Welcome to Pediatric Dentistry in Ramsey, MN
At River’s Bend Kids Dentistry, we create a comfortable environment for kids to address the unique dental needs.
How Old Should Your Child Be When You Schedule Their First Checkup?
At River’s Bend Family Dental, we understand that visiting the pediatric dentist can be a daunting experience for your child. That’s why we have a welcoming environment to meet the dental needs of your child.
The AAPD recommends that your child’s first dental visit to the kid’s dentist should happen within six months of the appearance of their first tooth. You can also get your child’s first dental visit by their first birthday.
Early checkups are essential for detecting potential dental issues. It also establishes a strong foundation for oral health and long-term habit-building.
River’s Bend Family Dental offers a variety of dental treatments for children, providing top-notch care and attention to keep their smiles healthy and bright.
The Importance of Dentistry for Children
Pediatric dentistry is more than just caring for a child’s teeth. It’s about ensuring that your child develops good oral hygiene habits forever. Research shows that children who receive regular dental care are more likely to have healthier teeth later in adulthood.
Early visits to your kid’s dentist can help prevent cavities and identify developmental issues. Additionally, introducing your child to the dentist at a young age helps them overcome fears.
By starting early, we can monitor your child’s dental development and provide the necessary preventative care. This will make future visits stress-free and acclimate your child to dental treatment. We also offer guidance on proper brushing techniques to prevent cavities and other common dental problems.
Types of Kid's Dental Services We Offer
At River’s Bend Family Dental, we provide a wide range of services to address all your child’s dental needs. Our dentist for kids is an expert at providing all sorts of pediatric dental care:
- Preventative Dental Care: Regular cleanings, fluoride treatments, and sealants are provided to develop a healthy dentition.
- Restorative Treatments: Fillings, crowns, and space maintainers are different types of restorative treatments for baby teeth.
- Tooth Extractions: This is done in case your child’s tooth cannot be treated.
- Orthodontic Evaluations: Early assessment for braces and other orthodontic treatments helps prevent future misalignment issues.
- Emergency Care: We provide prompt treatment for dental injuries or pain.
- Education: Our kid’s dentist can teach proper brushing and flossing techniques to promote healthy habits in your child
What Pediatric Dentistry Services Do We Offer?
We specialize in preventative and restorative pediatric dental care. Our services include thorough cleanings, cavity prevention, orthodontic assessments, and emergency dental care.
We also educate parents and children on proper oral hygiene practices. Our approach is gentle, patient-centered, and designed to make each visit enjoyable for your child.
Our professionals in pediatric dentistry will thoroughly diagnose your child and take X-rays if needed before determining the type of treatment. We use techniques like the tell-show-do method to give your child the best dental experience.
Why Should You Visit River’s Bend Family Dental for Children’s Dentistry?
At River’s Bend Family Dental, we combine expertise with a child-friendly approach to give your child a joyful experience. Our pediatric dentistry team is specially trained to handle children’s dental needs.
We make sure that each visit is both educational and stress-free. Your child’s comfort is our top priority.
Contact us today or schedule a consultation!
Pediatric Dentistry FAQs
You should start brushing your child’s teeth right when the first tooth appears in the oral cavity. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush and a pea-size fluoride toothpaste twice a day.
You can make dental visits less stressful by opting for early morning appointments. Maintain a positive attitude and explain what to expect in simple terms. Bringing a favorite toy or book can also help.
Yes, dental X-rays are safe for children when proper precautions are taken. At River’s Bend Family Dental, we use low-dose X-rays and protective lead aprons to minimize exposure. X-rays are crucial for detecting issues that are not visible during a regular dental exam.
We recommend your child make their first dental visit around one years old. This might seem early, but it allows the patient to get comfortable with the dentist and sets up your child for a healthy start.
At the first visit we check how the teeth and jaws are developing, evaluate for any oral restrictions that could affect development, and look for early signs of decay. At this appointment we also discuss how to set up your child’s teeth for success regarding brushing, feeding habits, and other habits like pacifiers or thumb sucking. We also set up your child with future successful visits by helping them become comfortable with the office.
