeth and then placing a resin sealant in the grooves of the back teeth. Sealants are helpful because aside from preventing your children from having tooth decay, they also save you from spending more money on expensive dental treatments in the future.

Fluoride treatments are usually administered to children in order to prevent their teeth from having cavities or tooth decay. A form of a highly-concentrated rinse, foam, gel, or varnish is applied on the teeth to strengthen the tooth enamel (thin outer covering of the tooth that acts as a shield that protects the vulnerable area on the side of the teeth which can sustain damage due to decay).

What is a dental cavity?

A cavity or a tooth decay happens when specific types of acid-producing bacteria destroy the tooth enamel and the dentin (its underlying layer). Cavities happen when the acids remove minerals from the enamel.

What are the causes of a dental cavity?

• Inadequate brushing and flossing
• Sugary foods and drinks
• Dry mouth
• Worn down enamel
• Lack of fluoride

How to prevent cavities?

• Practise proper dental hygiene routine daily
• Eat less sugary or starchy foods
• Avoid sugary drinks or beverages
• Use a fluoridated toothpaste as advised by your dentist
• Use an antibacterial mouth rinse to reduce the levels of bacteria

A space maintainer is a device that can be helpful for children who lost a tooth early or who had a primary tooth extracted because of tooth decay. Since they lost a tooth prematurely, it might cause their permanent tooth to not come out straight. This is where the benefits of space maintainers enter. 

A space maintainer is a custom-made dental device that can be in the form of a band or a temporary crown made of acrylic or metal material that is attached to one side of the empty space left by a lost tooth. Its purpose is to prevent the surrounding teeth from shifting or tipping into the vacant space left by the prematurely lost tooth. Once the permanent tooth starts to erupt, the space maintainer will be removed by the dentist.