Menu

Call today ! (618) 988-8130

Hello Parents

Hello Parents

Trying to find a kids dentist can be difficult and time consuming. It is important to remember that cavities in children’s teeth are caused by snacks that are sticky and sugary liquids. Or when infants go to sleep with juice or milk in sip-cups.

Preschoolers get sweet treats as rewards, and who-knows-what at the grandparent’s house. Grade-schoolers have colas and candy on demand. Teens are hooked on sweet tea.

Sugar is a kids dentist’s worst nightmare. Sugar is everywhere and most of us seek it, including our children. So, as parents working to keep our children’s teeth healthy, what are our options? Following a healthy teeth lifestyle and visiting your kids dentist twice a year can do wonders for your child’s teeth!

Self-Help

Pediatric Dentist Diet….

Twenty minutes after a child eats a sticky snack or drinks a sugary liquid, oral bacteria turn the sugar into acid. That acid dissolves the tooth surface and a cavity or weak spot develops. So, to protect against childhood cavities, parents can greatly limit a child’s access to sweet snacks and liquids.

Older children, especially teens, can be educated about the twenty-minute acid cycle that follows sugar consumption. Sipping a sugary beverage over a forty-minute period has three times the cavity-forming impact as drinking the same amount in a few minutes!

Oral Hygiene Ideas….

Help your children learn to help themselves by making their personal oral hygiene pattern a fun routine for everyone. In fact, take them to buy a new toothbrush and their own tube of paste.

Inexpensive timers give kids a target period for brushing. Or, get them a spin brush. Spin brushes are effective, easy to use, and low-cost.

Additionally, a fluoride rinse is the “bedtime mouthwash” that works very well against cavities. It is also great for all children who will reliably spit after one minute and not swallow. Any fluoride toothpaste is advised if no more than a pea-sized amount is applied for younger children. Most importantly, parents should be positive role models for effective dental care. 

Fluoride

Your kid’s dentist highly recommends the use of fluoride. Fluoride is a mineral that naturally occurs in all-natural water sources.

Medical Science has known for many years that fluoride helps prevent dental decay by making teeth stronger. The enamel of a tooth can become stronger with fluoride. This happens when fluoride is swallowed daily in small doses while the teeth are forming.

Parents in Southern Illinois can be reassured that the public water supply provides the optimal amount of fluoride for tooth formation. This is beneficial for healthy dental development.

After teeth grow in, fluoride can become concentrated in the outer surface of the enamel and help prevent tooth decay. In addition to our water supply, low doses of topical fluoride are found in most kinds of toothpaste. So, when cavities seem to be an individual’s problem, we recommend an over–the–counter fluoride rinse such as Act or Fluoriguard.

Because swallowing too much fluoride is toxic, high-dose topical fluoride must be applied by health professionals. It also must be controlled by prescription when recommended for home use. Children routinely receive high-dose topical fluoride during their preventative cleaning/examination appointment in our practice.

Our dental hygienists, Shanna and Nicole, are highly skilled. They are now using fluoride varnish. This varnish delivers a strong and long-lasting dose of fluoride to the teeth. They still use gels and foams in trays. However, the varnish with a higher concentration of fluoride can be held closer to the tooth surface for a longer duration.

Sealants

The chewing surfaces of most adult back teeth have narrow grooves that trap debris. Children have trouble keeping these pits and fissures clean. That makes this area a prime location for cavities to occur.

Dental professionals and kids dentist can super-clean these pits and grooves. Then, they apply a hard plastic coating to seal out the acids that cause cavities. The fee for a dental sealant is 30% of the fee for the restoration that would be required to fix a cavity in the same location.

Dr. Loughran and the hygienists evaluate the condition of each sealant at a child’s six-month dental check-up. Additionally, they repair or replace sealants as needed, without additional charge. Protecting your child’s teeth is a fantastic way to ensure they keep smiling happily and healthily.

Regular Dental Check-up (youth)

pediatric dental cleaningCentral to the child’s visit to our practice is oral hygiene instruction. This helps the young patient to understand their own responsibility for dental health. It also helps them to start feeling personally responsible for it.

Our dental hygienists, Shanna and Nicole, are mothers with young children. As a result, each is skilled at relating to young patients on the child’s level.

Age-appropriate home-care techniques are demonstrated and discussed. Children can view their own teeth on a television monitor. This is made possible by an intra-oral camera or digital radiography sensor.

This makes the information more real to them. This technology is most advantageous during the pediatric dentist’s exam if restorative treatment is recommended. We show parents the dental conditions being assessed because we want them to see what the pediatric dentist sees.

The cleaning-exam experience with Shanna or Nicole begins as early as the age of three. Most importantly, this exam can even be conducted in a parent’s lap or with a parent present. Our kids dentist creates a climate that fosters positive feelings about professional care and an expectation for lifelong dental health.

Dental Treatment

pediatric dentist patient

Cavities are common in adult teeth. Fixing the problem is important as adult teeth should last a lifetime. What about baby teeth…… are they worth restoring when a cavity develops?

In addition to being needed for chewing, baby teeth have far-reaching importance in child development. The back baby teeth hold the first molar in position, keeping those teeth from drifting until the other adult teeth erupt. Also, the roots of baby teeth provide an opening for the timely appearance of permanent teeth.

The growth of an adult tooth can be delayed by years if the baby tooth above is lost early. This is usually due to decay.

The front baby teeth are needed for proper development of a child’s speech. Baby teeth are essential for proper development of the oral cavity. This is recognized by both kids dentists and pediatric dentists. From the child’s point of view, having healthy teeth and a good smile boosts their self-esteem. On the other hand, decaying or painful teeth have the opposite effect.

Sometimes cavities in baby teeth can be confidently ignored because that is the better option due to the age of the child. In our practice, parents know if, and when, it is best to fix a cavity in the baby tooth when aided by Dr. Loughran’s shared observations. When baby teeth must be restored, parents are welcome in the treatment room. 

Our dental assistant, Melissa, and Dr. Loughran are parents themselves. Melissa and Dr. Loughran utilize time-proven methods to make every child’s treatment appointment a positive and successful experience for everyone. Only a handful of young patients each year are referred out of the practice to “the baby dentist” for attention.

Our Hours

Monday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM


Tuesday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM


Wednesday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM


Thursday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM


Fri-Sun: Closed

Dental forms
Cosmetic Dentistry
dental assistants
appointment
  • Main Office

    200 S 16th St Herrin, Illinois

  • Call Us

    (618) 988-8130

  • Email Us

    office@myteethforever.com

WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU

Do you have a comment, question or concern? We always appreciate feedback and we would be more than happy to answer any of your questions about our office or helping you improve your smile