Here at Canyon Pediatric Dentistry, we understand that each child is unique. We work with each family to develop healthy goals that align with their lifestyle. Our doctors also frequently attend continuing education courses to keep their skills sharp and up-to-date.
The foundation of a healthy mouth is good preventative care. We spend a large portion of your first appointment having an open discussion about your child’s existing lifestyle. We offer oral hygiene and diet recommendations based on your child’s age and developmental stage. We also work with you to create solutions for how to engage your children during dental care when they are younger and how to empower them to take charge of their own dental care as they grow older.
Finally, we offer age-appropriate trauma prevention plans to ensure that your child has a reduced chance of experiencing a dental injury.
Nitrous oxide is just a fancy term for “laughing gas” or “happy air.” It has a quick onset and offset, meaning that it will be completely cleared from your child’s body soon after treatment is complete and before they get up from the dental chair. The goal of using nitrous oxide is to help reduce your child’s anxiety so that the dental treatment can be effectively completed.
While our goal is to keep cavities away, sometimes they occur and when they do, we work with you to develop a treatment plan tailored to your child. We have a conservative approach to restorative therapy and understand that not all cavities need to be filled. Often, a discussion about oral hygiene and diet reveals the reason behind the cavities and we can then work together to change habits and slow the growth of existing cavities and prevent future ones.
For cavities that do need to be restored, we offer fillings and crowns—depending on the size. For teeth that become infected, we offer extractions (“wiggles”) and space maintenance to preserve space for future permanent teeth.
Sometimes, nitrous oxide is not enough to help a child through dental treatment. In these cases, general anesthesia is a good option to do so safely in a controlled environment. The treatment is completed in one appointment. We take general anesthesia very seriously and will recommend it only if your child has extensive cavities and is unable to tolerate the treatment awake.
