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Thumb sucking is a soothing, reflexive behavior, a natural reflex for infants and young children and most children stop on their own. It begins in the womb, before birth. Infants and babies often continue this relaxing practice after birth, which often helps to soothe them into sleep.

Effects of thumb sucking on your child’s teeth and mouth

Parents often worry about the effects of what thumb sucking will mean for your child. When a child continues sucking after they have teeth, it can lead to "crooked" teeth and bite problems ,affecting both baby teeth and permanent teeth.

Thumb sucking may cause problems with the proper growth of the mouth and alignment of the teeth, causing the upper front teeth to tip outward and the upper jaw to narrow in the back. The roof of the mouth can also see changes due to this behavior, that makes intervention necessary in some cases to ensure a child is still able to chew properly.

Although, some of this can be fixed with braces, it can also cause speech problems such as a lisp that may need to be corrected in therapy. Below you will find a few ways thumb sucking affects your child's teeth.

Ways thumb sucking can affect your child’s teeth

• Thumb sucking and the impact it will cause to a child’s alignment-When your child’s teeth grow in, it is normal for the upper teeth to overlap the lower teeth. However, a child’s thumb puts extra pressure on the gums and it can keep the teeth from erupting in the right position for a proper bite.

• How thumb sucking affects a child's bite- An open bite is a common problem when it comes to thumb-suckers. This is when the upper teeth do not cover the lower teeth when child is biting down. Another common problem is a posterior crossbite. This is caused by a narrow palate because of the pressure created by the habit. When a crossbite is present the outer part of the upper molars bite in the center of the lowers.

•  Speech issues -Thumb sucking can cause speech issues. Lisp is another problem that children may encounter and find difficult to overcome.

• Tongue thrusting - When a child suck their thumb for an extended period of time, he/she can develop a secondary habit call tongue thrusting. The child move the tongue forward when swallowing and speaking. Even after stopping thumb sucking, a child will continue with this habit creating long term speech problems, swallowing difficulties and abnormal development of the jaw.

According to the American Dental Association, most children stop thumb-sucking somewhere between 2 and 4 years of age or by the time the permanent teeth are ready to erupt. At this time it could be to late.

Encouraging ways to approach your child to stop thumb sucking

• Use positive reinforcement: praise your child or provide a small reward such as, an extra bedtime story, a trip to the park or placing stickers on a calendar to record the days when your child successfully avoids thumb sucking.
• Offer gentle reminders
• Focus on praising your child when they are not thumb-sucking
• Children often suck their thumbs when feeling insecure or needing comfort. Focus on correcting the cause of the anxiety and provide comfort to your child.
• For an older child, involve him or her in choosing their method of stopping.
• Come up with creative ways to help your child understand that he is growing up and one day wont suck his thumb anymore.

If your concerned about the effect of thumb-sucking on your child's teeth. At little smiles we are here to help and answer any of your concerns.

What to do if nothing works?

Don't worry! For some children, thumb sucking is an incredibly difficult habit to break. Try not to worry, if putting too much pressure on your child to stop thumb sucking it could only delay the process.

In some occasions a appliance called habit breaker is necessary to stop a thumb or finger sucking habit. This is a passive appliance that is placed on the roof the mouth that blocks their fingers from being placed on the palate. Most of the time, a fix appliance (glue to the back molars) requires little maintenance. The habit breaker is placed for a minimum of 3 months. If you have any questions, please give us a call, and we can determine if a habit breaker is right for your child.

Parent’s time to get creative “bye-bye pacifier”

Did you know that, pacifiers can affect your child's teeth essentially the same way as sucking fingers and thumbs? The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) recommends a pacifier over a thumb to comfort new babies since a pacifier is easier to break at an earlier age.

At little smiles, we believe frequent pacifier use over a longer period of time can affect the way a child’s teeth bite together and the growth of the jaw. The upper teeth may tip outward or become crooked and other changes in tooth position or jaw alignment could occur. The earlier a child can stop a sucking habit, the less chance there is that it will lead to orthodontic problems down the road.

What should you do if your child wont give up their pacifier?

We suggest our parent's find out what causes your child to cry out for their binky. Once you have identified which situations triggers your child's desire for a pacifier, be ready to replace it with comfort and reassurance. It can be helpful to swap out the pacifier with a transitional object such as a cuddly doll or stuffed toy. Additionally, distracting your child with a fun activity can help take their mind off the desired Binky. Be sure to offer positive reinforcement and praise when your child sleeps through the night or self-soothes without his or her pacifier.

