The dentists at Pensak Houghton Dentistry in Calgary are committed to early education and oral health prevention for kids to help keep their young, developing smiles healthy.
Special Care for Growing Smiles
Our goal is that our child patients have an enjoyable time at the office and are eager to continue future dental visits! Ultimately, we strive to create a general awareness for good oral health. Early prevention and education help make long term care and maintenance possible.
Children's Dental Hygiene Program
Pensak Houghton Dentistry has an established Children’s Hygiene Program. Our Calgary office is equipped with everything necessary to make your child’s visit enjoyable and positive. We offer a play area with books, toys and prizes.
Ensuring that your child receives dental care early in life is essential for the development of strong and healthy teeth and creates the foundation for a lifetime of proper oral hygiene.
A child who learns to care for his/her teeth will be more likely to practice good hygiene habits later in life, which will result in fewer dental problems (and costs!)
Oral Care For Kids
Research shows that improper toothbrushing habits, poor food choices and an unbalanced diet during the first 2 years of a child’s life is highly related to tooth decay.
Developing cavities in primary teeth further increases the risk of developing them in permanent teeth, which is why we recommend you bring in your child for their first dental visit as early as one year of age.
Good oral habits in your children start with you. As soon as your baby is born you should begin caring for their gums and emerging teeth. It only takes a few minutes a day but it will lead to a lifetime of happy, healthy smiles.
Dental Services for Children
We offer dental services that are tailored to the unique needs of our young patients.
- Regular Dental Checkups
Our dentist will use the dental checkup to determine the health of your child’s mouth, teeth, gums, cheeks and tongue. At each visit, we will also look for issues such as cavities, tooth decay, fillings that may need to be replaced, crowding, or compromised airway.
In general, we suggest a dental check up at least twice a year for most children, but the schedule may vary depending on each child’s growth pattern, risk for tooth decay and oral hygiene.
- Professional Cleanings
Our paediatric dental care services also include dental cleanings. Through gentle cleaning, we polish your child’s teeth and remove any plaque, tartar buildup or stains, helping them keep that bright, healthy smile.
- Home-care Instruction & Nutritional Advice
At Pensak Houghton Dentistry, our team strives to promote a positive dental attitude in our young patients. We create a supportive and pleasant environment to foster your child’s lifelong dental health and take the time to discuss the best oral practices with your child using communication methods that best optimize their dental care.
We provide home-care instruction and nutritional advice through explanation, demonstration and careful teaching – we never lecture. Humour, patience, and a great sense of fun are our biggest tools (and, of course, a small prize box for our little patients).
Benefits of Early Treatment
The most important aspect of oral hygiene for children is to take care of your child’s teeth from the first months of their life.
If their milk teeth are healthy, there is a bigger chance for stronger, healthier permanent teeth.
The following are just some of the enormous benefits of investing in your child’s oral health.
- Establish Important Habits
Even though a child’s primary teeth will be replaced by permanent ones, parents should still begin teaching their child good dental habits from a young age. A child who learns how to care for his/her teeth early in life will be more likely to practice good oral hygiene later on in life, resulting in fewer dental problems down the road.
- Prevent Disease
This is one of the most important aspects of dental care for children. Oral issues such as dental cavities can expose a child’s body to a host of other germs. By practising good oral hygiene and visiting the dentist regularly, your child’s mouth will be healthier, protecting him/her from other physical ailments,
- Reduce Pain
Dental caries are a common health problem for many children. Cavities can make eating difficult, prevent children from concentrating at school and hamper their enjoyment of daily activities. However, through proper toothbrushing and flossing techniques and seeing the dentist at regular intervals, the incidence of cavities in your child will be reduced, preventing many sources of dental pain.
- Save Money
Corrective surgery is extremely expensive which is why, at Pensak Houghton Dentistry, our dentists’ take a preventative approach to your child’s dental health. Preventing oral issues through brushing, flossing and regular dentist visits will be far less costly than having to deal with cavities, gum disease, and the tooth loss that come from poor dental hygiene.