Have you heard of lasers being utilized in pediatric dentistry? We aren’t talking about the red security alarm lasers that make the burning hiss sound in Mission Impossible movies when Tom Cruise is conducting international spy feats that boggle the mind. Instead, we’re talking about highly specialized, cutting-edge technology that is specifically designed for soft tissue procedures and treatments. These exceptional lasers are called CO2 lasers, carbon dioxide lasers, and they serve specific and important purposes in the world of pediatric dentistry.
Lasers have been a documented part of dentistry practice since the 1980s, although some sources indicate even as far back as the 1960s or 1970s. Certain dental procedures require cutting of the soft tissue, and lasers developed to be more accurate, less painful, and quicker to utilize than the traditional knife and scalpel.
In laser dentistry, there are basically three different types of lasers available. The dental diode laser, the erbium laser, and the carbon dioxide laser. The carbon dioxide laser has been used in dentistry procedures since 1991. In our pediatric dental offices, we have the carbon dioxide LightScalpel laser, and its use has helped countless children swallow, eat, and breastfeed more easily via lip and tongue tie releases, also known as frenectomies.
What is a Carbon Dioxide Laser?
The diode lasers are more common due to the fact that they are a more economical purchase for a practice. However, the diode laser tip will become white hot to burn the tissue for the procedure and is not particularly fast. A procedure for an upper lip tie can take anywhere from 60 seconds up to two full minutes.
Erbium lasers possess the capability to perform both soft tissue and hard tissue procedures, however, the bleeding that accompanies erbium laser use in a soft tissue procedure exceeds the accompanying bleeding when a carbon dioxide laser is used.
Carbon dioxide lasers work to cut soft tissue by vaporizing instead of burning. CO2 lasers vaporize the intended area and in conjunction coagulate the tissue, resulting in little to no bleeding, and work quickly to get the job completed. An upper lip tie procedure with the CO2 laser can be completed as quickly as 20 seconds. Treatments with the CO2 lasers are less invasive because they are quick and able to be incredibly accurate without disturbing the surrounding tissue, furthermore, they do not generate heat such as the diode lasers do.
For What Procedures Do We Utilize the CO2 Laser in Our Offices?
We employ the CO2 laser to perform a frenectomy. What is a frenectomy? A frenectomy is the name of the procedure we perform to release a lip tie or a tongue tie. This begs the questions, ‘what is a lip tie?’ and ‘what is a tongue tie?’
Take a moment to consider the anatomy of your mouth. Inside the top of your lip, and also the bottom of your lip, there is a thin flap of tissue that bridges your lip to the gum line. This is called the labial frenulum. Similarly, there is a thin flap of tissue connecting the floor of your mouth to the underneath of your tongue, this is referred to as the lingual frenulum.
The labial frenulum should be thin and have some stretch to allow your lips to puff out a bit. Additionally, a long and thin lingual frenulum allows the tongue the mobility necessary to swallow and move chewed foods around in our mouths. However, some of us are born with a labial frenulum or lingual frenulum that is short and/or tight which in turn impedes mobility and movement. To be clear, a short or tight labial or lingual frenulum isn’t automatically a problem. Nevertheless, if your baby is having trouble creating a proper latch for breastfeeding, or your toddler is experiencing difficulty with chewing and swallowing you should ask your pediatric dentist for a consult on the matter.
What is the Healing Process After a CO2 Laser Frenectomy?
The actual procedure is very quick, but we don’t just send you on your way with a pat on the back and well wishes. The healing process is quicker than it would have been with a diode laser or a scalpel, but here’s what you can expect:
You will observe a wound in the area where the frenulum was, typically in the shape of a diamond. This wound, over time, will reform a new frenulum that should be longer and allow greater mobility.
As you take note of the diamond-shaped wound, over the course of a few days it will form what is called a “wet scab”. The wound (wet scab) will turn white, yellow, and even a greenish color. Do not be alarmed by the green, this is not a sign of infection, merely the natural part of the healing process for a wound inside of the mouth.
