summpediatric – Page 2 – Summerville Pediatric Dentistry

Sleep Apnea and Your Child’s Dental Health

UP TO 20 PERCENT of habitually snoring children have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that results in brief but repeated interruptions to normal breathing during sleep. Not only is this a potentially life-threatening disorder, it also has a significant impact on oral health.

The Three Types Of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea can occur in three different ways. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the result of a blockage in the airway, typically the tongue collapsing against the soft palate, which in turn collapses against the back of the throat, closing off the airway. This is the most common type of sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea happens when the brain fails to signal the muscles of the respiratory system to keep breathing. Complex sleep apnea is a combination of the first two types.

Each time breath is interrupted, the brain causes the person with sleep apnea to wake up. It happens so quickly that they usually don’t remember it, but the interruptions severely impact the overall quality of sleep, as they can happen as often as hundreds of times in a single night.

What Does Sleep Apnea Have To Do With Teeth?

In addition to leaving your child with all the usual symptoms of sleep deprivation, such as exhaustion, difficulty concentrating at school, irritability, and hyperactivity, sleep apnea has a number of effects on oral health. There is a significant association between OSA and moderate to severe periodontitis (gum disease), but the most common dental health complications are temporomandibular joint disorders(TMJ or TMD).

Studies have shown that the jaw reflexively clenches to prevent the airway from becoming blocked when the throat relaxes during a sleep apnea episode. TMD leads to other problems like worn, cracked, or broken teeth, pain when chewing, chronic headaches, and neck and shoulder pain.

How The Dentist Can Help

The dental effects of sleep apnea are so common that the dentist might be the first one to spot the signs and diagnose the disorder. This is just one way your child’s regular dental appointments will benefit their overall health. If they are diagnosed with sleep apnea, common treatment options include continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines and nighttime dental devices that push the tongue or the lower jaw forward.

Healthier Sleep For Healthier Smiles

If your child has been experiencing any of the symptoms described above, there’s no reason for them to continue living with interrupted sleep and the health and cognitive problems that come with sleep apnea. Give us a call or drop by our practice today to schedule an appointment so that we can see if sleep apnea is the cause and get your child on the path to more restful sleep and better oral health.

Wishing all our patients a good night’s sleep!

Train Your Child to FLOSS like a NINJA

BEING A GOOD NINJA isn’t just about mastering the nunchaku and learning to move about completely undetected; it’s also about keeping one’s teeth and gums healthy and strong. One of our greatest weapons against gum disease and tooth decay is a good flossing habit.

The Importance Of Flossing To The Path Of The Ninja

You might wonder why it’s so important for a young ninja-in-training to floss. If baby teeth are only temporary, then why does it matter to keep them healthy, and does flossing really make a difference? While it is true that baby teeth will soon be replaced by adult teeth, it is still critical to keep them healthy and strong so that the adult teeth can come in where they should. A toothbrush isn’t enough to keep them clean, which is where flossing comes in.

When To Begin Flossing Training

It takes time for all shinobi to develop good dexterity and hand-eye coordination, so we recommend that you start flossing for them around age two and a half. If you make it into a daily habit, they will be ready to learn how to floss on their own by about age five. The most important thing is consistency. They will be much more likely to maintain a good flossing habit on their own if they are already used to it being a part of their day.

The Way Of The Flossing Master

Here are a few tips to help parents pass on the noble technique of flossing to children who are ready to learn, because what is second-nature to an adult may not be so easy for a child:

Explain the importance of flossing. If they understand why it matters, they will be more motivated to do it.
Emphasize that flossing is a Big Kid skill. Like learning to tie their shoes and ride a bike without training wheels, they’ll be eager to prove how grown up they are by flossing their own teeth.
Use flossers or floss picks if traditional floss is too tricky.
If you’re sticking with traditional floss, show them how to pull out the right amount (a foot and a half) and loosely wrap it around their middle fingers, leaving just an inch or two to slide between the teeth.
Show them how to effectively clean by using a back-and-forth motion without snapping their gums. Curve the floss around each tooth in a C-shape to make it more gentle.
Teach them how to move down the strand so they use clean floss on each tooth. We want to get rid of the plaque, not move it around!

Seek Wisdom From Your Dentist

Teaching your child good dental hygiene habits is as much about giving them the right perspective as it is about the proper technique. Ideally, they’ll see tasks like brushing and flossing as quick and easy ways to keep their teeth feeling great, rather than unpleasant chores. If you need help or advice on how to convince your young ninja that dental hygiene matters, we are always happy to provide a demonstration at our practice!

