dentist Archives - Baton Rouge Family Fun

Dental Injuries and Sports: How You Can Protect Your Child’s Teeth

September 15, 2022 by Baton Rouge Family Fun

Dental Injuries and Sports: How You Can Protect Your Child’s Teeth

Each year 3 million teeth are knocked out (tooth avulsion is the fancy term) due to sports, some statistics place this number much higher at 5 million teeth. The highest number of incidents happen in sports due to poor facial protection. There are many preventative steps you can take to reduce the probability of this happening with your child as you enter sports seasons. Two major things encouraged by dental professionals are regular six-month dental screenings which can identify the risk of teeth avulsion and custom fit mouthguards.

When Would a Professionally Made Mouthguard Be Recommended?

The American Dental Association and Academy for Sports Dentists recommends a professionally made mouthguard for contact and collision sports. This includes: football, baseball, basketball, rugby, lacrosse, and many more. Baseball and basketball have the highest tooth avulsion rate due to poor facial protection.

How is a Mouthguard Made?

Professional and custom fitted mouthguards are made by dental professionals by taking impressions of your mouth. This allows the mouthguard to fit your teeth structure perfectly and provide a much more comfortable bite. Custom mouthguards can even be made to fit players with braces. Once the impressions are made, the model of your teeth is sent to a local lab and a perfectly fitting mouthguard is created just for your player.

Why Choose a Professionally Made Mouthguard?

This custom mouthguard not only decreases the risk of dental injury, but unlike over-the-counter boil and bite guards it is more durable, less likely to lose its shape, and much more comfortable. This means it’s less likely to be left in the locker room before game time. A properly fitting mouthguard can also allow for a better oxygen flow.

Dental Injuries and Sports

By decreasing the risk of tooth avulsion, you are also saving money. All three of our locations offer FREE Mouthguards for Life with regular cleanings. This means:

You can bring your mouthguard in every 6 months to make sure it’s still in strong condition and fitting properly.
You reduce the risk of having to pay for a tooth implant due to a tooth being knocked out.
You can replace if the family dog decides he’d like a new chew toy.

Five million kids having their teeth knocked out is not a number you want your athlete to be in. To find out more information on our Mouthguard for Life program, you can schedule an appointment at one of our three locations, College Family Dentistry, Bencaz Family Dentistry, or Greenwell Springs Family Dentistry. We are open till 7pm some days (which means, no need for your athlete to miss school).

5 Tips to Keep Your Child’s Smile Healthy – Dental Health Month

February 22, 2022 by Guest Contributor

Being a mom to an infant or toddler is hard work. We know. With everything else going on, sometimes moms miss a very important aspect of their children’s well-being: their dental health. Statistically, 28% of children ages 2 to 5 will have dental caries in their primary teeth. That statistic is alarming to us pediatric dentists! We’re here to provide some helpful tips for your child to avoid early childhood dental caries and to promote a lifetime of healthy smiles, the first thing is to make sure you hire the right dentist, like Family Dentist, Mark S. Frey, DDS. He is honestly the best dentist who can work with kids and make them feel comfortable, that´s where I take my kids and that´s where you should take yours. But if I can´t go to him, what I do is to make sure the dentist I use knows about parramatta dental surgery, it will show you how much they care about what they do, the last time I went to the dentist I found one that gave use to Dental Marketing Ninjas: Local Search Optimization – Dominating Local Search and I was pretty surprised by their skills.

Bottle Feeding & Nursing – Avoid nursing children to sleep or putting anything other than water in their bed time bottle/sippy cup once their first teeth erupt. Limit your child’s intake of sugary beverages to 1 cup a day and mealtimes are best.
Home Care – Once your child’s first tooth erupts, proper oral hygiene practices should be implemented. Clean your infant’s teeth and gums routinely with a soft, age appropriate toothbrush and pea size amount of fluoride toothpaste. Make it fun! Play your child’s favorite song while you brush.
1^st Dental Checkup – Schedule your child’s first visit to a pediatric dentist as soon as the first tooth appears or no later than his or her first birthday.
Balanced Diet – Infants and young children should be provided a balanced diet. Offer healthier alternatives to sugary snacks and beverages like apple slices with string cheese, carrots and hummus, whole grain pretzels or pita chips, and low fat yogurt. Offer almond milk or water to quench your little one’s thirst.
Use a Cup by Age 1 – The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry encourages parents to have children drink from a cup by their first birthday.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule your child’s first dental checkup, you can visit www.ascensionsmiles.com. Our Board Certified Pediatric Dentist is here to help!

