A child’s dental visit is so much fun at Better Dental and sets your child up for great oral health for life.
Good dental habits must start at childhood. This means your child needs to brush their teeth twice a day, maintain a tooth-friendly diet, and have their oral health regularly examined by a dental professional. It is very important that your child establishes these habits as soon as possible to ensure their dental health gets off to the right start.
At Better Dental, we love working with kids and making their visits to the dentist enjoyable experiences. Our practitioners have extensive experience working with children of all ages and have specialised training in child psychology. By adapting our treatments and approach to your child's development, we are able to engage your child's curiosity and creativity, keeping them interested and entertained throughout the appointment. This creates a positive association to dentistry, which will help foster the dental habits needed to keep their teeth strong and healthy throughout their life.
“I have two younger children who don't particularly like going to the dentist but after visiting Lena they keep asking me when their next appointment for a teeth clean will be.”
If it is your child‘s first visit to the dentist, we will slowly introduce them to dental treatment with a dental check-up. Before performing the check-up, we want to get to know your child and make sure they are comfortable with us and their surroundings. Shy kids may have a ride on mum’s or dad’s lap while more confident or older kids sit on the dental chair themselves.
Using a soft toy as a guide, we will count teeth while checking your child's bite and gums. Then we will have a look at how many "bugs" (dental plaque) are sitting on the teeth. After these inspections are done, we will talk about brushing and diet. Depending on your child's patience, we will polish their teeth, and we may finish off by applying some yummy tooth cream that will help your child's teeth stay strong and healthy.
If your child requires further treatment, we will discuss the reasons for this and the options that are available. However, we believe it is best to defer any treatment to a subsequent appointment rather than doing it on the same day. This will ensure that your child has a gentler introduction to dentistry by keeping their first visit as short and simple as possible. Therefore, once we have decided upon a suitable treatment plan, we will find a convenient time for you and your child to return, and book a follow up appointment.
Let us help answer the most common questions you might have.
As soon as the first tooth appears. This typically happens at around 6 months of age. This is a great time to discuss how to best take care of your child's teeth and answer any questions you may have. We will also establish a tooth brushing routine and give you tips on how to manage the initial resistance your child may have to this vital habit.
The teeth are different, so decay can happen much more quickly. But most of all a child‘s patience and ability to concentrate is different, and will vary depending on your child‘s age and development.
We make our treatments fun. We will engage your child actively in the treatment and explain everything, so even if your child is a toddler, they will still understand what is happening. This creates a positive dental visit experience that your child will look forward to repeating.
We suggest that you simply say: "We are going to visit the dentist and they will count your teeth". For a very young child, it may help to practise opening the mouth wide "like a lion" so we will be able to see the back teeth better. If your have a soft toy with a mouth, or a toy that your child particularly likes, please bring it along! We would love to meet Teddy and check if Teddy has a "policeman tooth" or a "pink princess tooth"! Otherwise, we can use our practice mascot, Betty Flossmore, our toothy donkey hand-puppet who loves making kids smile and laugh with her dental drama performances.
Please let our dental professionals explain the treatment to your child and avoid any negative words about the upcoming exam or treatment — even if you have spotted a "dark spot". It is important that your child does not have any negative preconceptions about dental treatment. We will explain everything to your child in a way that makes sense to them without scaring them. For example, we don't have "needles", we have "magic sleepy drops for the tooth" and our electric tooth polisher is better known as the "buzzy bee the tooth tickler".
If your child has any preexisting anxiety or has had an unpleasant dental experience, then please let us know ahead of time so we can address this and put your child's mind at ease.
Yes. The radiation dose from our digital x-rays is extremely low and perfectly safe for children.
There are dental diseases, such as decay between teeth, that can only be detected using x-rays. We will therefore need to take x-rays to check your child's teeth for such issues at certain stages of their development. However, our x-ray machines have the lowest radiation in the industry, while giving the most accurate images, and we only take x-rays when absolutely necessary.
If your child is eligible for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS), we bulk bill all common treatment under this scheme, with no out-of-pocket cost to you. Not sure if your child is eligible? Call us on 8296 3111 with your Medicare details at hand and we can check for you.
Do you have private health cover for your child? We accept all Australian health funds and bulk bill children's check-ups, cleans, x-rays, and fluoride treatments with no out-of-pocket cost to you.
Are you privately funded? Our fees are heavily reduced, so please give us a call today on 8296 3111 and we can give you a quote.
Your child has a beautiful smile.
Let's keep it that way.
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