Children’s Dentistry

Did you know newborns should be seen by a dentist as early as 1 week old? At ENJOY Dental, we recommend mothers with infants bring in their little bundles of joy as soon as possible for evaluation and education. Often, anomalies such as tongue and lip ties that prevent proper breastfeeding can be identified and corrected early. These interventions can help with oral facial development, improved nutrition, and better mother-infant bonding. The sooner we can start screening children, the easier it is to prevent problems from arising and the less fearful children are of the dentist.

Young children are often unable to stay still in the dental chair for prolonged periods of time. Not only that, but young children are easily scared by the sounds and noises of dental instruments. At ENJOY Dental, we have new technology and cutting edge techniques that allow us to help treat small cavities with minimal use of a dental drill. The use of topical medicines over a handful of appointments can stop the cavity in its tracks, and a special filling can be layered over any holes or dark spots left behind in these baby teeth. This can help children keep all their baby teeth healthy and happy without them being afraid of coming to the dentist.

For young children and nervous adults, we offer nitrous sedation. Safe for all ages, nitrous oxide helps patients relax and stay calm throughout the dental appointment. If you are interested in nitrous sedation for your child’s upcoming appointment, call us and let us know so the proper arrangements can be made.

Myobrace is a system to help normalize muscle function in children to help them maximize their potential growth and development. By correcting poor oral habits, training and strengthening oral muscles, and encouraging nasal breathing, Myobrace helps children achieve proper facial growth and improves general health. Myobrace and myofunctional therapy has been growing in popularity worldwide. In children, it has been shown to improve teeth alignment as a favourable consequence from the correction of oral habits, and may replace the need for braces in some children. While it doesn’t guarantee straight teeth, Myobrace lays the foundation for good jaw bone development and proper muscle function, and may speed up the process of braces in the future. Treating children early is vital to helping maximize potential growth and development.

While Myobrace is best for children ages 3-10, its concepts can also be used on adults. Craniofacial development is mostly complete by the teenage years, so other dental appliances may be needed to help maximize the effects of Myobrace.

Sometimes, special dental appliances are necessary to correct jaw alignment without the requirement of surgery. When the top jaw (maxilla) is too small, palatal expanders can be used to gently enlarge the maxilla so that the bottom jaw can fit in properly with the top jaw. When the bottom jaw (mandible) is too far back (retruded), functional appliances can be used to move it forward. While the use of expanders and appliances does not straighten teeth the same way braces do, they do help correct jaw bone alignment and can remove the need to extract teeth for braces.