Keep up the great work training a new generation of flossing ninjas!

IT’S A NEW YEAR!

IT’S A NEW YEAR! We’re so excited for what this year will bring, particularly when we look back at everything we achieved in 2018. That’s why we’re taking this opportunity to give our wonderful patients an update on the goals our team members have made for the new year, as well as their accomplishments from the last!

How Far We Came In 2018

2018 was a year of focus and growth for our office. After the big move of 2017 to our new Pediatric and Teen dental location, both the dental office and the orthodontic office spent 2018 breathing in their new space. We’ve celebrated new milestones and fun giveaways with our patients and office family, incorporated new technologies and fun new treatment options—I’m looking at you GOLD BRACES. We’ve worked hard to make sure your dental and orthodontic experience is always TOP NOTCH. Thank you for all of your patience, your suggestions and your love for our doctors and our amazing team. You, our WONDERFUL patients, have made us all so thankful to be in this profession of serving others.

Our Roadmap For 2019

We are EXCITED to tackle this new year, 2019, with goals for health, mindfulness, presence, but importantly reflection on where we have come from and where we are going. Thinking back to our start over TEN years ago, it is the love our patients that has propelled us forward. Our office goal for 2019 is to continue to grow and surpass your expectations with a single-minded obsession. You have many choices for dental care and we are honored that you have chosen our little office!

Side note — Dr. Katie is also super excited about her new Bullet Journal resolution… #bulletjournal… mind blown. Shout out to Olivia Olson for the suggestion! Bring on that #organizedlife!!!

Check out this video for tips on keeping your resolutions:

What Are Your Goals This Year?

Now that we’ve told you about our goals for the new year, we want to hear about yours! Share your New Year’s resolutions in the comments below or on Facebook, and we look forward to seeing you this year!

Let’s all support each other in making our resolutions a reality!

Halloween, Candy, and YOUR BRACES

Halloween, Candy and YOUR BRACES

WE ALL LOVE EATING our favorite candy from time to time, especially around Halloween. But those treats can get tricky for orthodontic patients, because many of the standard goodies are harmful to braces. So how can you safely enjoy your spooky night of fun and sweets? Just follow our guidelines of what to aim for and what to avoid in the trick-or-treat bowls around your neighborhood.

Braces-Friendly Halloween Treats

The good news is that chocolate is safe! Any type of soft chocolate, from a bar to a peanut butter cup, is perfectly fine to eat with braces. But soft is the keyword there. Hard or large pieces of chocolate could still pose a danger to orthodontic equipment, and you should avoid chocolate with hard pieces of toffee embedded in it.

Cookies and brownies are another safe option for braces-wearers, so make sure you pay a visit to the house that always hands out baked goods this year! Again, softness is key. If someone gives you a hard cookie, give it a good long soak in cold milk before biting into it.

While whole caramel apples are firmly on the banned list, you can take that caramel apple home and chop it into slices. After that, it won’t pose a threat to your braces. Even better, apples are much healthier for your teeth than all that candy, so you can enjoy something both delicious and good for you!

Hard candies are okay, but there’s a catch: no chewing allowed. If you have the patience to be able to suck on it until it dissolves, a hard candy is safe. However, just because they’re safe for braces doesn’t make them great for your teeth, so we still recommend sticking to the other options.

Treats To Trade To Your No-Braces Friends

No matter how much you love them, there are some treats and candies that are definitely off-limits if you have braces. Anything hard, gummy, chewy, or sticky can put brackets and wires at risk. That means no taffy, gummies, caramels, toffee, popcorn, jelly beans, Tootsie Rolls, or Starbursts, and absolutely no gum. Any of these can pop or pull a bracket right off a tooth. It’s also important to avoid candies like M&Ms or Skittles, because their small size makes it easy for them to get into the wrong place and pop a bracket loose.

Check out this video for a reminder about banned foods and why to avoid them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do1VCqfiLgo

If you do end up with a bag full of banned treats, just trade those away to a friend or sibling without braces until your Halloween haul is all orthodontist-approved!

Don’t Forget To Clean Your Teeth!

The most important thing to remember after your night of fun and tasty treats is to take care of your teeth and your braces, because many of the treats that are safe to eat can still lead to tooth decay without proper attention to dental hygiene. So make sure to brush and floss away all traces of that sugary deliciousness. We’ll be checking the next time we see you that you’ve been keeping up with your braces cleaning routine!

