Children's Dentist – San Ramon, CA

Dental Checkups & Teeth Cleanings

Our top priority while tending to your little one’s smile is to ensure that they have a positive dental experience; after all, a good impression of the dentist early on means they’re more likely to seek out dental care later on during adulthood. These early positive experiences matter! That said, our team will always be as gentle and kind as possible while working on your child’s teeth, and we’ll do what we can to keep you both informed about the best at-home hygiene habits to maintain.

Dental Sealants

Believe it or not, children actually have a higher risk for cavities than adults, which is mainly because they’re still learning how to correctly brush, floss, and care for their smiles. Dental sealants can help to protect particularly vulnerable teeth, often the molars and premolars, from cavities. These teeth have a lot of pits and crevices on their surfaces, which are ideal hiding spots for food debris and bacteria. By sealing these areas, the risk of decay in those teeth is significantly lessened!

Fluoride Treatment

Fluoride plays a very important role in keeping your child’s teeth strong; when administered in safe amounts, it strengthens enamel and protects teeth from cavity-causing bacteria. It can be found in tap water, some foods, and numerous oral hygiene products like toothpaste, but we can also give your child an additional dose of fluoride at the end of their checkup. This application only takes a few quick minutes and is entirely painless!

Silver Diamine Fluoride

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is a mixture of silver and fluoride that can be used to remineralize teeth, which means it helps to rebuild their enamel. Enamel doesn’t normally regenerate on its own, so this is quite a valuable benefit! SDF can also kill harmful oral bacteria, and it’s usually seen as a more comfortable alternative to drilling cavities—which is good news if your child’s already a little anxious about the dentist!

Tooth-Colored Fillings

When there’s a cavity present in your child’s mouth, it needs to be treated as quickly as possible, as the issue has the potential to escalate and trigger other issues. A filling is often the easiest way of doing this. Once we’ve removed the decayed portion of the tooth in question, we can apply a tooth-colored composite resin to restore the compromised structure. This restoration will blend in with the rest of your child’s smile and preserve the tooth’s integrity.

Safe Digital Dental X-Rays

X-rays allow us to see things that aren’t normally visible to the naked eye—and in dentistry, this ability is unbelievably useful! Being able to find hidden cavities and other oral health issues early on is crucial when it comes to treatment. Our pediatric dental office is pleased to use digital X-rays, which emit far less radiation than traditional X-rays and are perfectly safe for your child. Better yet, the images taken can be developed and viewed much more quickly than traditional X-rays, meaning you won’t have to wait around very long for the results.

Root Canals / Pulp Therapy

A toothache might be a warning sign that your child has a tooth with an infected pulp, which is the innermost layer of the tooth. If this issue isn’t treated, it’s even possible for the tooth to be lost entirely, which can have dire implications for your child’s dental health! Luckily, depending on the circumstances we can often perform either root canal therapy or pulp therapy to save the tooth. Root canal therapy requires us to remove all of the pulp, whereas pulp therapy requires us to remove the top portion. Both are capable of resolving the issue and getting your child’s smile back on track.

Non-Nutritive Oral Habits

Thumb sucking is a very common habit in children, but it should halt on its own between the ages of 2 and 4; if it goes on longer than it should, it might trigger orthodontic issues and other dental developmental problems. Luckily, our team is able to identify non-nutritive habits like thumb sucking, so that we can help you come up with a game plan for dealing with them. The sooner we correct things, the sooner you can feel better about the direction your child’s smile is heading!

Tooth Extractions

Generally speaking, it’s usually better for your child’s baby teeth to fall out naturally, rather than having them pulled. That said, there are some instances where we might need to remove your child’s tooth:

 

• The tooth in question has stayed in the mouth longer than it should, to the point that it’s causing the permanent teeth to not erupt correctly.
• The tooth has become so badly damaged that it cannot be restored with a filling or dental crown.
• The tooth has become infected and poses a threat to the rest of your child’s smile, and it’s unable to be treated with root canal therapy or pulp therapy.

 

We won’t extract one of your child’s teeth unless it’s absolutely necessary, so know that if we’re planning to pursue this treatment avenue, it’s in your child’s best interest! Also, know that we’ll also put their comfort first and ensure a smooth process.

Athletic Mouthguards

There are few things as rewarding as seeing your child running around and having fun playing their favorite sport, but it’s hard to ignore the risk posed to their smile should they trip, fall, or sustain a blow to the face. That’s why we recommend getting a mouthguard for your young athlete; that way, if anything happens on gameday, their teeth and gums are protected! We’re happy to help outfit your child with a custom mouthguard so that their risk of dental emergencies during physical games and activities is lessened.