Hi everybody.
This is Grant and Jasmine from Method Dental.
Now you might wonder, why we're both sitting in the kids area.
Well, today we're doing a Q and A video on kids teeth, why they're so important, how
best to look after them and what really goes on when you bring your kids to visit the dentist.
The most common question we get asked - why are baby teeth so important?
I mean, if they're just going to fall out anyway, why do we have to bother caring for them?
Yep, really common question.
Right off the bat, baby teeth are important for a few reasons.
They do all of the things that adult teeth do.
They help you smile, and talk, chew your food.
All of those things.
They're placeholders. So, for the adult teeth to come through into the right spot
you've got the baby teeth to help guide them.
And kids, they fall over a lot. They take some knocks and bumps.
I think I'd much rather have a baby tooth get a little bit damaged rather than have
an adult tooth get damaged, although that does still happen to some poor, unfortunate kids.
So, if baby teeth are considered placeholders, what's the problem if they get tooth decay,
or if they needed treatment or if they needed to be removed early?
Is that a problem?
Yeah, as placeholders you want them there for a certain amount of time until the adult
tooth is going to come through.
If they're lost early, the adult teeth might come in at funny angles and it might increase
the risk that the child will need orthodontics or braces.
But, more than that, no one really wants to suffer tooth decay.
Dentistry has come a long way in making dental treatment pain-free, but still we don't wish
anyone actually gets any fillings so if we can avoid the need to ever have a filling
for their entire life, that's the goal.
But if they do get tooth decay, and it gets bad enough, then they may end up with a toothache,
or infection and they may not be able to eat properly or concentrate in school.
But, in the really severe cases they can actually end up in hospital, needing treatment.
Put under general anaesthetic and having teeth removed, it's really quite sad and can be
quite scary as well.
So it sounds really bad, and it's a lot more common than we think, isn't it?
Yeah, it is really, really common, tooth decay in kids.
The best research, it's out of the University of Adelaide and they do a big survey around
Australia, and they've found that in 2010, children aged 6 -
over 50% of children aged 6 suffered tooth decay in their baby teeth.
And it's not just about the baby teeth but you know, you're more likely to get decay
in your adult teeth if you've suffered it in your baby teeth.
In children aged 9-14, over one third of them have suffered tooth decay in their adult teeth.
So, it is much more common than we think.
To put those numbers into perspective, Asthma is the most common general health problem
and only around 11% of children actually suffer from Asthma.
So it is way more common than we think.
So it's definitely a more serious problem than we all tend to believe.
So, in light of all this information, what can we do about it?
What are the recommendations?
Like, at what age should we bring our kids to the dentist for the first time?
Yep, that's a great question, we get that one really commonly as well.
There is a little bit of a difference of opinion sometimes, but I tend to stick with the Australian
Dental Association recommendations and they're in line with the Academy of Paediatric Dentistry
in America as well.
And that's to bring your child to the dentist for the first time by the age of 1 or within
6 months of their first baby tooth coming into their mouth.
As for things we can do to prevent, say, tooth decay - there's just the general stuff, you
know, we've been through it a little bit in videos so far and we'll continue to do that.
But you know, good oral hygiene, good balanced diet with plenty of water to drink and going
to the dentist you know and trust, getting the right advice basically.
Excellent.
So you did mention 1 year old before.
Some people might think that's a bit young to go to the dentist.
What really happens when you bring a child of that age to the dentist?
Well, at 1 year old, we don't expect too much participation.
But we do have to give them some credit - they absorb more information than we think.
So, what we generally do, is we sit the parents down on the dental chair, the kid on top,
and we go for a ride and try and just make it really fun, so they can get to learn their
surroundings.
We provide general advice - you know, those tips about oral hygiene.
And, any questions that parents may have.
We get it all the time!
Just the other week, my sister-in-law asked about her ten-month-old boy, so, our nephew,
and so when she should start brushing his teeth.
He's got a few teeth now, and a soft head, small head, you know - one of the infant toothbrushes.
They're great.
So you just start brushing with that, no toothpaste or anything.
To break that Biofilm!
To break the Biofilm from a previous video.
So yeah - General advice, specific advice and just generally introducing them and setting
the tone for the future.
There's a concept in dentistry, called the "Dental Home."
And it's something that's not really gotten out into the world just yet.
It's finding a place where you can trust the dentist and the child can grow to trust the dentist.
Which is so important.
It's so important because, we see it all the time, about these people, I don't know if
you've met them, but when I introduce myself as a dentist and every other dentist does
get this, is that people will say how scared they are.
All the time.
So many people like that aren't there?
We really hate dental phobia.
It's such a terrible thing to have.
It always leads to worse oral health.
So at Method Dental we really want to try and breed a new generation of children that
don't grow up fearing the dentist.
So a first visit sounds like a lot of fun.
But a lot of people might have hesitations on paying for "just a ride on the chair."
What can you tell us about that?
Yeah, fair enough.
Everyone has a budget.
With fees for children under 3, at Method Dental, we've taken the decision that we won't
be charging any fees for this type of preventative visit where you can find your dental home.
We're just so passionate about preventing dental phobia and that's the path that we're going to take.
Excellent.
So we've spoke about toddlers, 1-2 years old.
What about say, kids 4-5-6 years old, or even 10 or 14 years old?
What should a dentist visit look like for them?
Well, we find that as kids get a bit older, they participate more.
So I find a lot of 3 year olds, we can get a thorough examination done.
Their teeth, their gums, their bite - how their teeth come together.
Once they're 4 or 5 we find quite often that they may start needing professional cleaning as well.
And, as they get older, like school-aged they can understand more information so we like
to go through how to brush properly.
We use these little pink tablets - they're called plaque-disclosing tablets.
They stain your teeth pink and then you can brush it off.
But you know, some kids learn better on models though, so we try and tailor that.
Once they're a bit older, more like teenagers, they understand a bit more about the relationship
of diet and general health and we can start to bring in diet and oral health and how that
all comes together.
So basically, what happens with your adult visits at the dentist, but just for kids.
Thorough examination, potentially cleaning, preventative treatment, fluoride and things
and the all important advice.
So we've spoken a lot about kids teeth - do you like to treat children?
Yeah - I mean, if we didn't love to see kids here we probably wouldn't be talking about it so much.
Kids are awesome.
They're learning, they're hilarious - they say the funniest things sometimes.
Not all children are easy, some of them don't cooperate the best and that can be challenging.
But with our philosophy of prevention, our awesome team and fun visits we really hope
to change a generation, so that no one grows up with a fear of the dentist.
And, everything we do here at Method Dental is guided by that goal.
Exactly.
So I hope you've found this video useful.
I've certainly learnt a lot and I hope you have too.
If you have any questions or comments obviously leave them in the section down below.
And if you're a parent, grandparent, aunty and uncle, please share this video so we can
get this message out about baby teeth and tooth decay.
Thanks for watching and we'll see you in the next Q and A!
Bye!