Toothbrush Care

Brushing your teeth plays an important everyday role for personal oral hygiene and effective plaque removal. Your child may not give much thought to cleaning his or her toothbrush; however appropriate toothbrush care and maintenance are important considerations for oral hygiene. At Kidz Connextion, we want you to encourage your child to know when to replace, clean, and store their toothbrush.

The American Dental Association recommends replacing your toothbrush approximately every three to four months or sooner if bristles are frayed. However, toothbrushes will wear out more rapidly depending on factors unique to each patient. It is also important to never share a toothbrush because this practice could be a concern for people with compromised immune systems or existing infectious diseases. If your toothbrush comes in contact with another, thoroughly rinse the brush with warm tap water to remove any remaining toothbrush and debris. When you are done using the toothbrush, store it in an upright position and allow the toothbrush to air-dry until used again.

If you have further questions regarding toothbrush care, give us a call. To learn more about our pediatric services here at the office visit www.kidzconnextion.com for more information. To schedule an appointment in Phoenix AZ, call 623-223-1001.

Safe Sedation with Nitrous Oxide

At Kidz Connextion, Dr. John Graneto safely uses nitrous oxide, sometimes called “laughing gas,” to control patient pain and anxiety during a procedure. It is not intended to put your child to sleep and he or she will be able to hear and respond to any requests or directions Dr. Graneto may have. Your child’s speech may be slightly slurred, and responses may be slower than usual, but in general, this practice is safe and should leave your child feeling relaxed and cooperative.

For people who avoid dentists like the plague, or for the restless child in the dental chair, sedation dentistry can be used for everything from invasive procedures to a simple tooth cleaning. How it’s used depends on the severity of the fear. To administer nitrous oxide Dr. John Graneto will ask the patient to breathe normally through the nose, and within a few short minutes, he or she should start to feel the effects of nitrous oxide. It’s normal to feel light-headed or a tingling in the arms and legs. Ultimately, the goal is to feel calm and comfortable.

If you have questions about sedation dentistry or nitrous oxide, please give us a call. To learn more about our pediatric services here at the office visit www.kidzconnextion.com for more information. To schedule an appointment in Phoenix AZ, call 623-223-1001.

Why Your Child May Need a Space Maintainer

A space maintainer is an appliance that is custom-made by our doctors at Kidz Connextion in acrylic or metal material. It can be either removable or cemented in a child’s mouth. Its purpose is to keep the space open to allow the permanent tooth to erupt and come into place. Baby teeth are important to the development of the teeth, jaw bones and muscles and help to guide permanent teeth into position when baby teeth are lost.

Children may need space maintainers if they lose a tooth early or have a baby (primary) tooth extracted due to dental decay. If both of these issues are the case, it is important to know the benefits of using a space maintainer and how it can help support your child’s dental health. If the open space is not maintained, then teeth can shift into the open space and orthodontic treatment may be required. Once the space maintainer is made by the doctor, it may take the child a few days to get accustomed to wearing the appliance whether it is removable or fixed.

There are various types of space maintainers, and in some cases, more than one technique may be tried. With the proper treatment and home care, together we can maintain your child’s dental health. To learn more about our pediatric services here at the office visit www.kidzconnextion.com for more information. To schedule an appointment in Phoenix AZ, call 623-223-1001.

Intraoral Cameras

The Kidz Connextion Dental Care clinics in Phoenix feature the latest technology for diagnosing children’s dental problems and planning their treatment. Among them is the intraoral camera. Promoted as improving patient compliance in adults, the intraoral camera is not only an advanced tool for observation, in a pediatric clinic it allows parents to participate more fully in making medical decisions for their child.

Intraoral cameras are long, thin, handheld devices which can be moved within a patient’s mouth to provide a full view. They come with their own LEDs, so the high-resolution images they produce are in real color, despite showing areas of the mouth which are nearly always dark. The images are transmitted to screens in our office, allowing doctors, patients, and caregivers to see the same thing, which makes dentist appointments more interesting for children and aids in communication between adults.

That the intraoral camera produces digital images also allows us to make use of the suite of software we have available for recording and predicting changes in children’s mouths. Other tools, such as x-rays, are still necessary for a full diagnostic, but the intraoral camera is one of the best tools yet developed for surface-level observation.

Kidz Connextion Dental Care maintains offices around Phoenix. To find out more, visit our website at KidzConnextion.com.