Another idea is to take your child and pacifier to the store to pick out a new toy to replace their pacifier. There are many experienced store clerks who are used to this trick and are willing to play along when your child “trades in” the pacifier for a new toy of her choosing. We have spoken with other parents that have thrown a “Goodbye Binky” party, set out the pacifier for the Binky Fairy or donated the Binky to children who need it.  Pretty creative!

Summary:

Positive approach and focus on praising your child when thumb sucking or weening off your child's binky (pacifier) is key to  breaking habits. At little smiles we can assist in encouraging children to stop a sucking habit and discuss each child's particular situation.  We can explain the effects on teeth to your child in an appropriate manner during your regular check-ups. This, along with support from parents and caregivers, helps many children quit their thumb-sucking or pacifier habits.

If you have any questions please feel free to call us or request an appointment online.

Timing is everything-even when it comes to your child's orthodontic treatment. Though an orthodontist can enhance a smile at any age, there is an optimal time period to begin your child's early intervention treatment.  At little smiles our goal is to provide both timely detection of problems and greater opportunity for more effective treatment to benefit your child.

Your Child's First Orthodontist visit: When should your child visit an Orthodontist?

Orthodontics can play a huge role in young children’s appearance and health. In fact, the American Association of orthodontics recommends that an orthodontist examine a child’s teeth by the time they are 7 years old, even while baby teeth are still in the mouth. At Little Smiles we can help identify bite issues at an early age and will refer your child to our orthodontist at the appropriate time. While your child’s teeth may look straight, there may be underlying problems with the way adult teeth erupt, a misaligned bite, the relationship of the upper and lower jaw, tooth crowding, or problems due to thumb sucking and other habits.

At Little Smiles our orthodontist can pinpoint these and start correcting them to avoid potential problems for future adult teeth and by age 7, enough permanent teeth have emerged for your orthodontist to evaluate relationships developing between teeth, jaw and bite and make sure all will continue to develop as they should.

Phase-one of early orthodontic treatment: interceptive Orthodontics

Many children require the guidance of dental and facial development as a first phase of orthodontic treatment. Interceptive orthodontics also known as early treatment, preventative or phase one treatment, typically begins around age 7, while your child still has most of their primary or baby teeth. This interceptive orthodontic treatment helps prevent severe problems later on, and gives an orthodontist control over where the permanent teeth come in by addressing the structure of the jaw and teeth while baby teeth are still in the mouth.

By age 7, your child’s mouth has grown and has enough sound structure to know how it will develop as the permanent teeth start to emerge. Our pediatric dentist and orthodontics goal is to treat certain bites issues at an early age, while your child is still growing. If certain problems are treated at this earlier stage, our orthodontist can reduce the possibility of needing more severe treatment options in the future. This is all commonly known as phase-one or interceptive orthodontics.

Benefits to early intervention: phase-one

• Determine a better prognosis for how the permanent teeth will develop
• Correct habits such as thumb sucking or tongue pushing
• Correct bite problems, open bite, cross bite or deep bite
• Guide the growth of the jaw to accommodate emerging teeth
• Lower the risk of damage to any protruding teeth
• Create a more pleasing and functional arrangement of teeth, lips and face
• Alleviate future and possibly more invasive, dental correction
• Improve your child’s appearance and self-esteem

First phase treatment is initiated to prevent a problem from developing, intercept any developing problems and to guide the growth of the jaw bones that support the teeth known as growth modification.  Without phase-one treatment our orthodontist has determined that your child's problem, if left alone, will create an unhealthy environment for the growth development of your child's teeth, gums, jaws, and face.

Your child's treatment will be timed to predictable stages of dental development to provide the greatest potential for improvement and correction of your child's bite. We believe that most patients will require a second phase of treatment, often with traditional braces, to complete the tooth and jaw alignment that was started during the first phase treatment.

Introducing your child's second phase in orthodontic treatment

 Remembering phase-one as we previously mentioned, a first phase of treatment is done while the child has many or most of their primary or "baby" teeth. Phase-two typically takes place when your child has most of all their permanent teeth. This phase in orthodontic treatment and a child's growth are meant to complement each other. Phase-two treatment moves permanent teeth into their final position, correct minor bite issues, and continue to increase your child's self-esteem.

Our goals of phase-two treatment is to establish a proper relationship of teeth and jaws, so that they work correctly, correct alignment of the teeth for a beautiful smile, and position the teeth and jaws for an attractive face and profile. By timing treatment to stages of dental development, our orthodontics can take advantage of your child's oral growth and development. Problems that can be treated in a growing child in time may alleviate more drastic and invasive procedures needed later.

