Cavity Prevention
All Smiles Harrisonburg believes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of treatment, so we are always striving to give you all the resources you need to ensure that your child stay cavity free and healthy!
Here at All Smiles Harrisonburg, we have a strong focus on prevention and keeping your child’s teeth healthy. A cavity occurs when plaque, a sticky colorless film collects on the grooves of teeth and trapped in between teeth. This plaque is filled with bacteria (tooth germs) and as the bacteria feed on sugars and carbohydrates they produce waste in the form of acid. This acid breaks down tooth structure and breaks down the mineral composition of the enamel of the teeth, making them weak and brittle. This process is what causes a cavity.
Children are at a greater risk for decay because they typically don’t brush and floss as well or as often as adults. At All Smiles Harrisonburg, fight against cavities by educating you and your child on proper brushing techniques. We explain that your child should brush his or her teeth for two minutes twice a day. In some circumstances we will recommend an electric toothbrush, especially if your child will need braces or is currently in braces.
Another way we can fight against cavities is by placing a Fluoride varnish treatment. If you think back to high school chemistry, you will remember that atoms have electrons that circle around the nucleus of the atom. Every atom desires to be stable by having a certain number of electrons in its outer shell. So, to simplify, every atom has a buddy that it likes to attach itself to. The element fluoride has calcium as it’s buddy, which means that when we put fluoride varnish on your child’s teeth, that fluoride varnish will pull calcium out of your child’s spit and attach it to the teeth and remineralize the teeth. This makes teeth strong and prevents cavities. Clinical research shows a 75% reduction in cavities for those children who have fluoride placed every six months.
At All Smiles Harrisonburg, we will monitor the development of your child’s teeth in order to prescribe the specific amount of fluoride that your child needs. In general, there is a careful balance between too much fluoride and too little fluoride. An excess of fluoride may damage developing teeth leading to fluorosis (white spots) while a deficit of fluoride leaves your child’s teeth susceptible to tooth decay. We will also help you determine the right time to start flossing for your child and can give you instructions on when your child is ready to take over some of their own brushing and flossing responsibilities.
All Smiles Harrisonburg believes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of treatment, so we are always striving to give you all the resources you need to ensure that your child stays cavity free and healthy!
Tooth Colored Fillings
Here at All Smiles Harrisonburg, we have a strong focus on prevention and keeping teeth healthy, but sometimes cavities happen. A cavity occurs when plaque, a sticky colorless film stays on the grooves of teeth and trapped in between teeth.
Here at All Smiles Harrisonburg, we have a strong focus on prevention and keeping teeth healthy, but sometimes cavities happen. A cavity occurs when plaque, a sticky colorless film stays on the grooves of teeth and trapped in between teeth. This plaque is filled with bacteria (tooth germs) and as the bacteria (tooth germs) feeds on sugars and carbohydrates they produce waste in the form of acid. This acid breaks down tooth structure and demineralizes teeth, making them weak and brittle. This process is what causes a cavity. Sometimes cavities are painful, but sometimes you cannot feel a cavity at all. Sometimes you can see cavities, but sometimes you cannot see them with the naked eye and x-rays are required to see them.
If your child needs a filling, there are different types of filling material that can be used. Sometimes silver, metal fillings called amalgam fillings are used in back teeth. This material is strong and can last for many years. Silver fillings are not better or worse than tooth colored fillings, however sometimes this type of filling is all that insurance will help pay for because they are less expensive. At All Smiles Harrisonburg, we will verify your insurance benefit and let you know what options you may or may not have when it comes to obtaining coverage for your child’s fillings.
The other type of filling material is composite which is a tooth colored filling. This material comes in all different shades, so we can match it to your child’s tooth and make it so that in most cases, it is not even visible. Occasionally insurance companies will only cover this type of filling in front teeth and not in back teeth. We will call your insurance company on your behalf and verify any exclusions in your plan so that you can make a decision for your child with all of the financial information. One type of filling is not superior to the other, the only benefit is that the filling will be tooth colored when it is a composite filling vs silver when it is an amalgam filling.
Child Crowns
At All Smiles Harrisonburg, there may be a time when your child will need to have a crown completed to restore a tooth. Crowns are used to restore teeth that are too badly decayed to be repaired by fillings.
