Children’s Dental

We are THE trusted children's dentists

Your child's dental health is extremely important. Trust the experts.

As a well-established family practice, Redland bay Smiles has been with many of our patients from their early years. We have seen many of our young patients from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Because our dentists are parents themselves, we treat your children with the same care and compassion we would want for our own children.

When a child has a negative dental experience, it can cause them to develop dental anxiety as adults. Because we understand this lasting impact, we are committed to making your child’s early dental visits stress-free and positive.

Free Dental for Children – Child Dental Benefits Scheme

The team at Redland Bay Smiles are happy to announce that we are proud to be participating in the Medicare Child Dental Benefits Scheme (CDBS). The CDBS provides dental benefits for eligible children aged between 2-17 years, capped at $1000 over two calendar years. Eligible families will receive a letter from Medicare stating eligibility, and it will be determined each calendar year.

Under the CDBS at Redland Bay Smiles services will all be bulk billed, so you won’t have any out of pocket expenses!

A Child's First Appointment

All children should visit the dentist by their first birthday. This allows your dentist to get a good idea of the current state of your child's teeth, how they are developing, and potentially identify any existing dental problems or get ahead of any issues before they develop into something more serious.

Child Dental Benefits Scheme

The Child Dental Benefits Scheme is a federally funded program that aims to deliver quality dental care for all children. Eligible children aged between 2 and 17 years can access up to $1,000 of dental benefits over a two year period, with all expenses being bulk-billed.

Child Dental Issues

Most children will experience some dental concerns while growing up. Most are relatively minor and can be easily treated, while some may require more intensive treatment. Provided that your child sees a dentist regularly, you can stay on top of any serious concerns.

Tooth Decay in Children

Unfortunately, many children experience tooth decay at some point during their upbringing. However, that doesn't mean that we necessarily need to review it as something that should happen. Tooth decay in children is entirely avoidable by following a few simple steps.

Causes
The causes behind occurrences tooth decay in children are usually related to bacteria feeding on the high amounts of sugar that's so often prevalent in children's diets. The acidic waste produced by the bacteria damages tooth enamel, which over time can lead to a hole, or cavity, in the tooth.

Tooth Decay in Baby Teeth

Among children, (particularly when they still have their baby teeth), it is the front teeth on the upper jaw that are most likely to fall prey to tooth decay. Tooth decay among very young children is so common that the phenomenon has earned several names: "baby bottle decay" and "nursing bottle caries" among them (caries is another term for tooth decay).

Symptoms of Tooth Decay in Children

Tooth decay among young children is relatively straightforward to detect. You may see the earlier signs of normal tooth decay, such as white, chalky areas on the teeth. This can sometimes manifest itself as a white line across the tooth near the gum.

If the tooth decay is reasonably progressed, the white band across the tooth near the gum may steadily change colour to brown or black. At this point, the tooth decay has set in.

In cases of advanced tooth decay, the teeth may look like brown (or even black) stumps. At this point it is absolutely critical that you contact a dentist, as more than just the tooth may be at risk.

Sensitive Teeth

Children often suffer from sensitive teeth as they come into contact with new foods of varying temperatures and textures. Teeth will contract and expand when exposed to different temperatures, and exposure of the interior of the tooth to materials of different temperatures can also cause pain or irritation.

Tooth decay or damage to enamel can cause parts of the teeth to be worn down and small cracks to appear. Hot or cold food, or even air, entering these cracks can cause pain.

Halitosis

Bad breath, also known as halitosis, is not something experienced only by adults. Unfortunately, children too can suffer from exceedingly bad breath. This is usually caused by poor dental hygiene practices. If children are brushing and flossing daily, their mouths should be cleared of food and other waste.

Orthodontic Issues

A wide array of orthodontic issues can be identified relatively early in childhood. These can include malocclusion (where the two jaws do not meet correctly), or issues occurring from accidents or habits, such as the child sucking their thumb.

Crowding can commonly occur in the teeth of young children as their adult teeth come through while their jaw bones are still growing. Early intervention orthodontics procedures allow us to ensure your child's teeth grow correctly and healthily. We can use a palatal expander to slowly and carefully enlarge the jaw to help teeth come through, and later braces or clear aligners to finalise the procedure and give your child straight, even, healthy teeth.

For more information, visit our orthodontics page.