You can expect the healing process to take a few weeks. We will remain with you every step of the way, providing wound management, and education about exercises for the lips and tongue post-procedure that enhance success. Call us today to schedule your child’s dental appointment at one of our three clinics in Bountiful, Taylorsville, or Herriman.
Are CO2 Lasers Safe?
Unequivocally, yes. Our LightScalpel CO2 Laser is FDA cleared for various dental laser surgeries including frenectomies. Thousands of parents in the South Davis County area, and from beyond have trusted us with their little ones to make this treatment as quick and painless as possible.
If you believe your child has a lip tie or tongue tie that is impacting their mouth motor functioning, give us a call! Our pediatric dentists are specially trained in the use of the CO2 LightScalpel Laser and compassionate to the concerns of parents. Come in for a consultation and we can discuss whether a frenectomy is an appropriate course of action for your child.
A major part of maintaining dental health for both kids and adults is prevention. Prevention encompasses the daily routines of brushing and flossing that are vital, and furthermore prevention includes biannual checkups and professional cleanings.
Unfortunately, the longer you put off trips to the dentist, the more likely your child is to need even more dental work. Is fear, anxiety, or dread preventing your kids from receiving the dental care you know they need? Sedation dentistry may be exactly what your child needs. Here, we’ve lined out the five major reasons why sedation dentistry can help your kids (all these reasons can be applied to adults suffering dental anxiety as well).
1. Sedation Can Quell a Sensitive Gag Reflex
The gag reflex is a protective instinct of our bodies. It serves to protect the airway from choking and help expel any food or substance that our body believes may be dangerous. While gagging has a natural learning curve as our children begin eating solid foods, some kids have a more sensitive gag reflex than others.
A sensitive gag reflex can inhibit even simple dental procedures such as a cleaning and make the experience deeply uncomfortable for your child and more time consuming because of the interruption and necessary moment for recovery. Even a low level of sedation can help suppress the sensitivity of the gag reflex thereby allowing your pediatric dentist and/or dental hygienist to work carefully and quickly with the minimum amount of discomfort for your child.
If you know or suspect that your child has a sensitive gag reflex, please tell us about it. We can inform you about available sedation options that are appropriate to address this concern.
2. Sedation Helps Dental Procedures Proceed More Quickly
We are committed to providing your child with a positive dental experience. We demonstrate that by the time and thought we invested in creating an inviting atmosphere in our offices, and selecting staff who love children and have completed the appropriate training and certifications to work in a pediatric dentistry. We spend time, gladly, to provide for the comfort and reassurance of your child while in our offices. This is our job and we do not begrudge the time necessary to ensure your child feels secure. Nevertheless, for children who are anxious, or who struggle to sit still for a procedure, sedation dentistry is typically a time saver. Sedation dentist will allow the procedure to move along smoothly with little to no disturbances or interruptions.
3. Sedation Can Have a Positive Side Effect of Anterograde Amnesia
You may be wondering why amnesia can be considered a positive side effect. For some kids the combination of fear and anxiety about a dental procedure in conjunction with the noises necessary for certain procedures is incredibly stressful. Anterograde amnesia is a desired outcome because it prevents the brain from constructing a memory of the procedure thereby precluding the potential for new fear to build on top of the existing fears.
4. Sedation Provides Relief from Pain
When your child is under sedation for a dental procedure, they literally will not feel any pain. Fear of pain is a major factor in both adults and children in regard to dental care avoidance and that is such a lamentable and avoidable truth. Our pediatric dentists have all completed years of extra training to provide dental care to children painlessly. If fear of pain is keeping your child from routine dental checkups and cleanings, please talk to us.
5. Sedation Dentistry Can Reduce Your Number of Office Visits
Using sedation for dental procedures can also reduce the number of visits necessary for your child. For example, some dental procedures are rather complex, and children, even teenagers can only sit still for long under their own power. When a complex procedure may need to be drawn out over a couple of days in order not to overly tax your child’s patience, instead we should discuss sedation options. Utilizing dental sedation will allow us to complete those complex procedures in one sitting, thereby eliminating the discomfort of a day or two of only a partially completed procedure. Another added benefit? It’s easier scheduling for parents as well; find one afternoon in your schedule instead of two in a row.
