The “Knee by Knee” Examination, The Best Way to Start Your Child’s Dental Health

Dr. Calcina’s article in the May issue of Imagine Kids Magazine

Our office is designed to be your Child’s “First Dental Home”. We recommend the prevention of tooth decay by scheduling an appointment as early as six months of your child’s age. Help us make your child’s first visit to the pediatric dentist enjoyable by omitting words like “needle”, “shot”, “Pull”, “Drill”, or “Hurt”. We will make use of other terms and words with the same message. yet playful!
If your child is under three years of age, we will have a “Knee by Knee” examination, which is a convenient and safe way to accomplish the physical examination. The parent is instructed to sit sideways in the dental chair facing the dentist, who sits in the operator chair knee-by-knee with the parent. The child is positioned on the parent’s lap facing the parent, with one leg wrapped around each side of the parent.

Click here to read the whole article in Imagine Kids Magazine…..

Comments

The Importance of the “First Dental Home” Program

The Importance of the “First Dental Home” Program

We will address the issue related to the Dental Home Program established by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAPD) to move forward on the goal of achieving an optimal oral health and life quality of the population, ensuring dental services for every child up to three (3) years of age, including those with special needs and for those who are unattended, who require such care, regardless of their economic and social status. The reason for the existence of the Dental Home is because it has been statistically shown that tooth decay is the most common chronic disease in children, reaching up to more than 60% of cases before the age of five. That is, sixty (60) of every hundred (100) children suffer from this disease in their primary teeth. It has also been noted the increase of tooth decay in older children, since according to statistics, in children from 11 to 17 years this present up to 90% of tooth decay in permanent teeth.
What is the …

44 comments

Read more

4 Reasons Water Is the Best Beverage for Your Teeth

March 15, 2016

Find our more by reading this article from the American Academy of DentistryIt doesn’t matter if your glass is half-empty or half-full: Drinking water is always good for your health. Our bodies are made of 60% water, and staying hydrated helps your system distribute healthy nutrients, gets rid of waste, gives your skin a healthy glow and keeps your muscles moving. Sipping water is also one of the best things you can do for your teeth – especially if it’s fluoridated. Read on to find out why water is always a winner for your dental health.
It Strengthens Your Teeth Drinking water with fluoride (called “nature’s cavity fighter”) is one of the easiest and most beneficial things you can do to help prevent cavities.
A modern-day tale of two cities shows what a difference fluoride makes, especially in community water systems. In 2011, the Canadian city of Calgary stopped adding fluoride to its water. Curious about the impact, researchers compared Calgary second graders with kids in the s…

7 comments

Read more

The importance of fluoride for children and adolescents

October 04, 2015

Because some insurance plans don’t cover the cost of fluoride treatments for patients older than 13 or 14 years, parents have to decide if they want to pay for the treatment out-of-pocket. Therefore, some parents come to me asking these questions: Is it necessary to apply it? Is it good? Is it worth it? What is it?
Fluoride is an element of the halogen group that has a great capacity of chemical reaction. Therefore, in the presence of calcium and phosphate on oral cavity, Fluorapatita is formed on the surface of teeth, which strengthens mineralization and hardens the tooth enamel.
Fluorine is the gel which is applied after cleanings. I joke with my patients by telling them that we are going to apply "the vitamin" because it is part of a therapy to help prevent cavities. Since the Fluoride has the following two basic mechanisms of protective action against caries:
Low level of fluoride inhibits dental caries by affecting the metabolic activity of cariogenic bacteria and enhanc…

3 comments

Read more

Search This Blog