Children Dental Care
Your child’s first teeth erupt when they are around 6 months old. These milk teeth will start to fall when your child is around six or seven years old.
Dental Examination for Infants and Toddlers
We recommend the first dental visit of your child be when the first tooth erupts and no later than when the child is 1 year old. During the first visit, we first perform an intra-oral examination which includes checking the soft tissues of the mouth, the throat, the tongue, and the gums. This is followed by an extra-oral examination of the head and neck for facial and jaw asymmetry. We also guide you regarding oral development, a proper oral hygiene routine, non-nutritive sucking habits like finger or thumb sucking and pacifier use, teething, proper diet, and injury prevention. Our advice is to schedule a routine dental checkup , at least once every 6 months.
TMJ Pain and Discomfort
Do you have pain when you open your mouth? Does your jaw click when you yawn? Do you suffer from recurring headaches? Do you hear clicking noises when you open and close your mouth?
TMJ or temporomandibular joint is the only joint in the head and neck region that connects your lower jaw to your skull. It is present on both sides of your head, in front of your ears. The joint is responsible for opening and closing of mouth, during biting, chewing and speaking.
Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) normally presents as clicking sound while eating and talking, occasionally painful jaw movements during function. The cause for TMJ disorder can be many from missing back/ posterior teeth, teeth grinding, injury to mouth, overworked muscles surrounding the joint or even arthritis.
TMJ disorder management depends on the cause of the pain. Treatment options are mostly non surgical and includes medication, appliance therapy (splints or mouth guards) to name a few. In severe cases surgical correction may be required.
