The Early Years: Dental Care from the First Tooth

Often times parents have questions about when to take their children to the dentist for the first time and how best to help them care for their teeth. Let's break it down to a few easy to follow tips!

1. Your baby should visit the dentist when they get their first tooth or when they hit their first birthday, whatever milestone comes first. To know a little bit more about what their first dental visit will be like, check out our blog here.
2. Be sure to keep your children going to see the dentist every 6 months for their regular check-ups. With regular visits, by the time your child is three or four, they will be able to more easily sit through their hygiene appointment!
3. Make sure that your kids drink water in between meals and snacks. This should make up the majority of their hydration as it helps to neutralize the pH of the mouth and keeps the teeth clean throughout the day. 
4. Choose healthy snacks for your kids, based on their ages. Fresh fruit and vegetables are better than juices and fruit snacks and cheeses are great at neutralizing pH levels in the mouth also. For a more in depth snack guide and tips from Dr. Hollaway on how best to help care for your kid's teeth, click here.

At Grand Avenue Dental Care, we care greatly about you and your child's dental health. With early dental visits and healthy at-hom care, your child's dental health will be on the right track. If you ever have any questions about your child's teeth or oral health, please ask!

Sharing Smiles from Day One - Your Child's FIRST Dental Visit.

Dr. Hollaway with her little patient, Avery, after her first dental visit!

Has your child already hit one of these milestones?

• Did they get their first tooth in?
• Have they had their first birthday yet?

If they have, they should also be hitting another milestone:

Their FIRST dental visit!

That's right, at Grand Avenue Dental Care, we recommend that you take your child to the dentist when they get their first tooth or when they turn one year old - whichever happens first. 

This is what we call our ‘knee-to-knee’ exam and it’s a great chance for a dentist to take a look at how your child’s teeth are developing. It also allows the child to start getting comfortable at the dentist, and the parent the opportunity to ask questions about at-home care and eating habits. 

Here is Dr. Hollaway performing a knee-to-knee exam for Avery, while Avery rests on her Dad's lap. 

The goal of this early exam is prevent decay and development problems and to develop a relationship with the patient from a young age. We hope to start the relationship early and encourage even our youngest patients to come every 6 months for their preventative visits. 

For more information about other issues or concerns you might want to discuss with your dentist early, check out an earlier blog post here.

If your child has hit one of their FIRST milestones and still needs their first dental appointment,

call us today at 262-673-7826 to schedule!

Sharing Smiles Daily - Digital Edition!

We did mail out our newsletter a few weeks ago but we thought we would share it here as well, just in case anyone missed it! Enjoy and if anyone ever has an idea for our newsletter or our blog, please email Erin at erin@drpeterwilk.com and we will do what we can to get the info for you!

Have You Scheduled Your Child's Summer Dental Visit?

Summer is here! And it’s almost official (June 21!). So, it’s time for staying up late, bonfires on weeknights and crazy camp schedules, right? Well, yes. Many of us at Grand Avenue Dental Care have young children and understand the busy-ness of summer all too well. That is why we recommend that you schedule your family's dental visits right away. 

For some of us, we have young ones who are just starting 4k or kindergarten this coming year. For these kiddos, there is usually a dental examination that is required by the school district before registration. For others, we know that our kids are overdue for their cleaning or they might need some dental treatment to address some areas of decay. In both of these situations, you should call your dentist now and get these appointments scheduled. 

We all know how the summer can fly. Before we know it, it will be August 15th and we will have mere weeks before the chaos of the school year starts back up. This is the kind of situation that we want our patients to avoid. By calling to schedule your appointments now, you will reserve your ideal time, check another to-do item off of your list and be able to enjoy the rest of your summer as lackadaisically as you can. No rush involved. Sounds nice, right?

As a way to celebrate all that is summer, we are offering a Summer Sealant Special!  A sealant is a bit of material that is painted on to the biting surface of the tooth to protect the grooves of the tooth from decay. They are a wonderful thing for both kids and adults, but can be particularly helpful in preventing cavities in younger children who are still perfecting their brushing habits! 

From now until September 1st, 2018, all sealants will be 1/2 off! That’s a savings of over $25.00!

Call us today and take advantage of our Summer Sealant Special and get one more step closer to knocking that to-do list out of the park!

Get your Dad in for a Dental Visit this Father’s Day!

In most families, it is typical that the wife or mom will be the one to arrange doctor and dental appointments for the family. While this is a good thing, it can sometimes mean that Dad doesn’t get his appointment scheduled. So, this father’s day, why not try to help your dad take that first step towards a healthy mouth!

Usually there are a couple of reasons why dad won’t schedule his dental appointment. 

1. Time - Between work and family, there isn’t a lot of time to get in
2. Fear of Judgement - They haven’t been in a while and they are worried of what someone might think or say
3. Prioritizing themselves - Just like moms, dad’s can also tend to put other things in front of their own health at times

Why Grand Avenue Dental Care might be a good fit for your Dad (or husband)!

1. We have late hours! We are open until 7:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, so there is lots of time for Dad to come over after work.
2. NO Judgement! We never judge anyone who walks through our door. Just by coming, we think that you are taking your next step in improving your oral health, and we are all about that! Welcome to our office!
3. We treat each patient like a person. Each of us should take the time to take care of ourselves and we’ll be sure to encourage your dad to take care of himself. 
4. We serve cookies! (Let's be real ... sometimes we all need a nudge...) =) 

Regardless of whether your dad schedules a dental appointment or not, having a conversation with him about his oral health is a great thing to do and it shows him that you care. If you or your dad need anything, we are always happy to welcome new patients! We hope all of the dads out there have a wonderful and relaxing weekend with their families!

From all of us at Grand Avenue Dental Care, Happy Father’s Day!