Happy Kids, Healthy Smiles
Our goal is to help children feel at ease during their dental appointments. Our dentists aim to make each visit a positive experience and help your child build good oral hygiene habits.
During your child's dental appointment, we will work at their pace, take breaks if they get overwhelmed, and explain each step of the process. By making these childhood dental appointments as calm and pleasant as possible, we hope to create a positive association with going to the dentist for our young patients that will follow them into adulthood.
Our dentists offer complete general dental services for children, including restorative and preventive services, guidance for at-home care and Healthy Start system for children with sleep disordered breathing.
The Importance of Early Dental Care
Bringing your child to the dentist by the time they are two allows us to help your child establish a positive relationship with oral health care. It also lets us assess your child's dental development and identify any potential issues or risks that may require early intervention.
Dental Care for Kids
At O'Connor Dental Centre, we believe that teaching children the importance of dental hygiene can help them maintain good oral health throughout their lives.
Preventive Dental Hygiene
Primary teeth are crucial for children to eat and learn to speak. They also help to guide the permanent teeth into place. Routine exams and cleanings, while your child is young, can help preserve the primary teeth until they are replaced by the permanent teeth.
During these regular appointments, the dentist will discuss the benefits of at-home oral hygiene and share tips and advice for successful brushing and flossing.
Restorative Dental Services
Some children may be at a greater risk of developing cavities. If this is the case for your child, your dentist may recommend restorative treatments such as dental fillings to repair the damage.
Breath Easier with Healthy Start For Kids
Healthy Start is a system that helps children with symptoms of sleep disordered breathing. It can also be used to straighten teeth without braces.
Sleep disordered breathing in children is typically caused by either an over-relaxation of the airway or an airway blockage, usually as a result of enlarged tonsils or adenoids. This prevents the child from inhaling adequate oxygen during sleep. As a result, they may not get a good night’s sleep with all the proper sleep cycles.
Lack of sleep can lead to problems such as ADHD, bedwetting, chronic allergies, nightmares, night terrors, an inability to focus and poor school performance.
Your child's Healthy Start treatment plan may begin with a dental appliance that holds the lower jaw forward, opening the airway to encourage nose breathing. This allows your child to get good-quality oxygen while they sleep.
Once sleep disordered breathing has improved, your dentist may switch your child to other devices within the Healthy Start system that help straighten the teeth and bring the upper and lower jaws into better harmony.