Children’s Dentistry

In Roswell and Alpharetta, GA

Children’s Dentistry: Expert Dental Care For Our Youngest Patients

Children are special patients who require special dental care. When you start bringing your child to see the dentist, they need personalized attention so they feel calm and comfortable and learn how to properly care for their smile as they age. That’s why, at Northbridge Dental Care, we offer children’s dentistry services, comfortably improving and maintaining children’s oral health into their young adult years. 

What Is Children’s Dentistry?

Children’s dentistry, also known as pediatric dentistry, means our Georgia dentists focus on meeting the unique oral health needs of the youngest dental patients. Ranging from the time their first tooth sprouts (around one year old) into their teens, we help your child feel comfortable and safe at our offices. Just like with adult patients, we’ll work to improve, protect, and maintain your child’s oral health, but we’ll also give them the extra attention and compassionate reassurance younger patients often need. 

Once we’ve established a good relationship with your child, our dentists will help them maintain their oral health as their smiles develop and teach them how to care for their teeth, ensuring they practice good oral hygiene habits well into their adult years. 

Why Children’s Dentistry Matters

Comfort – As younger individuals who often have less experience with strangers and dentistry in general, children are often more prone to dental fear and anxiety. At Northbridge Dental, we take the steps to build a relationship with your child. We’ll introduce ourselves, get to know them, and take every step necessary to ensure they feel as comfortable as possible every time they walk through our doors.

Specialized Attention For Developing Smiles – Don’t make the mistake of thinking that baby teeth don’t matter. Keeping your child’s ‘temporary’ teeth healthy will help ensure their adult teeth come in strong and healthy. Your child’s smile will go through many changes before it’s fully developed. Our children’s dentists pay close attention to these changes and offer the treatment a developing smile needs. 

 Education –  Not only will we educate your child on how to care for their smile, but we’ll also teach you how to help them practice proper oral hygiene as well. When you’re teaching your kids oral hygiene, one method our dentists usually recommend is the tell-show-do-method.

  • Tell: In simple terms, describe brushing and flossing to your child, as well as how long and how often they need to do it. Explain to your child how this will help keep their teeth healthy and why healthy teeth are important. Let them ask questions and keep the conversation positive.
  • Show: Show your child how to brush and floss. Feel free to make a game out of it. You might try describing brushing and flossing as a game to chase germs and “sugar bugs” out of their mouth.
  • Do: Help your child complete their oral hygiene routine themselves and be sure to reward them afterward. Most kids will need help taking care of their teeth until they’re around five to eight years old. Stick to a regular routine to encourage their understanding that dental hygiene is essential.   

Cavities and Cavity Prevention – Cavities, or tooth decay, are one of the most common chronic illnesses faced by children. Fortunately, our children’s dentists can help prevent cavities from occurring in your child’s smile by offering fluoride treatments and dental sealants.

Fluoride is a natural mineral that helps keep enamel strong by re-mineralizing teeth. Fluoride treatments involve a simple rinse that helps strengthen your child’s enamel and protects their teeth from tooth decay. Fluoride can last up to 12 months depending on how well your child takes care of their teeth. 

Dental sealants are plastic-like barriers that are painted onto your children’s back molars where cavities are most likely to occur. These barriers stop plaque and food particles from building up in the special grooves in these teeth and attacking the enamel. In a study conducted for the Centers for Disease Control, dental sealants helped prevent around 80 percent of cavities in young children for up to two years after placement. Dental sealants are affordable, quick, and totally painless.     

How You Can Help Prepare Your Child For Their First Visit

Before their first exam, we encourage you to help your child get familiar with our office by bringing them by a few times before their appointment. Let them get used to our office, we’ll happily introduce ourselves before their appointment date when we’re available. The familiarity will help eliminate some of their dental anxiety before they visit Northbridge Dental for their first dental exam. 

You can also help your child by explaining to them what will happen during their visit. While our children’s dentists will explain the process to your child when they arrive, hearing from a parent or guardian will help better put your child at ease. Explain in friendly, positive terms how the dentists at Northbridge Dental are there to help and how it’s good for your child to see the dentist. 

Watch educational children’s videos on dentistry with your child and be open to answering questions. You can always call our Alpharetta office at (678) 319-0210 or our Roswell office at (678) 352-9890 and ask us if your child has a question you don’t have an answer to. 

Frequently Asked Questions

When should my child start seeing a children’s dentist?

The children’s dentists at Northbridge Dental recommend your child start seeing us as soon as their first tooth erupts, usually around one year old. After that, they should continue to visit at least once every six months for regular cleanings and exams. Depending on their oral health, our children’s dentists may recommend that your child see us more frequently.    

How do I prevent my child from getting cavities?

  • Limit the frequency of meals and snacks
  • Encourage brushing, flossing, and rinsing
  • Watch what your child drinks
  • Avoid giving your child sticky foods
  • Make treats part of meals
  • Choose nutritious snacks

How do I clean my infant’s teeth and gums?

  • Use a specially made brush with very soft bristles and a small head that has been moistened with water
  • Use a sliver of fluoride toothpaste no bigger than a rice grain
  • Brush gently in slow circles
  • Brush your infant’s teeth once a day, preferably before bedtime 
  • Clean your infant’s gums with a terry cloth finger cot (finger guard) or a soft, clean, moist gauze wrapped around your index finger
  • Gently rub the cloth or gauze along your infant’s gums  

When will my child develop all of their teeth?

At around two and a half years old your child should have all twenty teeth. Between the ages of five and six, the first permanent teeth will begin to erupt. Some permanent teeth replace baby teeth and some don’t. Don’t worry if some teeth are a few months early or late as all children are different.

Care For Your Child’s Oral Health With Children’s Dentistry

Children have unique emotional and dental needs that must be met to help ensure their teeth grow strong and healthy as they age. When your young one needs compassionate children’s dentistry services, bring them to Northbridge Dental for a visit with the best children’s dentists in Georgia. Our skilled dentists provide children’s dentistry to young patients from Alpharetta and Roswell, as well as surrounding areas such as Crabapple, Suwanee, and John’s Creek, GA.    

You can schedule an appointment for your child by dialing our Alpharetta office at (678) 319-0210 or our Roswell office at (678) 352-9890. You can also fill out our contact form and one of our friendly team members will get back to you shortly.