Your Number 1 Paediatric dentist in Table Bay

Visits to the dentist can be daunting for adults – so why would it be any easier for kids? As a leading, trained paediatric dentist in Table Bay we are mindful of this. Our dentists have an easy, natural way with kids and won’t be ruffled by their initial restlessness in the chair.

To diminish the sterile nature that is often typical of dental rooms, we have positioned ourselves as a child-friendly dentist in Table Bay by installing TV screens and other distractions in our offices. We also have appropriate kid-sized dental equipment so we don’t have to prod in your little one’s mouth and hurt them at all, if we can help it.

Establishing a 6-monthly routine dental visit is important. It can take away your child’s fear of having check-ups and, more importantly, it will help us to spot little issues early on. As a leading child-friendly dentist in Table Bay, we firmly believe that prevention and early, pain-minimised intervention is better earlier, than the increased trauma of correction early on.

We are all about holistic dental health. As a leading paediatric dentist in Table Bay, our vast client book and collective expertise have taught us that taking every fun opportunity to educate your child about tooth-enhancing dental habits will make a huge difference to their quality of life in later years.

Fissures are much easier to correct early on with fillings, for example. Left too late, little cracks can widen and allow bacterial matter in. This could lead to whole-tooth decay. Have a crown fitted or extraction done when a fissure sealing could have stopped things in their track earlier on, is much less traumatic for young patients.

But, much as we may want to be, we are not with them all the time. Remember that good oral hygiene is not a stand-alone habit. It is essential to enhanced immunity, and therefore the health of the whole body as well.

Tips for making oral hygiene fun at home for young kids

1. Involve your child in the toothbrush selection process. You don’t have to get them a fancy toothbrush, but small things like letting them pick their own colour helps them take ownership of their own tooth health. It will foster responsibility.
2. Have your child tell you they brushed their teeth last thing at night. For example, they could come to you and say, ‘Dad, I brushed my teeth – Hi5!’. Respond with an appropriately praise-worthy Hi5.
3. Read fun books or watch fun puppet or other TV shows with characters that look after their teeth.
4. If they do have a sweet during the day and you are around, make sure it goes with some kind of refrain they always say, for example: ‘Sugar in the day is OK because at night I brush it away with all my might!’.
5. Have a gold star or other system to reward good oral hygiene habits. Perhaps 5 stars at the end of the work week – one for every night of brushing without being told to do so – equals getting to stay up a bit later on Saturday night, or a stroll in the park.

The earlier you cultivate these habits, the less you’ll have to worry about the pain, expense and trauma of mouth issues such as tooth decay later on.