Dental Checklist: Check Your Child’s Teeth

Dental Checklist: Check Your Child’s Teeth

A lifetime of good dental health starts at birth. In fact, regular dental care should begin by your child’s first birthday, followed by a dental check-up at least twice each consecutive year. This checklist from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry can help you know the whats, whens and hows of your child’s dental health.

Birth to 6 months old

Even though your baby has a gummy smile, you still need to think about his or her teeth. Clean your infant’s mouth by wiping the gums with a soft piece of gauze after every feeding and at every bedtime. As your baby starts to get on a more regular schedule, implement better feeding habits (i.e., avoid nursing or bottle-feeding throughout the night, and make sure to wipe your baby’s gums after the last feeding of the evening).

6 months old to 2 years old

During this period, your baby will begin teething. Now is a good time to start a dental health routine, brushing after meals and at bedtime with a soft-bristled toothbrush and bringing your child to see us when the first teeth erupt. Because children begin toddling around during the same time these first teeth appear, you also need to be on the lookout for chipped or damaged teeth after your toddler stumbles and falls.

2 years old to 5 and 6 years old

Most children will have their complete first set of teeth by the age of 3 and will begin to lose them to make way for the permanent adult teeth between 5 or 6 years old. Baby (or “deciduous”) teeth play an important role in ensuring future dental health: They hold space for future permanent teeth. Infected baby teeth can cause problems long into adulthood. To keep your child’s smile healthy, see us every six months or as directed, and instill good dental habits in your child. 

Around the age of 12, your child will have his or her full adult smile (aside from wisdom teeth, which come in later). Encourage healthy eating and regular brushing, and see us at KiDDS Dental regularly, so that we—and your child—can keep those teeth pearly white for years to come.

Call us to schedule an appointment today! (509)-891-7070.

Dental Care for Children with Cerebral Palsy

Dental Care for Children with Cerebral Palsy

Parents of children with cerebral palsy already know the unique demands and requirements that must be met just to cope with everyday life. While other life challenges may seem to be of more concern, dental care for children with cerebral palsy is as much a priority as it is for other youngsters.

It is important that parents of a child with cerebral palsy partner with us at KiDDS Dental to create an individualized treatment plan that meets the child’s needs with a minimum of undue difficulty, while still protecting his or her teeth and creating a self-care program they can use when they reach adulthood.

The first thing the parent needs to do is communicate the child’s needs in advance of their visit. Although our clinical team is trained to deal with the challenges of cerebral palsy, every case is unique. The more we know before your child sits in our dental chair, the better we can tailor our office environment to meet his or her needs, and the better equipped we will be to recommend a specialist if necessary. We have specialized equipment and protocols we can follow, from anesthetics that will make dental procedures less stressful to the use of nonverbal communication methods, such as squeezing a hand in place of speech to indicate discomfort.

Children with cerebral palsy often have elevated risks of certain dental disorders, including

• bruxism (tooth grinding)
• malocclusion (displacement of the teeth)
• difficulty swallowing
• gum disease

It’s important to determine whether your child exhibits any of these conditions. If he or she does, Dr. Jared would love to create a plan to best deal with it at home.

Protecting the dental health of your child with cerebral palsy is a team effort. Make sure to keep us involved.

Give us a call at (509)-891-7070 to schedule an appointment today!

Father's Day? Nope! Father's Week!

Father's DAY? No way!

We'll be celebrating dads ALL WEEK on Facebook
and one lucky winner will get a Kindle Fire HD 8 just for playing along.

Look for a new way to enter to win each day

June 11th through June 17th.

Contest Rules:

By entering this promotion, participant agrees to a complete release of Facebook from any or all liability in connection with this contest. It is also acknowledgment that the contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. No purchase is necessary to enter or win.

How to enter: Entries consist of following the directions (comment, "like," etc.) given in the official promotion posts on the KiDDS Dental Facebook page between June 11, 2017 at 9:00 AM and June 17, 2017 at 5:00 PM. One entry per promotion post per Facebook user is allowed. Multiple entries per promotion post will be disqualified.

Drawing: One random prize drawing will be held on or about June 20, 2017.  The winner will receive a Kindle Fire HD 8. This prize is valued at $89. Cash cannot be awarded in lieu of prize. Prize is not transferable. The winner is solely responsible for reporting and paying applicable state and federal taxes. If a winner is disqualified or if a prize is unclaimed, KiDDS Dental reserves the right to conduct another drawing to determine an alternate winner or to not award that winner's prize, at its sole discretion.

Odds: Actual odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries.

Eligibility: Legal residents of the United States are eligible to participate and win. Any person under the age of 18 must have a parent's or legal guardian's permission to participate and/or win.  Must be 13 years or older to enter. Employees of KiDDS Dental and their immediate families (spouse, parents, siblings, children, in-laws) are not eligible to enter. Winner must be available to pick up prize in person at KiDDS Dental in Liberty Lake, WA by June 29, 2017.

Decisions: By entering into the promotion, entrants and their parents or guardians (if the entrant is under the age of 18) agree to abide by and be bound by these official rules, and to accept the decision of KiDDS Dental as final.  Entrants and their parents or guardians (if entrant is under the age of 18) also agree to hold KiDDS Dental harmless from any liability arising from participation in this promotion. KiDDS Dental is not responsible for entries not received because of technical difficulties. KiDDS Dental reserves the right to disqualify any participant to a person who fails to follow these official rules or uses fraudulent means in participating. If for any reason this promotion is not able to be conducted as planned, KiDDS Dental reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend this promotion and randomly draw from the entries received up to the cancellation/suspension date.

Liability Release: By participating, each participant and winner waives any and all claims against KiDDS Dental their employees and agents for any personal loss of any kind which may occur from the participation in the promotion.

Publicity: Each winner (and such winner's parent or guardian if any winner is under the age of 18) agrees to permit KiDDS Dental to use his/her name and likeness in promotional and other KiDDS Dental materials, without additional compensation or permission, except where prohibited by law.

This promotion is void where prohibited.

By entering the contest, entrants grant KiDDS Dental license to display, distribute, reproduce contest entries. Winners must sign a media release and will be responsible for paying any taxes they may owe on a prize.