Sedation Dentistry is a Term that Encompasses Multiple Levels and Options
Each of our pediatric dentistry offices offers three different sedation dentistry options:
Oral Sedation (medicines prescribed by our pediatric dentists)
Nitrous Oxide (also known as laughing gas)
Intravenous Sedation
Oral Sedation is often (although not always) used in conjunction with nitrous oxide for an effect that allows your child to relax yet remain awake for the dental appointment. Intravenous sedation injects sedation directly to the blood stream, yet does not automatically indicate a deep sedation.
Sedation Dentistry is a Conversation for Your Pediatric Dentist
If you are interested in how utilizing some form of sedation dentistry can help your child have a better experience, please reach out. Each and everyone one of our pediatric dentists are specially trained and experienced in performing office sedation dentistry. Combined, they have completed more than 30,000 sedation procedures. Your child is in safe hands with us.
If your child suffers from anxiety or fear of the dentist, sedation dentistry could be the answer for your situation. For tips on how to address your child’s fears of the dentist, check out our recent article, ‘How We Help Kids Conquer Fear of the Dentist Office‘.
Schedule Your Kids’ Cleanings with Utah Pediatric Dentists
It’s a new year, and after the holiday crush, it’s an excellent time to get back on track with your kids’ dental care. Schedule a checkup at any of our convenient locations. Each office is staffed and equipped for dental sedation, so choose the location best for you and call us today!
February is the month of: candied chalky hearts, gummy jelly beans, valentines, romance, the disappearing and reappearing 29th (leap year), and children’s dental health awareness. How’s that for a bit of irony? In the month of the holiday that literally only celebrates love through chocolate and candy is also the month that as a nation, we take the time to focus our awareness and attention on the dental health of our youthful generations.
Children’s dental health awareness started as merely a day of observance, the 8th of February, by the American Dental Association (ADA) in 1949, and in 1981 it was lengthened to the entire month! Maybe as Valentine’s Day candy furor intensified over the years the entire month was decided upon as necessary to counter the cavity consequences?
Regardless of the motivation behind the month, as pediatric dentists in South Davis and the surrounding area, we love this topic. Our vision is to see happy and healthy smiles in all the children of our communities. That no child be prevented from receiving dental care due to fear, anxiety, cost, accessibility, or convenience. Knowing that, surely you aren’t surprised.
Every year, the ADA announces a theme for the month of awareness, and this year the theme is: ‘Sealants Make Sense’.
Sealants Make Sense
Dental sealants are an important part of children’s dental health that are a preventative measure taken primarily for children. Perhaps in part because they cannot be applied to any teeth that already have fillings, but also due to the fact that statistically cavities are still very common in children.
About 1 of 5 (20%) children aged 5 to 11 years have at least one untreated decayed tooth.1
1 of 7 (13%) adolescents aged 12 to 19 years have at least one untreated decayed tooth.1
Children aged 5 to 19 years from low-income families are twice as likely (25%) to have cavities, compared with children from higher-income households (11%).1
So, why do sealants make sense? On the grounds that cavities are more statistically likely to occur in your children’s teeth than yours (you are a routine tooth brushing and flossing adult, right?) sealants are an effective protection that is applied directly to the enamel of the tooth by covering and sealing to the tooth thereby preventing any lingering food or bacteria from causing decay of the enamel. The molars are the most frequent beneficiaries for sealants: owing to the pits, grooves, and fissures along the top that conduct the arduous and integral work of chewing and grinding up our food.
Those pits, grooves, and fissures are favorite hiding spots for bacteria, plaque, and bits of food. While it’s absolutely important that you teach your little ones the correct brushing technique, through the age of six, you really should also take a turn as well. Nevertheless, dental sealants are typically covered by most (although not all, sadly) dental insurance and dental health plans as a result of evidence based studies and clinical trials that have shown a staggering effect on reducing the risk of cavities.
