General
A fissure seal or sealant is a thin plastic coating that is placed on the back molars to prevent bacteria from getting into hard to reach crevices and causing cavities. It is a safe and pain free way of protecting your child’s teeth from tooth decay.
If your dental therapist considers your child to be at high risk of decay, they may recommend sealing as a preventative measure.
A baby tooth typically doesn’t loosen until the permanent tooth below pushes it up to take its place. But it is possible for kids to lose a baby tooth before the permanent tooth is ready to erupt, especially because of an accident or dental disease. When this happens, the adjacent teeth may drift into the space left, meaning there is insufficient space for alignment of the upcoming adult tooth. In some cases, a paediatric dentist or specialist orthodontist will advise that a custom fit plastic place holder is inserted until the adult tooth is ready to emerge. Spacers can be fixed or removable depending on the individual case.
The less sugar your child eats, the better, but there will always be special occasions where they’ll eat treats. It’s best to consume any sweets in one intake after meal times only, rather than having them graze or snack on sweet foods throughout the day. Rinsing with water after they’ve finished will help remove any residual sugar and chewing sugar free gum will help clean the teeth.
- Limit the intake of sugary foods that your child eats. Sugars weaken the enamel on teeth, making the teeth vulnerable to decay. Encourage your child to eat foods high in calcium, whole grains, fibres and fruits by cutting these foods into fun shapes.
- As your child gets older, find out which healthy ingredients they like and regularly incorporate these into their lunchboxes and dinners.
- Make teeth cleaning fun by buying a toothbrush with their favourite character on it or in their favourite colour, or keep a reward chart where each child gets a star every time they’ve finished brushing their teeth.
- Most children do not have the manual dexterity to brush teeth properly until they reach the age of seven, so help them clean their teeth twice a day and floss before they go to bed.
Ask your dental therapist for the relevant item codes, then contact your health insurance provider for the rebates. Depending on the level of cover, your child’s visit could be fully covered by your heath insurance. If your child is eligible under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule, the cost of their visit may also be completely covered. Eligibility requirements and what is covered can be found here.
While every child varies, most will start losing their teeth from around ages 4 to 6, with girls tending to lose their teeth earlier than boys.
A child’s baby teeth usually fall out in the same order they came in. That means the lower centre teeth (lower centre incisors) are usually the first to go, followed by the top front teeth.
Whilst the age children begin losing their teeth can vary between the ages of 4 to 7, if your child does begin to lose teeth before 4, we recommend you consult a dentist to ensure there is no underlying problem. It’s also possible for a child to reach age 7 or 8 without losing any baby teeth at all. Again, there’s probably nothing wrong, but it never hurts to check in with your child’s dentist to make sure.
Check out our Teeth Timeline below, or download our handy tooth loss chart that lets you know when to expect the various teeth to fall out and helps you track your child’s progress.
Teething & Baby Teeth
Teething usually starts at about 6 months but can be as early as 3 months or as late as 14 months.
A total of twenty baby teeth should all be through by 3 and half years of age.
Parents should start cleaning their toddler’s teeth as soon as they come through. Initially a small soft brush or even a face washer can be used for children under 2 years.
In their first few months, your baby will begin teething as their teeth come in. Along with their gums appearing red and swollen at the site when the teeth are erupting, there a few other symptoms that may indicate the teething process is underway. These include drooling, irritability, flushed cheeks, trying to bite or chew everything they can, difficulty sleeping, rubbing their face and turning away food.
In some cases, a bluish bump may form on the gum. This is an eruption cyst and they usually disappear on their own when the tooth breaks through the gum. If they persist for more than a few weeks, please consult your dentist as they may need to assist by making a small incision for the tooth to come through.
There are a few ways you can manage the teething process, both medicinal and natural:
- Rub a clean finger over your baby’s sore gums as this will temporarily relieve the pain.
- Give your baby a teething ring
- Let them chew on a clean, damp face cloth that’s been chilled in the fridge.
- Apply a teething gel
- You can give your baby infant paracetamol (if they are one month or older) or ibuprofen (if they are three months or older). Check the dosage information on the packet and always ask your doctor or pharmacist beforehand.
- If they use a dummy, chewing on the teat may help soothe them.
Children’s Orthodontics
The Australian Society of Orthodontists recommends you first see a board-registered specialist orthodontists when the first of the adult teeth begin appearing, which is usually around the age of 6 to 7 years. This is when developmental problems can first appear that can threaten the functionality and therefore health of the teeth. A proactive approach to treatment can often shorten and simplify any orthodontic treatment required later, and can sometimes eradicate the need for treatment altogether. Conditions that are often treated in early childhood include severe overcrowding, jaw growth problems, cross bites, problems with tooth eruption. Your therapist, dentist or paedodontist will be able to recommend whether an orthodontic consult is necessary.
Removal of teeth is not always necessary for orthodontic treatment. Some orthodontists, and even some general dentists, use “new orthopaedic” methods and appliances for treating crooked teeth that do not involve extractions. These are marketed as better than “traditional orthodontics” for the facial aesthetics. Our specialist orthodontists also offer such methods and appliances, but in some cases of overcrowding the best results depend on the creation of additional space by extracting one tooth or several teeth. Our orthodontists will consult with you on all of the available options, then a plan will be tailored specifically to suit your child.
When a primary tooth is prematurely lost, usually due to decay, adjacent teeth may drift into the space and leave insufficient space for alignment of emerging permanent teeth. Our specialist paediatric dentist and specialist orthodontists will advise you as to whether a space-maintaining device is suitable. Depending on the individual case, space maintainers can be either fixed or removable.
Dental overcrowding happens when there’s not enough space into which each new tooth can grow. If this is found in a young child, removable expander plates can be used from the age of six to eight years and often continued until all the teeth have erupted. To avoid the need for dental extractions later on and expand the dental arches or maintain premolar spaces, orthodontic treatment with fixed braces may follow to complete the dental alignment.