Speak about the dentist in a casual tone. Frame it in a positive light to try and normalize the dentist. The goal is to make the dentist a comfortable and fun place to visit. Avoid language like pain, hurt, shot, drill, or even the need to “be brave.” Reading children’s books about dental visits can help give a child the right idea about what to expect in an age appropriate way. Make sure to schedule the visit at a time of the day when your child is most likely to be well-rested and not hungry.
Bring your child for appointments at an early age before any dental problems may arise in order to make their first visits easy and comfortable for them. Be careful with how you talk about the dentist. Avoid language like “shot”, “don’t be scared”, “hurt”, or even “it won’t hurt.” Honest, neutral, kid-friendly phrasing works better like “the dentist is going to look at your teeth and count them” or “they use a special tooth brush that tickles and makes your teeth shiny.”
A day or two before the appointment you can read books about visiting the dentist or even play “dentist” at home by counting the teeth of a favorite stuffed animal. Another great idea is to let them see you or a sibling go to their dental visit and have a great experience.
A common misconception about baby teeth is that they are meant to come out anyways, so they don’t matter. The problem is that many baby teeth are meant to stay in the mouth until the child is 12 years old and provide many essential benefits for your child during that time.
Baby teeth hold the space for permanent teeth and help guide them into the right position. They also support the child’s eating and nutrition which in turn helps support proper jaw development. Baby teeth also help with speech development as teeth play a key role in forming sounds like “th” “s” “f” “v.”
Besides the developmental benefits of keeping baby teeth healthy, treating decay in baby teeth is important to avoid infection, which can cause swelling and affect the permanent tooth that is developing.
From the time the first tooth erupts until the child is able to reliably spit out the excess toothpaste (around age 3) use a “smear” of fluoride toothpaste. A “smear” is the size of a grain of rice. Once the child can spit out the excess toothpaste, you can switch to a pea-sized amount of toothpaste.
From the ages of 0-6 parents should help children brush their teeth for them. Singing a favorite song or making a game out of it can turn brushing into an enjoyable experience for your child. One game that works well for children is to pretend one of their favorite characters (Mickey, a favorite animal, Bluey, etc) is stuck in their teeth and you are trying to get them out. Make sure to brush two minutes, twice a day. When your child is tarting to get more independent you can have them brush and then “check” for them (actually brush) after they are done.
Dental sealants are a protective coating that is put onto the grooves of molar teeth to help prevent cavities from forming. These grooves are common areas for children to get their first cavities as they are often hard to clean and foods tend to collect in them. Sealants can help keep these teeth cavity free through childhood.
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends limiting children to 2-3 healthy snacks per day at planned times with supervision. Each time a child eats or drinks carbohydrates, it takes the body 20-30 minutes to buffer out the acidity. By limiting snack frequency and duration, it gives the mouth a break from the acid attack and reduces risk of cavities.
Examples of snacks that are healthier for teeth are: Cheese, nuts, crunchy fruits and vegetables, and seeds. Still water is always the best option for beverage.
In babies, pacifier use can help with self-soothing, developing and maintaining the sucking reflex, reducing SIDS, and preventing finger or thumb sucking habit (if introduced before 4 months of age). Although thumb sucking can provide some of the same benefits, it is harder to stop the habit once the child is ready to do so. Past 12 months of age, there starts to be risks associated with continuing pacifier use. Here are the risks of continuing thumb sucking or pacifier use.
- After 12 months increased risk of ear infections
- After 18 months (or time of canine emergence) higher risk of the development of posterior crossbite, contributes to poor developing orofacial complex
- By 36 months higher risk of anterior open bite
- After 36 months the risk of malocclusion continues to increase
The American Academy of pediatrics recommends stopping pacifier or thumb-sucking habits by 18 months.
Yes. Poor habits like prolonged thumb-sucking and pacifier use can cause anterior open bites, posterior cross bites, increased overjet (“buck teeth”), class II malocclusion (the lower jaw is further back than it should be), and eventually affect speech.
Myofunctional Therapy & Airway FAQs
Occasional snoring can happen in both children and adults. Usually this occurs with a cold, allergies, nasal congestion, or certain sleeping positions. However if there is frequent, loud, or persistent snoring, that can be a sign of breathing being disrupted during sleep. Snoring can be associated with difficulty breathing through the nose, enlarged tonsils or adenoids, airway narrowing, or other factors that affect sleep and breathing.