Science Says Sealants Make Sense
Let’s explore a little further the aforementioned staggering impact dental sealants have on dental health. What does the science say about sealants?
“Participants who received sealants had a reduced risk of developing cavities in permanent molars by 80% when compared with those who did not receive sealants.
When compared with fluoride varnishes, the authors found that sealants reduced the incidence of cavities after 7 or more years of follow-up.
The evidence base supporting sealants suggests that they are effective and safe to prevent or arrest the progression of cavities compared with a control without sealants or fluoride varnishes.”
Sealants Are Easy to Apply and a Pain Free Procedure
Once you’ve decided sealants make sense for your kids, it’s a quick process. First, we clean the chosen teeth thoroughly. Once the teeth are cleaner than ever, a gel is applied that will abrade the surface slightly to allow the sealant to make a truly tenacious bond. The sealant itself we apply in liquid form and then utilize blue light activation to harden it which completes the procedure.
Suggestions for Dental Health Awareness Activities with Your Kids
We’ve said it before, yet we truly must emphasize how the attitude of the parent towards dental health directly impacts the attitude of the child. When you apply time, energy, and focus to prioritizing dental health not only for your kids but yourself as well, they will notice. You don’t have to be a dentist or a school employee to take up the mantel of sharing dental health awareness with your kids and/or community.
The ADA has created several printable PDF documents of coloring pages and word games that you can print for your kids: find them by clicking here. Share them with your daycare, preschool, church, and community center.
Make an Appointment for Dental Sealants
Don’t wait until your next scheduled cleaning to do dental sealants for your kids. If they have molars, baby or permanent, then they have pits and grooves tempting those bacteria and food bits. We apply dental sealants to both baby and permanent teeth because proper care for your child’s baby teeth is just as important as it is for their permanent teeth. Give us a call today and we’ll make an appointment that works for your family.
Did the year 2021 lapse without you maximizing your kids’ dental insurance benefits for your family? As parents, we pay significant attention to our medical insurance coverage while we typically maximize those benefits simply by living out our normal lives, yet dental insurance benefits often are underutilized. That is in part due to the fact that unless one of your kids is complaining about a toothache or has braces, it simply isn’t used at the same frequency of our medical insurance but also in part for the reason that dental insurance costs are a fraction of the healthcare monthly payment or even a modest rider to the plan. It literally takes up less space in your brain as well as your wallet.
Nevertheless, dental health, when unhealthy, can be costly. Take some time to review your coverage, do you know what type of plan you have? Do you have a dental insurance plan?
Types of Pediatric Dental Insurance Plans
The adult world is full of tall letter acronyms and jargon that can be intimidating. Consequently, often parents don’t actually know what type of dental plan they have. Here’s a quick breakdown of the three common types of dental plans:
PPO Preferred Provider Organization – If your dental insurance is a PPO, then that means your plan covers dental services at fixed costs within a specific network of dentists, aka, preferred provider organization. Before you visit a pediatric dentist, check to be sure they are part of your PPO. If they aren’t, prepare yourself to pay out of pocket.
DHMO Dental Health Maintenance Organization – This is a dental HMO, which means the dentists in your network receive a flat monthly fee for specified covered dental services, whether you utilize them or not. Not all covered dental services in a DHMO are free, check for which services will require a co-pay.
Discount Dental Plan or Referral Dental Plan – This is exactly what it sounds like, a discount card. The dentists in the network agree to a discounted rate for their dental services, usually, this includes cosmetic services as well. For these types of plans, there are no insurance submissions or requests for authorizations; you pay for any and all services at a discounted rate.
Tips for Selecting a Dental Health Insurance Plan
Open enrollment for employee medical and dental healthcare plans typically takes place in October, however for those of you starting a new job, or without any dental care coverage currently, read this thoroughly before you sign up! Here are a few tips to help you navigate how to select the best dental care coverage for you and your family.
