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Every moment of your baby’s first year of life is precious, since every day your child grows a little, develops new skills, and discovers new things. Most of it is wonderful, but parents don’t like to see their babies in pain. That’s why teething can be such a hard experience. However, you can take steps to make it easier for you and your baby.

What to Expect

Most babies begin teething around the age of six months, when the lower central incisors start to appear. Shortly after this time, the upper central incisors poke through, followed by the lateral incisors, first molars, canines, and second molars. Unfortunately, you’ll probably know that your baby is teething not because you see these teeth come in, but because your baby will be in discomfort. These are some of the signs to watch for when you’re expecting your baby to begin teething.

• Tender and sore gums
• More drooling than before
• Being crankier than usual
• Chewing on hard objects

What You Can Do

As a parent, you want to do everything you can to make your child more comfortable. These are some approaches that Dr. Maryam Azadpur and our team recommend:

• Take a clean moistened wash cloth or use your own washed finger to rub your baby’s gums and provide relief due to the pressure.
• Provide a firm rubber teething ring for your baby to use, but don't use the type that is filled with liquid.
• Use a bottle. A bottle filled with cold water can be soothing. Don’t give your baby formula, milk, or juice constantly because the sugar can cause tooth decay.
• Medications can help for extreme crankiness. Infant Tylenol is an example, but it’s best to check with your pediatrician before giving your baby medications.

You might also want to take special care to dry the drool. It’s not just to keep yourself and your baby dry. Keeping your baby’s skin dry can help prevent irritation.

When to Visit Us

Once your child’s first tooth comes in, it’s time to start thinking your baby’s first trip to our Simsbury, CT office. The American Dental Association suggests that you bring your child to the dentist within six months of the appearance of the first tooth, or at about one year of age. Dr. Maryam Azadpur can do a quick check for tooth decay, and we’ll make sure you know how to take care of your child’s new teeth.

We at Simsbury Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry are committed to the safety and well being of all our patients, their families, and our team. As we have mentioned in our previous communications with you, due to current COVID-19 pandemic as well as new regulations and mandates by CDC, ADA, and CT Department of Health, many limitations have been placed on the operation of dental offices. We like to share with you our new procedures and protocols:

Our schedule is now staggered to promote social distancing, and as a result, our capacity to accommodate our patients has decreased significantly compared to before the pandemic. We ask for your patience and understanding as we do our best to accommodate your child/children. Therefore, all appointments made before the pandemic are being rescheduled. Please do not come in for any appointments that were previously scheduled pre pandemic.

We have implemented an updated procedure to clean, disinfect, and sanitize treatment rooms. This procedure is more thorough, but also more time consuming. It combines our original stringent sanitation routine with UVGI (Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation) to disinfect the surfaces in each treatment room and utilizes air purifiers with HEPA filters to clean and circulate the air in each room.

In addition, our clinical team will look different. In accordance with the new regulations, all of our staff will be wearing fluid-resistant gowns, N95 mask, surgical mask, hair cover, goggles, face shields, and gloves.

If you or your child/children have any symptoms of respiratory illness, please reschedule your child’s appointment. Symptoms may include, but are not limited to, cough, body aches, sore throat, and fever.

Upon arrival for your appointment, please call from your car before entering the building and please wear a mask upon entering the office. Additionally, only one parent/adult should accompany the patient.

To protect against the spread of the virus, we are working hard to get your check-in and checkout process as touchless and paperless as possible. The COVID-19 screening form is a new mandate that must be filled out and submitted 24-48 hours prior to your child’s appointment so we can review it. In order to facilitate this process, we are requiring that all families set up Patient Account Access.
The steps to set up Patient Account Access are as follows:
Go to our website, www.simsburychildrensdentistry.com
Click on “Patient Login”
Follow the steps illustrated on the webpage to create your online account.

Account access requires administrative approval which may take up to 1-2 business days so it is imperative that you set this up as soon as possible. You must create your account before any appointments will be scheduled. Once your account is created and approved, you will be able to submit the COVID-19 screening form, as well as medical and financial forms electronically. Again, this form will be required 24-48 hours in advance of your child’s appointment or your child will not be seen.

All follow up and treatment appointments will be scheduled on an individual basis by a team member who will call you to discuss dates, times, and treatments.

We look forward to seeing you again, and are happy to answer any questions you may have about the steps we are taking to keep you, your child, children and our team safe in our practice.

Regards,

Maryam Azadpur, D.M.D. & Simsbury Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry Team

It’s no secret that kids and adults have different priorities: your duty is to raise a happy, healthy child, but your little one’s only priority may be to have fun. When it comes to brushing teeth, it can be hard to combine a healthy habit with having fun. You might fear it can’t be done, but with a little creativity, brushing time can be a great experience for both of you!

Make It a Party

Brushing time doesn’t have to be a chore when you throw a little party! Get Mom and Dad together so the whole family can brush their teeth at the same time.

Let your child choose a song to dance to while you all brush for the required two minutes. Your son or daughter may grow to love this silly routine, especially when the parents are clearly dedicated to brushing their own teeth as well.

Big Kid Decisions

Kids love the responsibility of making “big kid” decisions. Keep a variety of toothbrushes, colors of floss, and toothpaste flavors on hand so they can choose something “new” each time they brush, just like when they visit our Simsbury, CT office.

Not only can this help them grow more comfortable with the idea of seeing the dentist, but they’ll love having the responsibility of picking what would be fun at brush time.

Practice Makes Perfect

It’s true that the only way to get better at something is to practice, practice, and practice. Have your child practice brushing on his or her favorite stuffed animal, and use that opportunity to teach your youngster how to hold the brush and use circular cleaning motions. Showing how you brush your own teeth can also be worthwhile.

There’s An App For That

Did you know there are lots of fun apps that encourage good brushing habits among children? Brands like Oral-B and Aquafresh have free apps you can download on your phone.

The child gets to select a character, scenery, and a song he or she would love to accompany the task of brushing. If you have a daughter, she might like to use the Tooth Fairy Timer, which allows her to pick her very own fairy as her brushing buddy.

The important things to remember when you seek to establish good brushing habits is to keep it fun and stay consistent with your routine. It may take some getting used to, but after a while your child will become familiar with brushing and might even look forward to the new dental routine.

A study conducted in Washington State in 2004 and another conducted in Madrid, Spain in 2012 both reported findings that support a direct relationship between parents’ dental fear and their child’s fear of the dentist.

The Washington study examined dental fear among 421 children ages 0.8 to 12.8 years old. They were patients at 21 different private pediatric dental practices in western Washington state. The Spanish study observed 183 children between the ages of seven and 12 as well as their parents.

The Washington study used responses from both parents and the Dental Sub-scale of the Child Fear Survey Schedule. The survey consisted of 15 questions, which invited answers based on the child’s level of fear. The scale was one to five: one meant the child wasn’t afraid at all, and five indicated he or she was terrified. The maximum possible points (based on the greatest fear) was 75.

Spanish researchers found a direct connection between parental dental fear levels and those among their kids. The most important new discovery from the Madrid study was that the greater the fear a father had of going to the dentist, the higher the level of fear among the other family members.

Parents, but especially fathers, who feared dental procedures appeared to pass those fears along to every member of the family. Parents can still have some control over fear levels in their children. It is best not to express your own concerns in front of kids; instead, explain why going to the dentist is important.

Dr. Maryam Azadpur and our team work hard to make your child’s visit at our Simsbury, CT office as comfortable as possible. We understand some patients may be more fearful than others, and will do our best to help ease your child’s anxiety.