Keep making wise choices to keep your braces safe!

What To Do In A Dental Emergency

WHEN WE THINK OF an emergency, we probably don’t imagine it could have something to do with our teeth. However, any chip, crack, or toothache should be treated as a priority, because even if they seem like minor issues, they can lead to much worse (and more expensive) problems down the line.

Know Where To Go

Before an emergency happens, there are steps you can take to prepare yourself and your family. The first is to find a dental practice that is right for you. This way, you’ll know where to turn when something goes wrong unexpectedly, and you won’t have to waste precious time looking up dental practices. You want a dentist who is within easy driving distance, has a good reputation, is within your price range, and who makes you and your family feel comfortable.

Common Dental Emergencies

In addition to knowing where to turn when an emergency happens, you can also prepare for dental emergencies by becoming educated on what you can do on the way to the dentist. Here are the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry’s recommendations for three common dental emergencies:

A Knocked Out Baby Tooth

If a baby tooth is knocked out, contact your dentist immediately. Most likely, even if the tooth was not loose, they will not replant it because it could compromise the developing permanent tooth underneath.

Fracture Of A Tooth

If a tooth is cracked, chipped, or broken, contact your dentist right away because this will need treatment as soon as possible. Rinse out your mouth with water and find any broken fragments of tooth, then place them in cold milk to preserve them and bring them with you to the dentist. Do not ignore a crack or chip! If the dental pulp is exposed, it is in danger of infection unless treated quickly!

Watch this video to learn about bonding, one way a dentist may repair a chipped tooth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyPxbrnkLMk

A Knocked Out Permanent Tooth

If a permanent tooth is knocked out, head straight to the dentist. In most cases, a knocked out tooth can be saved if the dentist sees you within an hour of the accident. Before you get there, you can help preserve the tooth by replacing it in the socket and holding it in place with clean gauze or a washcloth. If it won’t go back in, store it in cold milk.

A few things you should NOT do if a permanent tooth gets knocked out are letting it dry out, handling it by the root, scrubbing it clean, or using soap, alcohol, or peroxide on it. Doing any of these things will damage the root of the tooth, reducing the chances the dentist will be able to successfully replant it.

We are Ready To Help!

Even if your tooth shows no external damage, a toothache is a sign that something could be wrong on the inside, and that should be seen by a dentist as soon as possible. Now, hopefully you will never have to put any of this preparation to the test, but if you do, you now know where to go! If you have any questions about what else you can do to prepare for a dental emergency, don’t hesitate to ask us.

Your dental health is our top priority!

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please feel free to contact us with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

4 Animals With Unusual Teeth

ANIMALS MIGHT NOT BE as concerned with maintaining their oral health and hygiene as we are, but that doesn’t stop some of them from having very interesting teeth! Like our teeth are adapted to an omnivorous diet, animal teeth are adapted to the foods they eat. In some cases, the results can get pretty strange. Today, we’re going to focus on four of the weirdest sets of chompers we could find.

The Tusks Of The Babirusa

Babirusas are pigs native to Indonesia, but these pigs aren’t quite like the farm animals we’re used to. No, these pigs have a serious dental problem in the form of their multiple pairs of very large tusks. These tusks are actually the babirusas’ canine teeth, which continue to grow through their lives. The males’ upper canines grow right through their upper lips and keep growing, sometimes so much that they end up curving all the way back around towards their skulls! Yikes!

The Icepick Teeth Of The Payara

The payara is a carnivorous fish from the Amazon Basin whose lower fangs have earned it nicknames like “vampire tetra” and “saber-tooth barracuda.” These long, thin fangs range from four to seven inches long, and the payara uses them to impale its prey, including piranhas! Payara can grow to up to four feet long and 80 pounds!

The Serrated Bill Of The Goosander

At first, you might think a goosander looks like any other duck, but if you catch one yawning or chomping down on food, you’ll notice its rows of tiny, razor-sharp teeth! These European birds are members of the Merganser genus, also called sawbills — so named because of the 150 teeth lining their bills, which are designed to saw through whatever they eat, such as small mammals and sometimes even other birds!

