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The grownups in your life want you to have healthy teeth. That’s why they remind you to brush and floss, make you tooth-friendly meals, and take you to see the dentist regularly, at an office designed just for you. You’ve been visiting Simsbury Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry for a while now, so you know all about checkups and cleanings.

At every dental exam, Dr. Maryam Azadpur will look at your teeth very carefully, checking not just the outside of your teeth, but around and behind your teeth as well. (That’s what those little mirrors are for.) You might have X-ray pictures taken to show the inside of your teeth. In all these ways, we make sure your teeth are healthy, inside and out.

You expect all these things at a dental checkup because you’re used to them. When you hear that you have a cavity, you might be worried. After all, if you’ve never had a cavity before, you don’t know what to expect. And sometimes not knowing is a little scary. So let’s talk about what a cavity is, and how your dentist can help make your tooth healthy again if you need a filling.

• What’s a Cavity?

Teeth are covered with a very hard white coating called enamel. Enamel is the strongest part of our bodies, even stronger than our bones. But when we eat too many sugary foods, or don’t brush the way we should or as much as we should, or even just because of the way some people’s bodies work, our enamel can be hurt by cavities.

A cavity is a hole in your tooth enamel. These holes are made by the bacteria in plaque, which turn sugars into acids. This is why it’s important to brush carefully to get rid of plaque, and to watch how much sugar we eat. It’s not just people who like sugar—bacteria do, too!

The acids bacteria create attack our enamel and make it weaker. If the enamel gets too weak, a hole will start to form. This is what we call a cavity.

• How Do You Know You Have a Cavity?

Maybe you came to our Simsbury, CT office because you have a toothache, or it hurts when you eat something hot or cold. Those are often clues that you have a cavity.

But small, early cavities don’t always bother us. That’s why regular checkups are so important, and why Dr. Maryam Azadpur will look carefully at each tooth to make sure that it’s healthy.

• Getting Ready

Dr. Maryam Azadpur might give you some medicine to make sure you don’t feel uncomfortable while your tooth is being repaired. The area around your tooth will get numb, which means you won’t feel anything while we work.

• Removing Decay

There are different ways to remove decay from your tooth. Some can be noisy, and some are quiet.  If noise bothers you, let your dentist know—there are ways to cover up annoying sounds.

After the decay has been removed, it’s time to clean your tooth. This makes sure that no germs or bacteria are still around when your tooth is filled.

But after all the decay is gone, you’ll still have a little hole in your tooth. That’s why the next step is . . .

• Filling Your Tooth

Since a hole in your tooth enamel makes it weaker, this hole needs to be filled up to make your tooth strong again—that’s why it’s called a “filling.”

There are different kinds of fillings, and your dentist will tell you which one is best for your tooth. A molar, one of the big teeth in the back of your mouth, needs a strong filling for all the work it does chewing food. Your dentist might use a metal filling to help your molar do its job. If you have a cavity in one of your front teeth, you might get a tooth-colored filling. This filling is made to match the color of your enamel, so no one can see the filling when you smile.

• After Your Filling

All done! In just a little while, the area around your tooth won’t be numb anymore, and we will let you know when you can eat and drink regular foods again.

If you do your best to keep your teeth healthy, you can look forward to cavity-free checkups in the future. But when you need a filling, or if you have a tooth which needs another kind of treatment, we are here to help you make sure your happy smile is a healthy smile!

As a patient at Simsbury Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry, your opinion matters! Dr. Maryam Azadpur and our team love hearing what our patients think about our practice and the services we provide, and now we want to know, what do you think we should blog about?

Perhaps there’s a treatment you’ve always wanted to know about, or you’d like to learn about a specific way to improve your health and smile. Whatever your idea, we’d love to hear about it! You can let us know by posting here or on our Facebook page!

As a parent, it is your job to instill good dental habits in your kids, and this starts even earlier than you might realize. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry responds to the “when to start” question with a succinct “The sooner the better!”

From the time your baby is born, you should make sure that your child’s gums are regularly cleaned using water and a toothbrush made for infants. Once the first tooth erupts, you should visit the pediatric dentist for the first time. Dr. Maryam Azadpur and our staff often recommend that if your child is a year old, but has yet to get the first tooth, you should bring your son or daughter to our Simsbury, CT office for his or her initial dental care appointment.

Once your child’s teeth start to appear, you can begin brushing two times per day, using fluoride toothpaste. Choose a toothbrush made specifically for your child’s age group, and one with has soft bristles.

Only a small smear of toothpaste is needed if your child is under two years old. Once the child celebrates his or her second birthday, you can use a pea-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste. Continue this practice until your child is five.

Of course, it is important that you monitor your child’s tooth brushing closely to help educate about proper techniques. Some young children might try to eat or swallow toothpaste, and this needs to be strongly discouraged. Be sure to teach proper rinsing and spitting behavior to round out your child’s early childhood tooth-care regimen.

For young kids, tooth brushing can be made into a fun event, and you can find a multitude of special toothbrushes that appeal to kids. There are even uniquely flavored and colored toothpastes that might encourage your child to get into the brushing game!

We are only a few days away from Valentine’s Day and this year we are celebrating with some fun surprises! On Valentine's Day, we love to give out special Valentine plushies to the kiddos coming in. We also hand out carnations to each of the parents to help make them feel special. 

This Valentine’s Day we will also be celebrating with our loved ones. Some of us go out to dinner on Valentine's Day, others exchange special treats or receive flowers from our loved ones. We also give plenty of love and treats to our children too. 

While plenty of us appreciate being given flowers, we are even more excited about the chocolate, even though they’re not that great for your teeth. That’s why it’s very important to brush and rinse each time you are eating sweets to avoid getting those sugar bugs!

Additionally, hard and sticky candy should be avoided at all costs, especially if you wear braces! It is harder to brush your teeth thoroughly with braces so pay extra special attention after eating sweets, even softer ones.

This month we are also celebrating Children’s Dental Health Month and Gum Disease Awareness. To raise awareness on the importance of dental health, we were so lucky to be able to finally visit some area preschools this year to talk with the children about good oral hygiene.

Starting off at an early age can lead to a lifetime of good dental habits. Our teeth and mouths affect our whole bodies, and it is vital to take good care of them. Brush at least 2 times a day, floss once a day, and visit the dentist 1-2 times a year. Ignore your teeth and they will go away!

And finally, a few updates! We are currently running our quarterly promotion for a $500 Collinsville Canoe & Kayak gift card. One lucky family will win on March 31. To earn entries, write a review or refer a friend to our office. And, as a reminder, many insurances are updated at the beginning of the year. If your insurance has changed, please let us know as soon as possible.