Here at All Smiles Harrisonburg, we have a strong focus on prevention and keeping your child’s teeth healthy. A cavity occurs when plaque, a sticky colorless film collects on the grooves of teeth and trapped in between teeth. This plaque is filled with bacteria (tooth germs) and as the bacteria feed on sugars and carbohydrates they produce waste in the form of acid. This acid breaks down tooth structure and breaks down the mineral composition of the enamel of the teeth, making them weak and brittle. This process is what causes a cavity.
Children are at a greater risk for decay because they typically don’t brush and floss as well or as often as adults. At All Smiles Harrisonburg, fight against cavities by educating you and your child on proper brushing techniques. We explain that your child should brush his or her teeth for two minutes twice a day. In some circumstances we will recommend an electric toothbrush, especially if your child will need braces or is currently in braces.
Another way we can fight against cavities is by placing a Fluoride varnish treatment. If you think back to high school chemistry, you will remember that atoms have electrons that circle around the nucleus of the atom. Every atom desires to be stable by having a certain number of electrons in its outer shell. So, to simplify, every atom has a buddy that it likes to attach itself to. The element fluoride has calcium as it’s buddy, which means that when we put fluoride varnish on your child’s teeth, that fluoride varnish will pull calcium out of your child’s spit and attach it to the teeth and remineralize the teeth. This makes teeth strong and prevents cavities. Clinical research shows a 75% reduction in cavities for those children who have fluoride placed every six months.
At All Smiles Harrisonburg, we will monitor the development of your child’s teeth in order to prescribe the specific amount of fluoride that your child needs. In general, there is a careful balance between too much fluoride and too little fluoride. An excess of fluoride may damage developing teeth leading to fluorosis (white spots) while a deficit of fluoride leaves your child’s teeth susceptible to tooth decay. We will also help you determine the right time to start flossing for your child and can give you instructions on when your child is ready to take over some of their own brushing and flossing responsibilities.
All Smiles Harrisonburg believes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of treatment, so we are always striving to give you all the resources you need to ensure that your child stay cavity free and healthy!
Child Sedation
At All Smiles Harrisonburg, we recognize that general anesthesia seems to be a topic that many people do not have a vast amount of knowledge about. Our goal is to explain the types of anesthesia and explain what precautions All Smiles Harrisonburg takes to lower any of the risks associated with each type of anesthesia. We are offering this article as a guide for information on the types of anesthesia that are available and the types of anesthesia that All Smiles Harrisonburg offers. Of course, it is important to review all of this information with us and clarify any questions you may have about your child and his or her specific anesthesia needs, so that you can make the best decision for your child.
Often, a great sedation option for cooperative children is Nitrous Oxide. Nitrous Oxide is often referred to as laughing gas. This gas is administered to your child through a mask and is mixed with oxygen. Your child will feel “funny”. They will experience an airy feeling and may have some tingling sensations, but they are still coherent and can respond when asked a question or asked to do something such as open wider. As soon as the procedure ends, your child will be administered oxygen for five minutes and by the time they get up from the chair, they feel completely back to normal.
The second type of sedation is oral conscious sedation. This is a type of sedation that we do not offer in our office because this type of sedation is often not successful and requires an additional sedation appointment after a failed attempt. With this sedation, your child is given a “juice” to drink and it makes them sleepy and loopy. Sleepy and loopy does not always equal happy and compliant and that is why this sedation can be unsuccessful. There are risks associated with this type of sedation because there is no IV access in case of emergency. IV access allows a doctor to respond in the case of an emergency by administering the proper medications that need to enter the bloodstream immediately.
The third type of sedation is general anesthesia. General anesthesia is recommended when it is determined that your child will not be able to tolerate their treatment appointment due to age, behavior or the extensiveness of treatment that is required. When a child has general anesthesia, they are relaxed with a gas long enough to insert an IV so that they do not experience any anxiety from IV placement. After the IV is inserted, a dental anesthesiologist administers medication directly into the blood stream so that less medication is needed to get the desired sedation effect. With all sedation there are risks, however IV sedation allows the doctor to be able to respond immediately in the event of an emergency because of having IV access to administer emergency medication.