The Red Fangs Of The Triggerfish

Triggerfish are a group of about forty different species of brightly colored fish marked by the lines and spots in their scales, but don’t let their beautiful scales distract you from their teeth! Triggerfish have very powerful jaws and teeth that they use to crush the shells of crustaceans. The redtoothed triggerfish is perhaps the weirdest species of the group, with bright red fangs protruding from its mouth!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlmWckxsynQ

Taking Care Of Your Teeth

Do you know of any other weird teeth out their in the wild? We’d love to hear about them! In the meantime, make sure you continue taking great care of your own pearly whites by brushing and flossing regularly. We look forward to seeing you at your next appointment!

We love helping our patients take care of their teeth!

4 Questions about Invisalign Answered

THE TIME WHEN getting braces meant spending years with a mouth full of metal that hooked to bulky headgear is long past. These days, traditional wire braces are more streamlined and discreet, but the option that has become increasingly popular for orthodontic treatment is the invisible aligner. How can you know if this option is right for you or your teen? Here are a few questions you can ask to find out.

1. What Orthodontic Problems Do Invisible Aligners Correct?
Invisible aligners are great for correcting issues with dental crowding or spacing. However, because they are removable and not anchored to any of your teeth, they can’t do much for problems with the bite or with jaw alignment. For those, Dr. Katie may recommend additional appliances or elastics attached to the aligners to overcome this issue. With a little creative ingenuity and a dedicated patient, Dr. Katie is able to treat a wide variety of cases with aligners.

2. How Long Will Invisible Aligner Treatment Take?
Treatment time with invisible aligners tends to be about the same as with traditional braces. How long it takes depends much more on what kind of issue is being corrected than what type of orthodontic treatment you’re using. Some problems simply take more time to correct, but no matter what, it’s worth it in the end!

3. Do Invisible Aligners Work For Teens?
Invisible aligners are a great option for teens and adults seeking to straighten their smiles. Invisible aligners are barely noticeable and can be removed for GREAT oral hygiene care.

See a Smile Success Story Here!

4. What Should I Expect With My Treatment?
Invisible aligners work in stages. You’ll receive a series of custom designed aligners that each move your teeth closer towards the final goal. Similar to how traditional braces patients come in on a regular basis to have their progress assessed and their braces adjusted, invisible aligner patients will receive their next set of aligner trays each time until they’re done. For either type of treatment, it’s important not to miss those appointments!

Still Have Questions? Just Ask Us!
Anyone who is seriously considering getting orthodontic treatment — invisible aligners or traditional wire braces — surely has more than these four questions to ask, but that’s what we’re here for! Simply schedule an initial consultation appointment with us and together we’ll be able to find out which type of treatment is perfect for you!

We can’t wait to help you get the smile of your dreams!

Karate Kick Those Sugar Bugs!

BRUSHING OUR TEETH is something we can get so used to doing that we don’t really think about it, but are we doing it the right way? It can be easy to get into some bad tooth-brushing habits, and the result can be that your teeth aren’t getting cleaned properly and you could be doing damage to your gums. So let’s take a moment to go over good brushing technique.

What To Avoid When Brushing Your Teeth
A few of the things we should avoid when we brush our teeth are brushing too hard, only brushing up and down or side-to-side, and always starting in the same place. Brushing too hard can damage our enamel and our gum tissue, which is why we should also avoid hard-bristled brushes.
When we only brush up and down or side-to-side, we tend to miss the spaces between teeth, which allows plaque to build up and leads to tooth decay. Because brushing our teeth is such a routine thing to do, it can be very easy to do it the same way every time, but when we always start brushing in the same place, we tend to pay unequal attention to the first teeth we brush compared to the last. Try mixing things up so that your whole mouth can get the same level of attention!

Brushing Your Teeth The Right Way
The first rule of good brushing is one you’ve likely heard all your life: brush twice a day every day for at least two minutes. Do whatever you need to do to make brushing your teeth an unskippable part of your morning and evening routines. You could even play music so you know how long to keep brushing!
However, brushing isn’t just about quantity; it’s also about quality. Make sure to LOOK with your eyes to make sure all of the food and plaque from the day has been brushed away!! For the best cleaning action, hold your toothbrush at a 45 degree angle and focus on the gum line. Use gentle circular motions to brush the outsides, insides, and chewing surfaces of every tooth. And don’t forget to brush or scrape your tongue before you’re done! Like daily flossing, tongue-scraping is another crucial step for getting rid of harmful bacteria (and it will help keep your breath fresh!).

Timing is also important. Our teeth often feel unpleasant after a meal, but as much as you want to clean them, make sure you wait at least half an hour after eating before you brush. The acids in our food and produced by oral bacteria soften our enamel right after we eat, and it takes about half an hour for our saliva to restore a neutral pH. If we brush too soon, we can actually brush away some of our enamel!