Occasional mouth breathing is common when someone has a cold or stuffy nose, but regularly breathing through the mouth is not ideal. Persistent mouth breathing can be a sign that the nose or airway isn’t functioning as well as it should.
Breathing through your mouth dries out saliva that would normally protect your teeth, which means bad breath, more cavities, and gum irritation over time. In addition, mouth breathing has been linked to poor sleep quality, brain fog, and low energy. Nasal breathing also filters air and produces nitric oxide – both of which help the body fight off illness – mouth breathing does not get the same benefit. Mouth breathing tends to pull the jaw and face into a longer, narrower shape as it develops. This can contribute to crowded teeth, a poor bite, and even trouble sleeping well at night. If you or your child are chronic mouth breathers, it’s worth mentioning at your next visit so we can figure out what’s driving it.
If you are interested in the subject and would like to do a deep dive, check out the book Breath by James Nestor.
If you notice any of the following in yourself or your child, you may have an airway issue and should bring it up at your next dental appt:
- Grinding or clenching
- Mouth Breathing
- Snoring, restless sleep, frequent waking during the night – even if it is to use the bathroom
- Frequent Congestion/Stuffy Nose
- Bedwetting past the age it’s supposed to stop
- Tongue resting low in the mouth
- Chronic Dark Circles
- Problems focusing
- Enlarged Tonsils
Yes. There is a growing body of scientific research supporting the connection between breathing, sleep, oral function, and craniofacial development. For example, systematic reviews and meta-analyses have found that certain orthodontic interventions can improve measures of airway function and sleep-disordered breathing in appropriately selected children, and research has also evaluated the role of orofacial myofunctional therapy, tongue-tie releases, and other approaches.
In fact, the ADA recommends that dentists look for signs and risk factors such as loud snoring, breathing pauses, mouth and jaw anatomy, and other oral findings during their routine exams. They recommend that dentists work collaboratively with physicians and sleep specialists when further evaluation is needed. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry also recommends that dental professionals screen children for sleep-related breathing disorders and refer patients for medical evaluation when appropriate.
Airway dentistry is not about assuming that every patient has an airway problem or that one treatment works for everyone. We look at the individual patient, consider the available evidence, and work with medical and dental specialists when additional evaluation or treatment is needed.
A tongue tie occurs when the band of tissue under the tongue is tighter or shorter than usual, limiting the tongue’s movements.
A restricted tongue often leads to low tongue posture. When the tongue can’t rest against the roof of the mouth as it should, the jaw doesn’t widen properly during development. This sets the stage for lifelong jaw joint problems and long-term airway issues. What matters most is not just how the tissue looks, but rather how it functions.
Restricted tongue movement can also affect speech, chewing, ability to cleanse teeth, lead to muscle compensations that affect the jaw joint, and many more symptoms.
Other issues Some people have a tongue tie without any problems, so that is why a full evaluation takes function and symptoms into account as well to determine best treatment.
Myofunctional therapy is like physical therapy, but for the muscles involved in breathing, swallowing, and resting posture of your mouth. Myofunctional therapy retrains the muscles of the tongue, lips, and face when they rest or move in ways that put ongoing pressure on the jaw and teeth in the wrong direction. This pressure contributes to nighttime breathing issues, speech difficulties, and altered facial growth. Through targeted exercises, it corrects these patterns. This helps support proper jaw development.
FAQs
- When should I start brushing my child’s teeth?
You should start brushing your child’s teeth right when the first tooth appears in the oral cavity. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush and a pea-size fluoride toothpaste twice a day.
- How can I make dental visits less stressful for my child?
You can make dental visits less stressful by opting for early morning appointments. Maintain a positive attitude and explain what to expect in simple terms. Bringing a favorite toy or book can also help.
- Are dental X-rays safe for my child?
Yes, dental X-rays are safe for children when proper precautions are taken. At River’s Bend Family Dental, we use low-dose X-rays and protective lead aprons to minimize exposure. X-rays are crucial for detecting issues that are not visible during a regular dental exam.
