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Greetings!
We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and we would like to wish everyone a very happy and safe new year! As February arrives, we look forward to celebrating National Children's Dental Health Month. At Children's Dentistry Group, we would like to take this opportunity to again raise awareness about the importance of oral health and proper oral hygiene. Our practice has been invited to deliver dental presentations to schools, daycares, libraries, and parent groups across the area. In these presentations, we express how important visiting a dentist on a regular basis is, what a healthy, balanced diet looks like, and how to properly take care of your teeth and gums. Our practice won the first place award from the Illinois State Dental Society for Children's Dental Health Month in the dental office category. We are very proud of this accomplishment and would like to share it with the rest of our community! |
| National Childrens Dental Health Month | | |
NCDHM and Preventive Dental Care
 | | Vanessa Campos, RDH |
We would also like to take this time to reiterate how important it is to bring your child in for preventive dental care early, before any problems arise or get too far out of control. About 51 million school hours are missed by children every year due to dental-related illnesses. We strive to keep our community well-informed, doing our part to decrease these astonishing numbers. Bringing your child in every six months for preventive visits is extremely important. According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), preventive dental care should begin around the age of twelve months and daily oral hygiene should begin when the first tooth erupts. Early and regular dental visits are the foundation for a lifetime of good oral hygiene. Staying on a routine schedule for your child's dental visits will increase the chances of maintaining a healthy mouth, which in turn gives your child a better chance at good overall health. Oral issues can not only affect the mouth, but also influence the rest of your child's well-being. It can interfere with speaking, eating, and severe tooth decay can even affect your child's growth and development. These are just a few problems that can arise from poor dental care. That is why we want to stress the importance of bringing children in for a dental visit every six months. That way if Drs. Herer or Patenio do have a concern with your child's oral health, it can be taken care of early so it does not turn into a bigger problem.
 | | Lauren Vacval, Clinical Asst. |
Since February is National Children's Dental Health Month, this is a perfect time to remind parents about keeping your children on a regular dental schedule, which includes seeing them every six months for a cleaning and fluoride treatment, and maintaining proper oral hygiene at home. |
| Have you ever had an infection? | |  Abscesses and Dental Infections Abscessed teeth and dental infections are a common outcome of poor oral hygiene. Unfortunately, at our office we see this occur in children more often than we would like. Often these issues arise from insufficient brushing and flossing at home, along with poor diet. If your child does develop a cavity and it is caught early, frequently it can be taken care of easily. The real problem occurs when the cavity is not caught, usually from irregular preventive dental visits. It then develops very quickly into an abscessed tooth. This means the decay was left too long and began eating away at the tooth. This causes an infection that spreads to the root of the tooth and along the gum line.  Abscesses can also develop if a tooth was fractured or broken off due to an oral injury. This may occur from sudden impact or often times a sports injury is the culprit. When a tooth is broken off, bacteria easily builds up, creating decay which if not caught early may turn into an abscess. Tooth pain and fevers are a couple symptoms of an abscess. If an abscess is severe, your child's cheek may be swollen and puffy on the side of the mouth where the abscessed tooth is. Their breath might have a foul odor as well. The body's way of fighting off an infection is to develop a fever, so if your child has any of these symptoms, bring them in for an evaluation immediately. If an abscess is caught in enough time, the tooth may be able to be saved. Sometimes the abscess is too far gone, which means the tooth would have to be extracted. |
| Dental Patients with Medical Complications | | The Medically-Compromised Dental Patient
At our office we see a wide range of patients, including the medically-compromised. We have many diabetic patients and those with cardiac problems. These types of patients are at a higher risk for developing tooth decay and other dental-related illnesses. Diabetic patients in particular have a lower salivary flow, which heightens the risk of developing cavities. They also are at a higher risk for getting periodontal disease. Drs. Herer and Patenio really stress the importance to parents and caregivers about good oral hygiene for these patients. This is important for any patient, but medically-compromised patients are at a higher risk for developing these dental problems.
At our office, we are well equipped and properly trained to treat medically-compromised patients. We provide the knowledge and care needed to keep our patients in great shape when it comes to their oral health. We also have all the proper equipment available in case an emergency does arise. A medical cart, which is checked on a regular basis, is on site, along with an AED machine. All staff are trained on how to use all things in our office, in case an emergency does occur. We take pride in our ability to care for our medically-compromised patients. |
| Illness, Meeting, Car won't start, a blizzard... | | |
Appropriate Times to Reschedule 
This is a very busy time here at our office, so we would just like to remind parents about appropriate rescheduling times. We understand things come up, especially around this time of year. If your child is to get sick and you need to cancel the appointment, please call us as soon as possible to let us know. If anything else comes up where you need to reschedule your appointment, giving us at least 24 hours notice is greatly appreciated! That way, we can give another patient that time slot if needed. Again, appointment times fill up very quickly around this time and we want to provide our patients with timely care. If an appointment does have to be canceled, rescheduling is very important. We want your child to have the best oral health possible! |
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