1. How Big is the Plan Network? Take a look at the list of preferred providers. If you’re looking for a new pediatric dentist, we recommend that you ask if they are a preferred provider, part of the DHMO, or contracted members of your discount plan. The idiom “the bigger, the better”, doesn’t always apply for dental networks, but if it’s a meager one you sure want to know if there’s a pediatric dentist near you that’s part of it.
2. Does Your Current Dentist or Pediatric Dentist Have an Opinion About Providers? Ask the staff at your current pediatric dentist if they have any opinions about dental care providers. The staff who manage the claims just might steer you away from a difficult provider or a plan that they’ve seen other parents dissatisfied with.
3. How is the Network Discount Rate Calculated? Discount dental plans or referral dental plans are popular on the grounds that they are generally straightforward and often even cover cosmetic services. Nevertheless, it is important to learn not only the discount rate, but exactly how it is calculated (you should be applied to any dental plan that indicates a discount). If the dental plan states it provides a dental discount of 23% across the board for dental services, you should know if that means a 23% discount of the nationwide average, state average, or county average.
4. Are Your Kids Covered in the Dental Insurance Plan? We know we’re biased here by virtue of our profession. Regardless of this fact, if you have kids or are planning to have kids, this is important! Preventative dental care is integral to your children’s overall health and well-being. Preventative care isn’t only the twice per day brushing/flossing routines at home; it includes the biannual professional cleanings, the checkups, and the education.
5. What is the Maximum Annual Amount for the Plan? You can expect the annual maximum amount your plan will pay to be between $1,000 to $1,500, per covered person. Hence, question number four is important! If each person isn’t allotted a separate maximum annual amount, but instead the amount is for all covered parties, be wary of any amount that is lower than the equivalent of at least $1,000 per person.
6. Does the Plan Have a Least Expensive Alternative Treatment (LEAT) Clause? A straightforward example of this would be when your child needs a filling, will the plan cover the filling to be composite (i.e. tooth-colored) or does it invoke a LEAT clause which would only pay for an amalgam filling (i.e. metallic, therefore, cheaper).
We Accept Most Dental Insurance Plans at Utah Pediatric Dentists
We work with and accept most dental insurance plans and are part of several PPOs. Even if your provider isn’t on this list, give us a call to double-check that your provider isn’t a new addition:
Aetna
Assurant/Sun Life Financial
Ameritas
Allegiance
Anthem BCBS
Regence BCBS
BCBS Federal
Blue Cross of Illinois (Blue Care)
Blue Cross of Michigan (Blue Dental)
Carrington
Cigna
Dental Select
DMBA
Dentist Direct/Direct Care Administrators
Dentamax
Delta Dental
EMI
GEHA – Connection Dental Network
Guardian
Humana – Connection Dental Network
Life Map
Lincoln Financial Group/Lincoln Dental Connect
Metlife
Traditional Medicaid
Medicaid Premier Access
Premier Access PPO
Premier Access Chip
PEHP
Principle – EMI Network
Standard Life Insurance/Reliance Standard
Select Health
Utah Sheet Metal/JAS/Southwest Service Administrators
United Concordia PPO
United Concordia Tricare/Active Duty
United Healthcare – GEHA/Connection Dental Network
Make an Appointment for Your Kids Today!
Don’t wait to start maximizing your dental plan when it comes to your kids. If you have any questions at all about your dental health plan coverage, let us know! We’re in the business of seeing kids smile, so kick off the year by prioritizing their dental health.
The new year is here folks, and we’re going to start it off right. Dental health and hygiene may not be on your radar for new years’ resolutions, but they should be! Prevention is a major part of happy and healthy smiles for children in your community, and that means more than just regular trips to your pediatric dentist. Here are our top dental health habits just for you!
Dental Health and Hygiene Habits
1. Brush teeth twice per day for two minutes. Mornings before school, and at night before bed are what we aim for. There are fun songs about brushing teeth, or time a song that your little ones enjoy and put it on repeat for two minutes. Brushing teeth should start as soon as the first tooth erupts. Read all about dental care in babies (it actually starts before the eruption) in our guide, ‘Baby Teeth: Eruption Timeline and How to Care for Them‘.