“Ask the Experts” is a series on Baton Rouge Moms where local experts share their thoughts, opinions and answer questions relating to health, wellness, parenting and living in Baton Rouge.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this site is to share BRM moms’ experiences with food, fitness, health and life as well as opinions from some of our local experts. This content is for informational purposes only and isn’t a substitute for professional medical advice. When it comes to your health or the health of your child, please be sure to contact your physician.

Summer Trauma Prevention

June 24, 2015 by Guest Contributor

“Ask the Experts” is a new series on Baton Rouge Moms where local experts will share their thoughts, opinions and answer questions relating to health, wellness and parenting. If you have a question for one of our experts, please leave it in the comments below and they might just answer in an upcoming post.

Summer Trauma Prevention

With summertime comes lots of sunshine, heat, and of course, sports! One of the biggest challenges with kids playing sports is keeping them safe. It is estimated that 30 million children in the US participate in organized sports programs. Sports accidents reportedly account for 10-39% of all dental injuries in children! Children are most susceptible to sports-related oral injury between the ages of 7 and 11 years. Those statistics are scary to me and they should be scary to all parents out there.

Research has shown that wearing protective gear can greatly reduce the chance of injury to children and teens participating in sports-related activities. You might be surprised to learn that many organized sports do not require protective equipment for kids, even though they should. Popular sports such as baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball and gymnastics are some of the sports that are lagging in implementing required protective gear.

A properly fitted mouth guard is one of the most popular tools to help prevent sports-related injuries to the mouth and teeth. A mouth guard is a flexible device worn over teeth during athletic and recreational activities. Mouth guards act as shock absorbers to keep the mouth and jaws safe when a player is hit in the head or face. This helps protect against chipped or broken teeth, root and bone damage and tooth loss. They also safeguard against more serious injuries such as jaw fracture, cerebral hemorrhage, concussion and neck injuries by helping to avoid situations where the lower jaw jams into the upper jaw.

There are many types of mouth guards out there and choosing the right one is essential. The three main types are pre-made mouth guards, “boil & bite” mouth guards and custom mouth guards. At Ascension Children’s Dental, I typically recommend children use the boil and bite mouth guards when there is a mix of permanent and baby teeth. If all permanent teeth have erupted, then our orthodontist can create a custom fitted mouth guard.

To ensure your child is protected this summer, here are a few tips:

Ask your pediatric dentist for a properly fitted mouth guard
Ask your child’s coach if mouth guards are required. If not, find out what steps you can take to make it a requirement
Educate your child about the importance of wearing protective gear
If your child should suffer an injury to the mouth or teeth, seek immediate medical attention

For more information on mouth guards or if you have any questions, please visit www.ascensionsmiles.com or call me at (225) 402-4118.

Babies First Dental Visit

February 4, 2015 by Guest Contributor

February is National Children’s Dental Health Month and Baton Rouge Moms is partnering with local dentists to bring you helpful information, tips and support to help your children achieve good oral health!

Did You Know Your Child Should See a Pediatric Dentist by His/Her First Birthday?

To many parents I speak with, this comes as a surprise! The sooner children begin regular dental check-ups, the healthier their mouths will be throughout their lives.

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend every child should visit a dentist by age 1, or as soon as the first tooth appears. This initial, “well baby visit” teaches parents and caregivers how to care for their child’s teeth and gums to promote a lifetime of healthy smiles.

Studies have shown that preschool-aged children are getting more cavities. In fact, more than 1 in 4 children in the US has had at least one cavity by the age of four. Many children get cavities as early as age two!
The purpose of the Age One dental visit is to learn about your child’s oral health and how best to care for his or her unique needs with proper oral hygiene techniques, diet discussions and cavity prevention tactics.

We all know that many people have a fear of going to the dentist (you may be one of them) so early check-ups with a pediatric dentist can help eliminate that fear by providing a friendly and fun experience for your child. A Pediatric Dentist is trained in working with young, immature and sometimes frightened children and those with special needs. Start your child’s oral health on the right foot and schedule your pediatric dental appointment. You (and your little one) will be glad you did.

Dr. Erin Maturin
Board Certified Pediatric Dentist
Ascension Children’s Dental
www.ascensionsmiles.com