Treatments
We offer in-clinic dental treatment, occasionally with sedation, and specialist dental treatment under general anaesthetic in a hospital setting, if your child requires this type of care.
In The Clinic
Prevention
Prevention is better than cure no matter what field of healthcare. Our staff are all very passionate about having healthy teeth for life. This is a very important part of our practice philosophy and therefore preventive dentistry forms a large part of our care for your child. Our team will analyse your child’s diet and make some small suggestions that can make a very big difference to the health of their teeth. We will also provide oral hygiene instruction or ‘tooth brushing classes’ to ensure that all children (and parents) are aware of the best way to keep the teeth clean and healthy – this is a very fun appointment, and everyone will go away having learned something new. We often recommend fissure sealants for adult molar teeth, and in some cases baby molar teeth to increase protection. This will be discussed with you as necessary.
Management of oral disease
Unfortunately, children can suffer from pain and infection from their teeth. Although baby teeth do fall out, they help hold the space for adult teeth to grow, with some having to last until the age of 12 years. They are very important in your child’s dental development. Our Paediatric Dentists will use clinical examination and radiographs (x-rays) to diagnose any problems with your children’s teeth and formulate an individual treatment plan, including the prevention of future disease, with you to ensure your child’s mouth is healthy.
Under Nitrous Oxide Sedation
For some of our anxious patients, nitrous oxide sedation or ‘happy gas’ can be helpful combined with our behaviour management techniques to allow safe, comprehensive, high quality treatment of dental problems. Our Paediatric Dentists will discuss this option with you if appropriate for your child, or reasons why it is not appropriate to use in all treatment scenarios.
Under General Anaesthetic
For some patients, high quality, safe dental treatment is not possible in the dental chair. In this case, we can offer treatment at three Day Surgery facilities: Sir John Monash Private Hospital in Clayton, Hobson Healthcare in Sydenham and Wyndham Clinic Private Hospital in Werribee. At each facility we work with highly trained specialist anaesthetists that keep you child safe while the dental work is carried out. Further information will be given to you by our team if your child requires this treatment modality.
You will find a wealth of information on how to prepare your child for their general anaesthetic on the websites of the hospitals from where we operate.