Dental services for children
We offer a full range of dental services for children, and our staff are not only great with kids but also passionate about teaching good dental habits to build confidence and lay positive foundations towards their dental health care routines for life.
What to expect at your child's appointment
Once your child is comfortable and happy, the dentist will gently examine their teeth and gums and evaluate their risk of tooth decay. They will give tips and demonstrations to help with brushing, and they will ask about diet incase they can give you any helpful suggestions to help improve dental health. If appropriate, they may also suggest fissure sealants or fluoride treatment with the hygienist.
Fissure sealants
These can be done once the child's permanent back teeth have fully come through (usually at the age of about six or seven) to protect them from decay. The chewing surfaces of the back teeth are covered with a special thin plastic coating to keep germs and food particles out of the grooves. The sealant can last for as long as 5 to 10 years. Some people choose to have all of their children's permanent molars fissure sealed.
Hygiene appointments for children
At Clinic 95 we offer Guided Biofilm Therapy for children as a personalised dental health treatment. It is important to focus on this at an early stage because it is preventative.
1) G.B.T is comfortable and effective
Guided biofilm therapy uses airflow and water to comfortably eliminate plaque. And because of its minimally invasive nature it is safe and gentle, suitable even for the most sensitive child. Airflow reduces the need for hand and sonic/ultrasonic instrumentation.
2) G.B.T offers superior cleaning
The G.B.T appointment will begin with the use of a disclosing agent to highlight the plaque present on the teeth and plaque not visible to the naked eye. This visual will help your child to understand the areas requiring more concentration when brushing and also ensures the complete removal of all biofilm.
3) G.B.T is efficient
This minimally invasive dental hygiene treatment helps to significantly reduce treatment time, in comparison to old standard cleaning methods, this helps to increase the comfort for your child, and positive dental experience.
At Clinic 95 we believe that education is the best form of prevention, our hygiene therapists will also give visual demonstrations and tips to help with your Childs dental routine at home. Learn more about Guided biofilm therapy click here
Henry “Prevention is better than a cure so if we can stop kids from ever needing a filling, that’s good. And the good habits that form with our help will carry on throughout their lives. Teach and remind kids once a year about their brushing, and they should be filling-free for the rest of their life.”
Fluoride varnish
From the age of three, children can be offered fluoride varnish. Younger children may also be offered this treatment if the dentist thinks they need it.Fluoride varnish can be applied to both baby teeth and adult teeth. It involves painting a varnish that contains high levels of fluoride on to the surface of the tooth to prevent decay. It works by strengthening tooth enamel, making it more resistant to decay.
It is recommended for this to be applied twice yearly for all children under 7 (four times yearly for higher risk patients) and twice yearly for at risk adult patients.
Should your child require more extensive appointments, we feel that knowledge is key for children (just as with adults). Helping your child to understand with visual aids and descriptions is crucial. We find that this informative approach removes fear and helps to build your child's confidence.
And finally after your appointment, don't forget to collect your sticker reward from reception!
We will recommend booking your Child's next routine examination in 6 months time to ensure we keep your childs oral health optimum.
Cost of private dental services for children
Dental Plan - savings
Save on your annual dental costs and make your family's dentistry more affordable, key benefits:
• Kids under 5 are entitled to free treatment (one parent or carer must be a Dental Plan member).
• Family membership discounts: 2 members save 5%, 3 members 10% *See terms.
Find out more and start saving, click here: Dental Plan
Please visit our general list of treatment fees page.
Advice from the Clinic 95 team on kids and their teeth
The general advice is to brush your teeth for two minutes. It should be a minimum and should really be longer for children – as they often struggle to concentrate. If they start faffing about and the toothbrush alarm tells them they’ve brushed for two minutes, they think they’re done. Sometimes, it might take a restless kid five minutes to properly brush their teeth.
Also, don’t think that just having an electric toothbrush will do the whole job for you. You still need to have a good brushing technique and children need to learn or be told what this is. Don’t just hand them a top of the range electric toothbrush and think that’s all they need – it’s still possible to brush badly with one. So show them exactly what to do. Of course it’s then that we realize a lot of adults haven’t ever been shown how to brush their own teeth properly. Do come in and chat to one of our hygienists about brushing methods if you’re at all unsure.
Did you know?
A child's routine dental care can start as soon as their teeth start to come through! So it is a useful exercise to familiarise them with their dentist, the environment and the chair early. Our staff will put your child at ease and have them smiling in no time.
FROM THE STAFF – on letting kids observe adult appointments
“Children are
creatures of habit, so taking them into a completely alien environment
only when there’s something wrong can be very scary. It’s important
that they come with their parents to their parents’ appointments, and
can get used to seeing that somebody is in their personal space, with
gloves, and a mask and who uses funny words. Kids pick up on all this.
But if they are used to it, by the time they come to sit in the chair
themselves it isn’t so strange for them. And never force them to sit in
the chair - we always caution parents against insisting that they do.
Gentle encouragement is all that’s needed.”
Eduan – on the formation of the jaw and bite
“Let’s talk about dummies and thumb sucking. In the very young, the pressure from a sucking action with their cheeks narrows their top jaw, stopping it from growing properly. This narrowing then upsets their bite.
It can also cause the anterior teeth to protrude upwards and outwards, so it can give you buck teeth.
Sucking a dummy is OK in small doses, but if a kid is still sucking their thumb by the time their adult teeth start to come in, anything after that age is bad – the damage it can cause is difficult to fix.
We can move the teeth themselves with braces, but if the bone has narrowed due to restricted growth, or the bone has moved into an unnatural position, you can’t fix that – it’s very difficult to move bone with braces. So operations that saw into the jaw could be the only option. Now, that’s an extreme example, but don’t underestimate how difficult a badly formed jaw could be to fix later in life. You get what’s known as a cross bite, where the upper and lower jaw don’t meet properly – one of them is out of line with the other. When you bite together, your top teeth should overlap the bottom teeth, but we see cases where the top teeth are biting inside the bottom teeth or off to one side.
If it’s unaddressed, then you’ll have jaw ache and crumbling teeth as the forces on them aren’t appropriate. All this from using a dummy or thumb sucking for too long. Orthodontic dummies, which are meant to replicate the nipple shape, are flatter and they don’t cause any narrowing of the jaw. They’re widely available, and I would advise you check them out.”
Did you know..?
A lot of the 'healthy' snacks given to children can play havoc with their teeth. Find out more on our sugar and tooth decay page.
Our orthodontist Eduan is highly skilled in managing cross-bites that
form as a result of thumb sucking or use of dummies and likes to treat
these cases as early as possible whilst they are still growing when the
structure of the jaw bones can be changed. For more information, just
get in touch and have a chat with us.
As you can see, our team
here at Clinic 95 are totally committed to ensuring that your child’s
experience at the dentist is always a positive one. Do come in and chat
to us about any aspect of teeth care for your kids – we’re always happy
to help.
Glossary:
Decay: Destruction of tooth structure caused by toxins produced by bacteria. Caused by a combination of factors, including bacteria in your mouth, frequent snacking on sugary foods or drinks, and not cleaning your teeth well.
Ultrasonic Scaler: Dental tool that uses high frequency ultrasonic waves and water to clean teeth
Maria Hardman:
"I created Clinic 95 so I can use the very best of dental innovation to provide the highest possible standards of dentistry.
In the clinic I designed myself, you’ll find an extraordinary range of dental treatment options.
And yet, I think the most striking thing about Clinic 95 is just how caring and friendly the team is. I think you'll enjoy meeting them."