Children’s Dentistry

At Mosman Village Dentistry, as your child’s dentist, we pay careful attention to the fact that your child’s dental health is impacted by the development of their face and mouth.

Is your child feeling nervous about going to the dentist?

As parents, we know how important it is to develop good oral health and hygiene from a young age. A positive dental experience is the best way for your child to have optimum dental health for life. We aim to make visiting the dentist relaxed and enjoyable for every child.

Regular dentist visits are important for children because many childhood dental problems can be easily managed with early detection. Your child’s dental and overall health is impacted by the development of their face and mouth. At Mosman Village Dentistry we pay careful attention to this. We also focus on teaching your child the best way to brush and floss. Developing a good habit for looking after their teeth and gums will have a positive outcome for their dental health.

When to Start the 1st Visit

When should children have their first visit to the dentist?

The short answer is when their first teeth come through the gums or by their first birthday.

We’ll talk to you about:

The best way to care for your child’s mouth and teeth
When to start fluoride toothpaste or suggest alternatives to fluoride toothpaste
The oral habits that can affect dental health including dummy use and thumb sucking
Teething and their milestones of development
Diet advice that’s specific to your child’s oral health

Habits & Growth

Does your child have any of these habits?

Thumb sucking
Dummy use
Mouth breathing
Tongue thrusting

Proper functioning of the muscles of the face and mouth is essential to help guide the normal growth of the jaws. Improper habits like the above can distort your child’s jaw growth and facial development. The most common sign to parents is for your child to have crooked teeth.

Did you know that:

· 90% of your child’s face is developed by the age of 12.

· 75% of 12-year-olds need orthodontic treatment.

· 80% of your child’s facial development can be corrected before their adult teeth appear.

Early intervention to stop these habits can make a significant difference. From the age of five, we use Myobrace system to help correct these “harmful” oral habits. This retraining of the muscles in and around the mouth helps the jaws to grow to normal size and position.

When there is optimum growth in the face and the mouth region, the adult teeth appear in the ideal position with a minimal need for orthodontic treatment. This early intervention in orthopaedic orthodontics involves retraining the oral and facial muscles while the jawbone is still soft and pliable. When we correct “harmful” oral habits early, it can prevent the need for extensive orthodontic treatment in the future.

There are many benefits to early orthodontic screening or myofunctional therapy. To ensure your child has the best teeth possible, call us for a consultation.

Mouth Breathing in Children

Have you noticed if your child breathes through their mouth? Are their lips together or apart when they are not eating or talking?

The correct way to breathe is breathing through the nose. From a dental perspective, mouth breathing in children can lead to the development of small jaws, narrow airways and crooked teeth. To ensure your child has the best health and development possible, it’s important that they breathe through their nose.

Benefits of nose breathing include:

Filtering of dust and harmful bacteria
Humidifies air
Improves sleep and mood
Improves the ability to concentrate
Reduces the incidence of cold and ear infections

It’s easy to miss or overlook the signs of mouth breathing. Snoring, grinding teeth and heavy breathing are a few of the signs of an obstructed airway. At Mosman Village Dentistry, we investigate and coordinate appropriate treatments to improve your child’s airways with our medical colleagues who can help your child breathe through their nose.

Snoring & Sleep Apnoea in children

At Mosman Village Dentistry we are particularly attentive to breathing issues in children. Snoring and heavy breathing during sleep are signs of airway issues in children.

Snoring is one of the main symptoms of sleep apnoea.

Sleep apnoea occurs when there is a pause in breathing during sleep.

An apnoeic episode is like holding your breath underwater for more than 10 seconds. Children with sleep apnoea hold their breath many times during the night resulting in disturbed sleep.

Signs and symptoms of possible airway problems in children include:

Snoring
Unrefreshed and restless sleep
Mouth breathing
Teeth grinding
An arched back when sleeping
Wetting the bed during sleeping and/or night time toilet trips
Allergies and/or hay fever
Enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids
Daytime attention or behaviour problems

Your child needs good quality sleep for optimal growth and development. The latest research shows children with nocturnal breathing problems like snoring, sleep apnoea and mouth breathing experience similar symptoms to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Sometimes sleep apnoea can be misdiagnosed as ADHD as the symptoms of the two conditions are virtually the same. Early diagnosis and management is the key to improving treatment outcomes and inter-personal relationships.

We work with a team of Sleep Physicians and Ear Nose & Throat Surgeons. If we suspect your child has a problem, then we will liaise with your medical GP to coordinate investigation and management.

Early Orthodontic Treatment for children

7 signs your child may need early orthodontic treatment:

Crooked teeth
Cross-bite (top teeth should be in front of the bottom teeth, the reverse is a cross-bite)
Protruding front teeth (“Bugs Bunny” teeth)
Mouth breathing
Thumb sucking
Difficulty in chewing or straining of lips during swallowing
Speech impediment (such as lisps)

Early orthodontic treatment can help your child by:

Correcting “harmful” oral habits
Retraining the muscles to improve muscle function (e.g. correct swallowing and speech)
Improving jaw size and position to improve teeth alignment
Lower the risk of incidental damage to protruded front teeth

Early treatment is an effective preventive measure to achieve a well-proportioned face, jaw and mouth that are healthy and stable in adulthood.

Early treatment can promote good influences on the facial growth and the alignment of the teeth in growing children.

Myobrace

Fix crooked teeth early the natural way.

Modern research has shown that crooked teeth are not due to big teeth in small jaws or hereditary factors. Mouth breathing, thumb sucking, tongue thrusting and reverse swallowing are the real causes. These are also called incorrect, “poor” myofunctional habits. Myofunctional orthodontic techniques have been practiced around the world for over 50 years. Using Myobrace system we can apply light, intermittent forces to align the teeth whilst promoting a positive influence on the facial growth. We prescribe special exercises to train your child’s tongue, cheeks and lips to correct any “poor” oral habits. By adopting “good” oral habits, we aim to teach your child to breathe and swallow correctly. By promoting good facial growth we can create enough space for adult teeth to appear straight.

Myobrace assists in aligning your child’s teeth by encouraging optimum growth and development in the jaws and the face.

Watch this video to learn more.

Call us for a consultation and find out if Myobrace can help your child.