Check out these videos with tips and tricks straight from our doctors!

Your Dentist Is Your Greatest Resource
If you’d like more tips on tooth brushing techniques, just ask us! We can make sure your oral health routine is on track for keeping your teeth healthy for life. And don’t forget that an essential component of having healthy teeth is scheduling regular dental appointments!

Now set that timer and slay those sugar bugs!

Where Are My Child’s Teeth?

Isn’t it amazing the way our teeth arrive as if on cue? Nature is so smart! Our baby teeth are designed to carry us through the first twelve years when our jaws are too small to fit the large permanent teeth. This first set of teeth allow us not only to practice taking care of our teeth, but are natural space savers while our permanent teeth develop.

The first phase of tooth transition occurs typically around kindergarten/first grade when the permanent first molars come in. These teeth do not replace any baby teeth, but erupt behind the last baby tooth. You’ll notice they are much bigger than the baby teeth and maybe a bit more yellow in color.

By around 3rd grade, the permanent incisors have erupted… we lovingly call this stage the “Ugly Duckling Stage.” Often the front teeth stick straight out with all sorts of spaces and twisty turns, resulting in a gap tooth, bucktooth, mess-of-a-smile that is absolutely adorable and completely NORMAL at this age.

Orthodontists like to evaluate these kids to ensure that the permanent teeth are on the path to normal eruption. Most do not need treatment, but if we detect an eruption issue it can often be easily addressed at this age. The goal here is not to give them a “Hollywood” smile for their 4th grade pictures but rather to set the stage for proper dental development later on down the road.

The tooth fairy gets about a two year break between ages 8 and 10. At this time, the remaining teeth begin to loosen and the permanent teeth replace them. This conveniently corresponds, in most cases, with the pubertal growth spurt. We like to time orthodontic treatment with these two events so that we can straighten all of the permanent teeth while taking advantage of the growth spurt.

Because dental development is different for every child, we like to begin evaluating your child at age 7. For most children, this is a time for us to monitor the development of the permanent teeth and anticipate any major problems.

If you have any concerns about the growth or the eruption of your child’s teeth, please ask us at your child’s next recall visit.

Thumbsucking: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Few habits can be traced back to pre-birth activity, but thumb sucking is one of them. Many babies are caught sucking their thumb on their first ultrasound reflecting a child’s natural inclination to self-soothe. Most kids grow out of this habit by the age of five, but for others it can be very challenging to stop.

Thumbsucking is a benign habit until about the age of six when the permanent incisors break through. When these teeth come in, they continue to do so until they hit something. If that something is teeth— perfect! But if that something is a thumb, the front teeth will stop erupting prematurely resulting in an open bite. Continued thumb sucking will push the front teeth forward on the top causing the top front teeth to stick out with spaces between them. The suction created by the habit can also cause the palate to narrow and create a crossbite.

The number one rule for thumb sucking cessation is to get your child on board with WANTING to stop. If a child does not want to stop sucking their thumb, there is no appliance or technique in the world that can force them to stop. Begin talking about stopping the habit early, at about four years of age, so that they begin to associate removing their thumb habit as part of growing up and becoming a big kid.

Have your child be an active participant in trying to break the habit. Kids respond wonderfully to positive reinforcement. Display a large monthly calendar in a prominent area in your house. For every night that your child does not suck their thumb put a sticker on that day. Once they have 21 days in a row, plan a big celebration for them. Whether it’s going to see a movie, a concert, or maybe a treat at their favorite restaurant, talk about this event often and reinforce their efforts. This is a great teaching opportunity to show them that they can achieve a goal if they work at it.

Night time is the biggest trigger for thumb sucking. If a child uses a “lovie” or blanket to go to sleep, it may be reinforcing the habit. Try asking your child to put the “lovie” to bed in their own big kid spot to remove the trigger from the sleep environment.

There are several orthodontic appliances that can be used as reminders to help kids that need extra attention. These devices are only reminders and cannot force a child to stop sucking their thumb. Talk to your child about why they should want to stop to get them on board with the process. Involving your child, will make habit cessation much more successful and rewarding for you and your child.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call us to set up a time to chat!

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How Far We Came In 2018

Our Roadmap For 2019

Check out this video for tips on keeping your resolutions:

What Are Your Goals This Year?

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