We understand orthodontic treatment is not for everyone. Each patient has a unique problem that requires a unique treatment plan. What is right for one child may not be right for another.

Simple ways that your child may require early orthodontics treatment

• Open bite
• Deep bites
• Cross bites
• Overjets
• Crowding
• Spacing
• Teeth that don't emerge in the right sequence
• Missing teeth
• Thumb, finger, or pacifier, sucking that is affecting the teeth or jaw growth
• Ankylosed teeth: a condition where the tooth stops erupting and stays in the same place, causing the permanent tooth to be displaced upon emergence.

Whether or not our orthodontist determines that your child needs braces, you will get the peace of mind that early detection and potential treatment will result in a lifelong smile for your child!

Summary:

Early orthodontics intervention can benefits your child during growing and developing of the teeth and bones. Your child may not need orthodontic treatment immediately, yet a consultation from our Little Smiles team can inform you how an we can help your child, if future treatment is necessary. By been inform, about the specifics need of your child, you will have peace of mind knowing  the steps to follow to maintain a lifelong smiles for your child! Feel free to call and speak directly to us to schedule your free consultation!

Your children’s first dental appointment is a big step in the development of an overall oral health. We want to help you navigate this process and take the unknown away from this great experience. Our goal is to make your child’s first visit all about him or her and make the entire visit as easy for the parents as possible. Little Smiles is a place where children feel-at-home and start their journey of a lifetime of good oral health. The dental and emotional needs of young children are very specific. These needs are better addressed when we only focus on your child. By being prepared for this first visit, we are able to build trust and confidence with our patients while educating parents and caregivers.

Getting your child ready for the first dental appointment

Promoting a positive attitude towards oral hygiene at home helps your child feel familiar with the importance of dental health. Explain to your child how important it is to keep their teeth and gums healthy and how our dental team is going to help them with that.

Many children are nervous about dental visits because they don’t know what to expect. We suggest exploring our Little Smiles website, Facebook, Instagram or reading a good first trip to the dentist book (peppa pig, Dr. Seuss) are all great way to start. Here is a link to more information to help prepare your child for their first visit to our kind and compassionate team.

Getting ready for your child first dental appointment

Pediatric dentistry focuses on children and special needs patients. When you make the decision to have your child be seen by a pediatric dentist, you are giving he or she a great gift. Once you make this decision, it is easy to contact us or you can request an appointment online or call us directly.

At the first call, we want to make sure we answer all your questions. Also we will ask you some information to help you make the first visit an easy process.

Information that we may ask for could be:

• Patient name
• Patient date of birth
• Phone number
• Parents name
• Employer
• Dental insurance carrier
• Dental insurance subscriber
• Email address

Once your appointment is scheduled, our staff will work on the background to get ready for your child’s first appointment. As part of the background work, we will ask you to fill welcome forms online. This will speed up your check in time, so your child is seen as soon as possible.  If you are not able to fill the forms online, we will provide you with a tablet to fill them in at the office the day of the appointment.

Before your child’s appointment day, you may have multiple phone interactions with our staff. This interaction could be with our schedule coordinator to go over details and confirming your appointment. Also, you may receive a call from our insurance coordinator. She will be helping you get the most out of your insurance coverage.

Being prepared for the first visit will help your child during the entire appointment.

Once you arrive to Little Smiles your child can enjoy movies and games in our lobby while you do the short checking process. At that time, we will ask for a photo ID and dental insurance card (if apply). Our schedule coordinator will go over some detail of the services that we will provide. The last part of the checking in will be signing the online forms and we will take a picture of your child for his dental record.

With these few steps, your child will be on his or her way for our clinical area.

The dental cleaning is done in a fun environment for your child!

The best way to start a child dental experience is with a hygiene appointment. It will help your child get comfortable with the dental team.  During this part of the appointment, your child will be joined by one of our dental assistants. She will walk your child step by step through the entire dental appointment. We encourage our parents to join their child.

Before we start the dental checkup, one of our assistants, will sit down and help your child feel more relaxed by describing to your child about how we plan on cleaning and counting their teeth by using kid-friendly language.

In some occasions, your child may be intimidated by the dental chair. And that is ok. If this happens we may ask the parent to sit in the chair in front of the doctor and do what we call a "knee to knee" where the child may sit or lay on their parents lap during the cleaning/exam.

During the exam, we will check how the teeth are coming in, check to see whether or not there any cavities or any signs of cavity development and how to prevent them.  Also, we will check your child's bite, and look for any potential problems with the gums, jaw, and oral tissues.

