Preventive Dental
Preventive Dental Treatments
The team at Bayside Family Dental want to help children and teens improve their oral health through preventative dental treatments. Ideally, dentistry is preventive. The ADA advises visiting your dentist every six months, to ensure optimal oral hygiene and function.
In keeping diligent and regularly visiting your dentist, together with your hygienist, you can enjoy exceptional dental health throughout a lifetime, helping to avoid the need for emergency dental treatment.
Preventative Dentistry focuses on oral health of children, and teen’s by providing routine examination, cleans, remineralising treatments, fissure sealants, and mouthguards.
Periodontal Treatment and Active Maintenance
It is equally important to maintain your gums as well as your teeth, Periodontal disease (often known as gum disease) is the greatest cause of tooth loss in adults, therefore attending our hygiene department ca identify early stage of gum disease, or treat active Periodontal conditions.
Mouthguards
An adequately fitted mouthguard is essential when engaging in a variety of sports, a knock or trauma to the face can cause loss or breakage of a tooth, or worse many teeth, soft tissue trauma, and jaw fractures. Imagine how devasted you or your child would feel to loose a tooth? This would be aesthetically unpleasing but we also need our teeth for function, ie biting and chewing, not to mention the hefty costs involved in replacing a missing tooth. Therefore the most sensible practice is to wear a custom-made mouthguard from your dental professional.
Custom-made mouthguards should be tight fitting and comfortable when in place, not restrict your speech or breathing, and be resilient, usually 4mm of thickness to offer protection against impact. Usually your general dentist would offer a mouthguard for the top arch, although if you have cosmetic dental procedures your dentist may also offer a mouthguard to protect your lower teeth. See the reccomendations of the Australian Dental Association ADA regarding the use of mouthguards.
Your custom-made mouthguard is an investment in your oral health, therefore caring for your mouthguard is important. Your mouthguard is to be washed in cold water prior to use, then after use clean with a toothbrush, toothpaste or soap, dry and store in a perforated container, allowing air-circulation. Store in a cool, dry environment and avoid heat or sunlight as this will cause distortion of the mouthguard. Taking your mouthguard along routinely to your dental appointments will ensure the mouthguard remains fitting correctly. Young children whose dentition is going through varying stages will require routine replacement due to their growth, the eruption of permanent teeth and dental restorations.
