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Childhood Oral Hygiene and The Role Parents Play

The foundation for healthy teeth is established during your child’s first years of life. Making healthy food choices, brushing well and visiting the dentist for regular checkups are all practices that will help prevent issues with your little one’s tiny teeth now, and ensure the development of strong and healthy permanent teeth.

As parents, you serve as role models for this behavior—children learn best through imitation. However,  involvement in your child’s oral health is also key during the early years, when dexterity is still developing.

Here are some tips for parents to help keep your child’s oral health on the right track from the time they are born to the time they are ready for middle school:

• Before your infant’s first teeth erupt, gentle rubbing, massaging and dry brushing with a finger brush can be helpful for soothing sore gums. This is also a great way to gradually introduce your child to an oral hygiene routine for when their baby teeth emerge. 

• As soon as the first teeth show up, parents should begin brushing them. Use a pea-sized amount of children’s non-fluoridated toothpaste. A finger toothbrush can make the process easier, ask if your pediatric dentist provides them .

• Brush your child’s teeth yourself twice per day (if you can!) until about age 2. At this point you can switch to a small amount of regular toothpaste. When they start wanting to brush themselves, encourage them but re-brush the hard to clean areas. 

• At age 6, children are usually able to brush their teeth well on their own. In this phase, parents should continue supervising regular brushing efforts, and should do so up until around age 12 when the second molars come in.

To learn more about how to best keep your little one’s oral health on track give us a call or click below to schedule an appointment:

 Contact us today!

Humble Kids Dentistry is a colorful, fun place to be, and is built specifically with children in mind. The open bay treatment areas, child friendly themes and parent-friendly atmosphere is designed to enhance your family’s dental visit. Dr. Arya Davoody and our dental team are highly trained and experienced in caring for children. We strive to deliver fun, caring dental experiences to our patients and take pride in caring for our community by providing high quality, conveniently accessible, compassionate oral health care.

Back to school time is upon us! Is your child feverishly practicing their trombone or flute? (Or pretending they don’t know it’s collecting dust under the bed?) Or are they gearing up for football, baseball and soccer season?

We know that back to school is hectic but making time to visit your pediatric dentist now can prevent some big headaches once the school year is in full swing. Below are our quick tips for parents of rising sports stars and mini-musicians:

For Athletes: Mouth guards! Contact sport or not, these little devices are super important. While you can get these over the counter at sporting goods stores, there are a few reasons to visit your pediatric dentist instead:

Custom fit: We can ensure that the mouth guard your child or teen is wearing is custom to them, fits securely and is keeping their teeth safe. Additionally, if your child is in the middle of orthodontic treatment, you’re going to want to make sure that mouth guard is up to date with their treatment – no backward movement on that straightened smile!

Comfort: Those over the counter mouth guards are big! They can be cumbersome… and don’t get us started talking about tongue comfort! A custom fitted mouth guard from our office will give your kid’s tongue plenty of space and never make them feel like they’re choking on foam or rubber.

Options: There are several different options of mouth guards out there. Depending on what sport and your child’s specific needs, our team can help you choose the right one.

For Musicians: Budding violinists will have less of an issue here but wind and brass players need to take their dental health needs into account ahead of back-to-school.

Tell us! It’s important to tell us if your child plays an instrument with his or her mouth. We can help make sure their orthodontic appliance – whether Invisalign, traditional or lingual braces – doesn’t get in the way.

Bring your mouthpiece. Help us help you! Have your child bring their instrument (for the small ones) or just the mouthpiece (no need to bring your whole tuba to the office unless you want to perform… which we’d love, by the way!) and we can see exactly what needs to be accommodated at their braces fitting.

Proper playing technique. Make sure your child speaks to their music teacher or instructor about proper technique once their orthodontic treatment has started. Their teacher can guide them to make sure the music and tooth movement aren’t interfering with one other.

By taking a few small precautions and scheduling a visit to Humble Kids Dentistry you can avoid the dreaded call from school requesting you to drop everything and pick up your kiddo because of an orthodontic or dental emergency. Let us help set your mind at ease and keep your child’s teeth safe this back to school season.