During the appointment, we will educate parents about oral health care basics for children and discuss dental developmental issues and answer any questions.

A job well done!

Your child’s dental appointment can not be completed without a price for their work well done. Once your child is finished with their dental exam and fluoride treatment, he/she will get a token that can be used to get a prize from our toy machine. For our youngest patients, this is the highlight of the appointment.

Your child’s appointment is almost completed. The last part of the visit is to see our Treatment Coordinator to schedule your next six months recare appointment. She will also schedule any follow up appointments recommended by the doctor.

Summary

The fear of the unknown can make us avoid some necessary experiences. We don’t want this to be the case for your child’s first dental appointment.  At Little Smiles, we will work hard to make this experience as easy as possible and provide you the necessary knowledge and help to make this process stress free. Having a stream line experience will have your child feel more comfortable and prepared for the start of a great dental experience. If you have any questions please feel free to call us or request an appointment online.

Waterlase Dentistry is an advanced form of dental treatment that carries a number of important benefits for our patients. Waterlase is the use of laser energy, combined with a spray of water, a process called Hydro Photonics, to perform a wide range of dental procedures more comfortably for your child. With many procedures, it’s possible to use very little or no anesthetic at all.

Why choose Waterlase Dentistry? less pain, faster recovery

As pediatric dentist, providing primary and comprehensive dental treatment for infants, children, teens and special care patients is of utmost importance. With antsy, impatient young patients in the chair Waterlase dentistry will equip with the ability to deliver comfortable, quick, minimally invasive dentistry.

Tongue-Tie Corrected with Simple Laser Procedure

In recent times, there has been increased interest about the topic of tongue tie and breastfeeding. With so much talk and conflicting information about it, it’s no wonder many mothers feel overwhelmed and confused about how tongue tie may relate to any breastfeeding issues she may be experiencing. With more information, you can work out what it may mean for your breastfeeding relationship with your baby. Little Smiles is here to help you understanding the meaning of Tongue-Tie and what is to have a simple laser procedure.

Ankyloglossia (Tongue-tie) refers to a congenitally short lingual frenulum (the little piece of tissue connecting the tongue to the floor of your mouth). Tongue-tie is a thickened, tightened, or shortened frenum which limits movement of the tongue. In infants, this restriction of movement is a concern, because it can impede nursing or bottle feeding. This condition decreases the mobility of the tongue and can seriously impact a baby's ability to breast feed and may cause speech issue later in life.

In severe situations, where it is impacting the child's ability to eat, treatment with a frenectomy is necessary to allow for proper nutrition through breast-feeding. With a simple laser procedure the problem can be solved quickly and comfortably for the baby (and the parents!)

Signs that a baby's tongue-tie is causing problems with breastfeeding

• Painful breast-feeding with nipple pain and possible damage
• Nipples that look flat after breast-feeding
• Baby loses suction while feeding and sucks in air
• Baby makes clicking sound when feeding
• Failure to thrive and gain weight even with normal amount of feeding
• Baby cannot poke his tongue out beyond his gum or lips
• Baby's tongue cannot move sideways
• Heart-shaped or notched tip of the tongue
• Recurrent blocked ducts or mastitis (inflammation of the breast)

Soft Tissue Surgery Made Simple

The differences between a laser and a scalpel when used for oral surgical procedures is stark(abrupt). While scalpels have a long list of physiological and psychological effects on the patient, Waterlase laser dentistry enables you to quickly cut, sculpt or modify soft tissue when needed.

During many procedures, managing the soft tissue can be problematic if it begins to bleed or respond unpredictably. With Waterlase dentistry lasers, achieving hemostasis and controlling the surgical zone are as easy as tapping a pre-set on the laser’s touch screen. Most importantly, laser soft tissue surgery minimizes pain, discomfort, and anxiety.

For children, a visit to the dentist can be an overwhelming experience. At Little Smiles, we want your child to feel relaxed and comfortable from beginning to end, and laser soft tissue surgery is another procedure we offer to ensure that your child goes through a speedy recovery with minimal pain.

Check out below, our laser assisted soft tissue surgery

Is Waterlase Safe?

Waterlase is cleared for numerous dental applications that can be performed on both pediatric and adult patients. One of the Waterlase’s greatest strengths is how precise it is!

Summary:

If you’re interested in WaterLase laser dentistry for you child, Dr. Cruz or Dr. Bolivar will examine your child and come up with an accurate diagnosis. If WaterLase is the best treatment option, we will walk you through everything you need to know to help you make a confident decision about your child’s smile. For more questions you can call and speak directly to us!