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), is the advocate for oral health in infants, children, adolescents, and persons with special health care needs. The AAPD recognizes that there are many reasons that a patient would benefit from deep sedation (general anesthesia) including: a need for extensive treatment, acute situational anxiety, uncooperative age-appropriate behavior, immature cognitive functioning, disabilities, or medical conditions. The AAPD recognizes general anesthesia administered in the office setting to be a safe and more cost effective option for patients versus being admitted to the hospital.
We at All Smiles Harrisonburg have set ourselves apart when it comes to safety. We believe in providing the highest quality of care in the safest environment possible. This is why we go above and beyond the recommendations for in-office sedation and provide our patients a unique opportunity where two dental anesthesiologists and a team of dental anesthesia assistants with PALS certification are monitoring and caring for your child while he or she is under general anesthesia.
Space Maintainers
When baby teeth are removed before they would naturally come out, the space of the extracted tooth needs to be maintained so that the permanent tooth has a space to erupt into.
Cavities in baby teeth spread faster than cavities in adult teeth. If we don’t see a cavity when it first starts, there is a possibility that the tooth will not be savable and will need to be extracted. Although there is a permanent tooth that will come in to the space of the missing tooth, your child is not in the clear for future complications once the baby tooth is extracted.
When baby teeth are removed before they would naturally come out, the space of the extracted tooth needs to be maintained so that the permanent tooth has a space to erupt into. If the space is not maintained, then the teeth on either side of the space will drift into the space of the missing tooth which can cause crowding and, in some cases, can cause permanent teeth to not be able to erupt at all. These complications with tooth eruption can lead to the need for extensive braces. This can also lead to the development of a bad bite, TMJ concerns and less than ideal results after braces.
When a tooth is extracted, the solution to maintaining the space for the permanent tooth to erupt into is placing a space maintainer. The way to maintain the space is by attaching a band to one of the adjacent teeth with a metal frame that will touch the other adjacent tooth and maintain the space. This allows the teeth to stay in position until the permanent tooth is able to erupt properly into the maintained space.
When space needs to be maintained on both sides of the upper or lower teeth, bands can be placed on both sides of the mouth with a space maintainer appliance. This scenario would require impressions to be taken and a custom space maintainer to be made. We take impressions by using trays with goo that go into your child’s mouth. We will tell them to wiggle their toes and to count backwards to keep their mind off of the impression. We use fast acting impression material so that your child will not need to have the impression material in their mouth for an extended amount of time.
Pulpotomies
Sometimes decay is more involved and expands through the outer layers of the tooth and into the nerve of the tooth. In this case, we would need to clean out the nerve of the tooth to make the tooth “go to sleep”.
At All Smiles Harrisonburg, there may be a time when your child will need to have a crown completed to restore a tooth. Crowns are used to restore teeth that are too badly decayed to be repaired by fillings. If you are able to visually see a dark area in your child’s mouth, it is likely that the tooth would need to be restored by a crown.
You can think of a crown as a helmet for the tooth. If it is determined that your child needs a crown, Dr. Arshad will remove all of the decay and reduce the tooth structure. He will then take a stainless-steel crown or a resin tooth colored crown and cement it on top of the reduced tooth structure, like a helmet fitting on a head. Stainless-steel crowns are silver crowns and these crowns can be used anywhere in a child’s mouth but are primarily used in the back teeth. Resin crowns are tooth colored and can be used anywhere in a child’s mouth but are typically used in front teeth.
At All Smiles Harrisonburg, we want to help you maximize your benefits. Occasionally insurance companies will only cover tooth colored crowns on front teeth only and not on back teeth. We will call your insurance company on your behalf and verify any exclusions in your plan so that you can make a decision for your child with all of the financial information. One type of crown is not superior to the other, the only benefit is that a resin crown will be tooth colored vs a stainless-steel crown which will be silver.
Sometimes decay is more involved and expands through the outer layers of the tooth and into the nerve of the tooth. In this case, Dr. Arshad would need to clean out the nerve of the tooth to make the tooth “go to sleep”. Dr. Arshad would then put a small filling to fill in the center of the tooth and then place a crown over top of the reduced tooth structure to give it strength and restore it to its original size.