2. Include the tongue as part of brushing. We don’t always consciously think about it, but our tongues actually do quite a bit of work to clear debris between our teeth, and its very presence in the mouth means it is in contact with the same sugars and bacteria as our teeth. Be sure to incorporate a few brush strokes of the tongue into the two minutes. To learn more about how the tongue is a visual indicator of our health, read all about it in our post, ‘Is My Child’s Tongue Healthy?‘
3. Take your child to the store and let them pick out their own toothbrush. Letting them select their toothbrush will give them a sense of responsibility and ownership of their dental health. There are all sorts of fun colors and characters, so let them have some fun with it.
There are electric toothbrushes being marketed for children, however, we encourage you to research a bit before you buy. We wrote a guide for parents about this topic, ‘What’s the Best Electric Toothbrush for Kids?‘, hint (there’s only one on today’s market that has ADA approval).
4. Switch toothbrushes out every three months or sooner if you notice the bristles are worn. With frequent and proper use, those toothbrush bristles will wear out. Bristles that are worn on a toothbrush can actually harm your gums by wearing down the enamel and even causing your gums to recede. Furthermore, the fact is, worn-out bristles simply don’t clean properly. They bend away from the surface instead of stretching into the nooks and crannies of the teeth and in between.
Nevertheless, even if the bristles don’t look worn out, you need to replace it on a three-month timeline. Why? Take a look at your broom and you’ll likely notice a buildup of dust or debris on those bristles. Imagine a toothbrush to be similar to a broom. Its job is to brush away bacteria and debris on your teeth. While proper care of your toothbrush means food debris isn’t likely present, over time invisible bacteria will still build up on those bristles. For more information about proper care of your toothbrush, check out our in-depth article: “Toothbrush Care Guide: Everything Parents Need to Know”.
5. Floss at least once a day. Most parents who bring their kids into our offices will agree with our twice a day tooth brushing recommendation, and back it up by their actions. However, it isn’t uncommon to have a parent sheepishly admit that they don’t floss as often as they should. We aren’t here to shame anyone in regard to their dental habits. Odds are high that the parents who don’t floss very often, simply didn’t grow up flossing! Habits that we learn as children can stick with us throughout adulthood! Start out encouraging your kids to floss, and join them yourself. You are never too old to learn new healthy habits, and flossing is one that is a positive habit for everyone. Check out new and interesting flavors, (remember to look for the ADA seal).
6. Invest in a mouth guard for sports. Mouth injuries happen to kids, even if they aren’t playing a contact sport such as football. We recommend mouth guards should be worn for all sports, including biking and skateboarding. Studies show that wearing a mouth guard will lessen the likelihood of dentofacial injuries by more than 82%. A broken or chipped tooth, a root fracture, or a tooth knocked loose or all the way out is considered a dental emergency. Read our step-by-step guide on what to do in that type of situation to prepare yourself, ‘What Do You Do When Your Kid Breaks a Tooth?‘
7. Up your water intake! Most store-bought beverages have a shocking amount of sugar in them (or sugar substitutes) that might be tasty but are terrible for our teeth. It’s unfair to ask anyone to give up all other drinks, but we do think it’s fair to encourage you to increase the amount of water you and your kids are drinking. City water is treated with fluoride which is a vital defense for teeth. Furthermore, water will help rinse away bacteria and sugars from your meals and snacks in between your brushing routine. One way to facilitate more water throughout the day is utilizing a refillable water bottle and taking it with you on errands, and sending it in backpacks to school. When water is within easy reach, your kids are more likely to drink more of it.
Start Off the New Year by Scheduling a Checkup and Cleaning!
It’s never too late to prioritize the dental health of your children (and yourself!) All of the above tips for healthy habits can be applied to each member of your family, regardless of age. Utilize those dental benefits on your insurance this year, and start out by scheduling a checkup and dental cleaning for each of your kids. Preventative care is the bedrock of happy healthy smiles in our community. Give us a call, and we’ll help you start the year of dental strong.
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