Infant Oral Care in New York
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that you schedule your child’s first dental visit within six months of the eruption of their first tooth, or by their first birthday – whichever comes first. While this may seem young, there is good reason for it – dental decay can begin as soon as a child’s tooth arrives. Tooth decay, if left untreated, can have serious implications for a child’s long-term health and wellness and can also impact the permanent teeth below.
Dr. Jerry and team want your child to feel comfortable going to the dentist. Early exposure helps us build good relationships with our patients and we pride ourselves on creating positive experiences for your children. Many of our patients look forward to visiting us!
During your child’s first visit, we will check baby teeth for early cavities, show you how to care for a young child’s mouth properly, review developmental milestones, and discuss the importance of good home care and nutrition. This appointment will be quick and fun, and will allow your child to see how easy a visit to the dentist can be. We also encourage parents and caregivers to bring any questions they may have about their child’s oral hygiene, diet and development.
Pediatric Dental Cleanings in New York
While daily care of a child’s teeth is the best way to prevent cavities and decay, routine dental cleanings and check-ups ensure that problems don’t go undetected.
We recommend that our patients visit us for a dental cleaning and check-up every six months. At this appointment, we will keep your child’s teeth healthy by removing plaque build-up and food debris that may be stuck between teeth. This is an important part of dental care because it helps prevent bacteria from continuing to grow in these areas and potentially turning into other dental diseases, such as caries (cavities).
As a Pediatric Dentist, Dr. Jerry is specially trained to monitor the growth and development of your child’s teeth and gums. By scheduling routine dental cleanings and check-ups, you give us the opportunity to check-in with you and your child and review oral hygiene, brushing and flossing techniques, dietary tips for healthy teeth and also identify any areas of concern before they become problematic.
Pediatric Dental Sealants in New York
One of the best preventive measures we can take in dentistry, along with fluoride and good homecare, is placement of dental sealants. The most likely location for a cavity to develop in your child’s mouth is on the chewing surfaces of the back teeth. Run your tongue over this area in your mouth, and you will feel the reason why: these surfaces are not smooth, as other areas of your teeth are. Instead, they are filled with tiny grooves referred to as “pits and fissures,” which trap bacteria and food particles. The bristles on a toothbrush can’t always reach all the way into these dark crevices, creating the perfect conditions for tooth decay.
What’s more, a child’s newly erupted permanent teeth are not as resistant to decay as adult teeth are. The hard enamel coating that protects teeth changes as it ages to become stronger. Fluoride, which is found in toothpaste and some drinking water — and in treatments provided at the dental office — can help to strengthen enamel, but it’s hard to get fluoride into those pits and fissures on a regular basis. Fortunately, there is a good solution to this problem: dental sealants.
Dental sealants are invisible plastic resin coatings that smooth out the chewing surfaces of the back teeth, making them resistant to decay. Placing sealants is a quick and painless procedure that children generally tolerate very well. And, a sealed tooth is far less likely to develop a cavity, require more expensive dental treatment later on, or most importantly, cause your child pain.
Pediatric Dental Fillings in New York
Fillings
Unfortunately, even with the best preventive care and home care routine, cavities and dental decay do sometimes occur. When this happens, it becomes necessary to treat the decay so that it doesn’t cause further damage to the baby tooth or the permanent tooth below. When detected early, most cavities can be treated with a filling.
Why treat a baby tooth? If left untreated, a decayed tooth can become abscessed and painful for our patient. And, while it is true that baby teeth will eventually fall out anyway, these teeth are important for development because they serve as space holders for the permanent teeth which will eventually grow in. If the space is lost, other teeth may shift, preventing permanent teeth from erupting correctly and often leading to a crooked smile.
Crowns
While fillings work well for small to moderate areas of decay, there are situations where a filling is not the best option. When there is not enough healthy tooth left to support a filling, a crown can save the tooth. Crowns are coverings placed over damaged teeth to strengthen them and allow them to look and function normally again.
A crown will often be used instead of a filling on a tooth that has large areas of decay from a cavity that was not caught early enough. Crowns are also used after baby root canals (pulpotomies) and often after an injury that has cracked the tooth. The crown can help to save the tooth when there is too much damage for a simple filling.
Pediatric Dental Imaging in New York
When your child comes in for a routine cleaning or exam, we want to be as thorough as possible and catch any issues before they become problematic. This includes examining the gums, bone structure and developing teeth. X-rays allow us to check under the gums and inside the teeth. They can also help us to see cavities forming between teeth, which is not visible to our naked eyes.
While X-rays provide valuable insight into your child’s dental health, we also understand your concern about the radiation your child receives.
We are committed to making every procedure at our office as safe as possible. The AAPD is a member of the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging — the Image Gently Alliance. Our office supports the standards and recommendations put forth by the Alliance. We strive to optimize the radiation dose used in dental imaging exams performed on children through the following guidelines and standard practices:
- Our office uses Digital X-rays, because digital radiography reduces exposure to radiation by 70-80% of traditional X-rays. Many caregivers are relieved that digital radiography significantly lowers the amount of radiation exposure.
- Our office also uses state-of-the-art technology as an alternative to digital X-rays in some circumstances. Using patented transillumination technology, this device produces images which look like traditional X-rays and provides similar diagnostic information without the use of radiation. Dr. Jerry is always happy to discuss all options with caregivers to determine if this is a good option for your child.
- We select X-rays for individual needs only, not as a routine. We use X-rays only when essential for diagnosis and treatment, based on a review of the patient and their dental history.