PS: Accidents can still happen, so be sure to have us on speed dial (281) 688-1617 let us know exactly what’s going on when you call so that we can give you the best advice and fit your kiddo in quickly! For a list of common pediatric dental emergencies and what to do, click here.

And if all else fails, you can do this!

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Humble Kids Dentistry is a colorful, fun place to be, and is built specifically with children in mind. The open bay treatment areas, child-friendly themes and the parent-friendly atmosphere is designed to enhance your family’s dental visit. Our dental team is highly trained and experienced in caring for children. We strive to deliver fun, caring dental experiences to our patients and take pride in caring for our community by providing high quality, conveniently accessible, compassionate oral health care.
In partnership with Optimal Orthodontics of Humble, we combine new technology with a commitment to quality and patient comfort. Our goal is to provide the highest quality orthodontic treatment for all our patients, with a personal touch in a supportive and caring environment. We can’t wait to meet you!

The same impressive Invisalign technology adapted for children who have mixed adult and juvenile teeth, aged 6 to 10-years-old.

At Humble Kids Dentistry we highly recommend having your child seen by an experienced orthodontist around their 7th birthday. Why so soon? Early orthodontic treatment isn’t for everyone but in specific cases, a child comes to us with moderate to severe orthodontic issues that just can’t wait for later treatment. This is referred to as Phase 1 treatment or early interceptive treatment and is performed before all of a child’s permanent teeth have erupted, a situation called early mixed dentition (a mixture of primary/baby and permanent teeth.)

As a parent, we know it’s hard to imagine your little one in braces at such an early age. That’s why we’re excited to tell you that Invisalign is now an option for our younger patients in need of Phase 1 treatment!

Children ages 6-10 can now be treated by Invisalign First for issues typically solved via arch expanders, or partial metal braces. The new Invisalign First clear aligners are designed specifically to address a broad range of younger patients’ problems. Early treatment can prevent more severe problems or alignment issues that could get worse later on while providing a foundation for permanent teeth to begin to erupt.

Invisalign First uses the same comfortable clear aligner and scanning technology as adult and teen Invisalign treatment. At the same time, Invisalign First clear aligners expand on key innovations and have been specifically designed for growing patients with new and unique features and functionality. The Invisalign First aligners were created exclusively for younger patients with shorter tooth crowns and what the company calls its Eruption Compensation feature that makes it possible to treat erupting or changing dentition. In other words, Invisalign First can accommodate baby teeth falling out and permanent tooth growing in all while adjusting your child’s teeth according to the plan Dr. Amir Davoody or Dr. Rena Mehr has laid out.

A quick note on that: When it comes to clear aligners, it’s not just the aligner doing the work, seeing a qualified, certified orthodontist for an in-person evaluation and supervision of your child’s treatment is key. There is more to creating a healthy, beautiful smile than moving the visible portions of your teeth. If not done correctly any dental work can lead to potentially irreversible and expensive damage such as tooth and gum loss, changed bites, and other issues. If you’re considering any form of smile straightening we urge you to see a doctor in person.

Back to Invisalign First! The technology has the same benefits Invisalign has always offered: no food restrictions, no change in brushing or cleaning, and less chance of emergency visits. We know your child’s health is precious – this technology was extensively tested prior to release and Dr. Davoody & Dr. Mehr have both found it to be a great tool for early orthodontic treatment.

If your child is approaching their seventh birthday or recently passed that fun milestone, click below for a complimentary consultation at Humble Kids Dentistry and ask us about Invisalign First!

Contact us today!

Humble Kids Dentistry is a colorful, fun place to be, and is built specifically with children in mind. The open bay treatment areas, child-friendly themes and the parent-friendly atmosphere is designed to enhance your family’s dental visit. Our dental team is highly trained and experienced in caring for children. We strive to deliver fun, caring dental experiences to our patients and take pride in caring for our community by providing high quality, conveniently accessible, compassionate oral health care.

In partnership with Optimal Orthodontics of Humble, we combine new technology with a commitment to quality and patient comfort. Our goal is to provide the highest quality orthodontic treatment for all our patients, with a personal touch in a supportive and caring environment. We can’t wait to meet you!