- We always use a lead apron and thyroid shield. The thyroid gland in children is particularly sensitive to radiation, and use of a properly positioned shield significantly reduces the dose to the thyroid.
- We child-size the exposure time. Less exposure time is needed for children as oral structures are smaller than in adults.
Special Needs Pediatric Dentist in New York
Patients with special healthcare needs may present more severe dental problems. Combined with anxiety or behavioral concerns, treatment may be more difficult for a provider without specialized experience. Dr. Jerry and team welcome patients with special needs, and provide exceptional care and a comfortable experience for them and their caregivers.
Pediatric dentists are specialty-trained in treating children and adults with special needs, as well as those who may be medically compromised. We are able to give these patients the additional care, attention and time that they may need, in a setting that is warm and understanding. We deliver care safely, compassionately, and with the most fun & least anxiety possible.
Pediatric Tooth Extractions in New York
There are several reasons why your child may need to have a tooth extracted. A tooth may need to be extracted because it is so badly decayed that it cannot be saved. A tooth may also need to be extracted if it is crowding other teeth and causing them to come in crooked, or if it has been severely fractured or damaged.
Regardless of the reason, having a tooth extracted can be a difficult and frightening concept for your child to understand. Dr. Jerry knows how important it is for caregivers to understand the procedure so they can help prepare the child for the experience. He is always available to discuss the process beforehand, and will provide instructions for care after the procedure as well. Our staff is ready to make this experience as comfortable as possible for your child.
In some circumstances, we may refer our patients to an oral surgeon for the extraction.
Pediatric Nitrous Oxide Dentistry in New York
Nitrous oxide is just a fancy term for “laughing gas” or “ice cream air”, as Dr. Jerry likes to call it. 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. Nitrous oxide has been a very safe and effective treatment in pediatric dentistry for decades.
General Anesthesia & IV Sedation in New York
Some children need more than nitrous oxide to get through their dental care comfortably. This can include very young patients, children with significant dental needs, those with high anxiety, or patients with special healthcare needs for whom a traditional dental visit is difficult. For these situations, Dr. Jerry offers IV sedation and general anesthesia when appropriate.
IV (intravenous) sedation places your child in a deeply relaxed, sleep-like state while their treatment is completed. General anesthesia allows your child to be fully asleep, so an entire treatment plan can often be finished safely and comfortably in a single visit. Both options are recommended only when they are the safest and most effective way to deliver the care your child needs.
Your child’s safety is always our first priority. These services are provided with trained anesthesia professionals and careful monitoring throughout the appointment. Dr. Jerry will review your child’s medical history, explain exactly what to expect before, during, and after treatment, and answer any questions you have so that you feel fully informed and at ease.
Silver Diamine Fluoride Treatment in New York
Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) is an antimicrobial liquid that is used to treat hypersensitivity, dental decay, and cavities. It is brushed directly onto the cavity to stop decay and is a painless procedure. This may be a good treatment option for cavities in young children or special needs patients, as SDF can delay more extensive procedures like drilling or sedation. We think of SDF as a band-aid treatment option – it is not a permanent solution to a cavity, but buys the patient time while keeping decay from worsening until a child is old enough for treatment to be more successful, or if the baby tooth falls out.
One downside to SDF is that it blackens the decayed part of the tooth, leaving it discolored. Because SDF is not a permanent solution, the tooth will still need to be monitored by your dentist to ensure the cavity is not growing. But – if the cavity is on a baby tooth which will eventually fall out, or if the tooth is in the back of the mouth and difficult to see, SDF may be a good option.
White fillings and crowns are sometimes placed over teeth that were treated with SDF to reinforce stability of the tooth and mask discoloration.
Curodont Treatment in New York
Curodont is an advanced, drill-free treatment for early tooth decay — before a cavity becomes large enough to need a filling. It is an excellent option for “watch areas” and the early white spots that can appear on a child’s teeth, including after braces.
The treatment works with your child’s own teeth to rebuild weakened enamel. Curodont is brushed directly onto the early lesion, where it forms a tiny scaffold inside the enamel. This scaffold attracts minerals like calcium and phosphate from saliva and guides them back into the tooth — a natural process called remineralization that helps strengthen the enamel from within.
Best of all, the procedure is quick, painless, and non-invasive. There is no drilling, no injections, and no staining of the tooth (unlike some other early-decay treatments). For the right patient, Curodont can stop early decay in its tracks and may help your child avoid more involved treatment later on.
Pediatric Emergency Dentistry in New York
Common injuries to the teeth and oral cavity include everything from soft tissue lacerations of the lips, cheeks, or tongue to chipped, fractured, dislodged, or “knocked out” teeth. Our patients may also require urgent dental care for painful toothaches, dental infections, and mouth ulcerations. The type of dental emergency that your child is experiencing determines the care that’s needed.
If your child has sustained a dental injury, is complaining of a toothache, experiencing swelling, or any other unusual and uncomfortable oral symptoms, contact our office immediately for care.
Whatever the source of your child’s dental emergency, you can depend our team for the prompt attention, skilled guidance, precise diagnostics, and care your child requires. We offer same-day appointments for dental emergencies and provide timely treatment to restore your child’s oral health.
When our office is closed, Dr. Jerry is almost always on-call and you can rely on him to guide you through what could be a startling experience. Just call the office and follow the prompts. In the rare case when Dr. Jerry is not available, your emergency call will be routed to one of his trusted colleagues.