Smile Stories Junior

All that a Child really needs is,
To Feel Safe 💜

Me every single time these wonderful children express how they feel to their doctor aunty
🥹🧿❤️
It has gotto be the best part of being a Pediatric Dentist.
Pure, honest, heartfelt feedback💜
Thankyou for wonderfully and spontaneously capturing these moments 🤗💜

Thankyou sooo much Meera 🥹❤️🧿
This is the sweetest and we love you and all your art work too 🤗

“Life is too short to hide your feelings. Don’t be afraid to say what you feel.”
-Children 😊

Some lessons taught to me by my Acha (Dad in malayalam) right from the time I was a little girl..

🧿“Hardwork is Intelligence.”
🧿“Never compare yourself. Be in your own journey and work hard.”
🧿“What’s happened has happened! Now find a solution to it.”
Oh and yes!
🧿“ Brush your teeth before sleeping.” That’s right! The credit for that good habit does go to my Dad 😀🪥

Happy Father’s Day 👨‍👧‍👧

Amma and Ammama ❤️🧿

Happy Mother’s Day 😊

Happy Faces Be Like 😀😀✌️

I mean… ❤️🥲🤗🧿💫

Thankyou for taking time out to say this Aarohi , you made our day 💓
Thankyou for reminding me to always be like a child - with an open heart ❤️

The one thing I learn from children every single day is to always stay curious and never stop learning 👶🏻👧🏻🤔📖🙋🏽‍♀️ ( other than pediatric dentistry, happiness in the small things and so much more) ❤️

Grateful to .tots sir

One of the main reasons that toddlers develop tooth decay is LACK OF ORAL HYGIENE .

Start brushing as soon as the first tooth erupts into your baby’s mouth.

⁉️Why?
➡️After 6 months of age , complementary feeds in the form of semisolid/ solids are introduced which stick to even that ONE tooth that has erupted.
➡️Also, starting early helps the baby get used to brushing by the time more teeth come in.

⁉️Why start brushing at night so early ?
⁉️What has breast feeding got to do with it?
➡️Babies nurse till age 2 or longer .
Breast milk and breast feeding don’t cause cavities but the food that the baby has eaten through the day, sticks to the teeth. If the latch isn’t proper ( due to various reasons ), the milk can then pool and cause the uncleaned food to become more sticky, contributing to tooth decay.

⁉️What about bottle feeding?
➡️Feeding from a bottle ( especially to sleep/ in between sleep) causes pooling of milk ( unlike breast feeding) . This along with lack of brushing in the night will contribute to tooth decay in your baby.
Bottle feeding also interferes with normal growth and development of the jaws and face.

⁉️Isn’t wiping with a cloth or cleaning with finger adequate ?
➡️The food along with bacteria in the mouth forms a very sticky layer called plaque which cannot be effectively cleaned with a finger/cloth. A brush plus fluoridated toothpaste plus correct technique is what is proven to be effective .

So start brushing as soon as you see that first baby tooth mom and dads! It’ll go a long way I promise 😊
🪥 👶🏻

My eyes did well up, I’m not gonna lie.

That stunning piece of art has been painted by this talented and adorable little cookie, Kaashvi! Look at those colours and the strokes! 😍🎨🖌👧🏻

Thankyou so much for being such a star 🌟 during your dental visits and this absolutely heart warming gesture.

#

Waiting for my turn to tell a story 😀💕

Happy Diwali to all of you from team Smile Stories and
Smile Stories Junior 🪔 💕
Wish you all Health, Happiness and Peace ✨

My First Dental Visit 😊🦷🪥

I am Dr.Pooja Rajagopal, a Pediatric and Preventive Dentist and the founder of Smile Stories Junior.

My love for Pediatric Dentistry stems from the fact that it is an intricate combination of science, art, psychology and most importantly, looking after little humans which brings me joy in abundance.

The general perception of dentistry being one associated with pain/fear, my aim was to dispel that notion and make dentistry a fun and positive experience for children and adolescents.

At Smile Stories Junior, we provide individualised oral health care for our patients based on prevention , education and minimal intervention.
We focus on the over all well being of the child and not only the teeth and mouth.
We strive to ensure that children have a compassionate, fun and comfortable dental experience so that it instills a lifelong positive outlook in their minds towards oral health care.

Tooth Behind Tooth / Double Row of Teeth

This is a fairly common occurrence in children .
Don’t worry, Don’t Panic.
It is recommended you get it examined by a Pediatric Dentist if you see this happening in your child’s mouth.
To read some more about this, visit our post on Tooth Behind Tooth below in our feed
https://www.facebook.com/103035621367511/posts/265550735115998/?d=n

Sahiti!! You are such a star 💫
Well done sweetie 💕

Now that we know when and why must we start brushing our baby’s teeth as soon the first couple of teeth come in , let’s now address the HOW ❓

Starting toothbrushing for your baby 👶🏻 🪥

👶🏻Just like the baby adapts to many new experiences, tastes etc, the baby will adapt and many even love getting their teeth brushed.

👶🏻The idea is to get the baby’s mouth to be slowly and consistently DESENSITIZED to cleaning and brushing.

👶🏻 Starting early by simply wiping the baby’s gum pads ( before teeth come in) with a damp wash cloth really helps in introducing brushing later. 🤱🏻

👶🏻 Introduce the toothbrush in a fun, playful way as soon as a tooth erupts into your baby’s mouth. 👶🏻🪥😃
Let the child hold the brush, explore it in the mouth , chew on it with you around.

👶🏻Start with making circles on the one or two erupted teeth while you sing/ interact with the baby . 👶🏻🪥👫🏻💕

👶🏻Gradually increase the brushing time as more teeth come in .

The key is CONSISTENCY.
When brushing happens twice a day, daily and is followed up with cuddles 🥰, it will get incorporated into the baby’s routine.

This cutie Kabir is just a year old in the picture and loves brushing ♥️

Every child is unique and some will take to it instantly and some will take longer and may resist it for longer. Don’t you worry moms and dads , just hang in there and don’t give up.

One of the top reasons why children as little as just a year old develop tooth decay is
👉🏻lack of tooth brushing all together
👉🏻delaying brushing the teeth until the child is 2/3 years of age
👉🏻 not brushing the teeth at night
👉🏻inadequate brushing

You may start by simply wiping your baby’s gumpads with a soft damp cloth at first.

Once one or two teeth erupt, you MUST brush them with a finger brush/ soft baby brush.
The baby is usually 6-8months ( or older) when one or two teeth erupt and has started eating solids which adhere to these teeth.
Therefore brushing is a must.
It helps keep the teeth clean and prevents tooth decay .

When brushed everyday, twice a day from this early age, it helps your child slowly get used to the feeling of brushing by the time more teeth come in 👶🏻 🦷 🪥 👨‍👩‍👦

When tooth decay is left unchecked in toddlers (these pics are of 21/2-3 year olds) , it can progress rapidly causing these little teeth to crumble and leads to the following consequences :
1) Pain 😢
2) The child won’t let you brush this area due to pain/ sensitivity 😣
3) The child will avoid using these front teeth to bite into food (due to discomfort)😞
4)Swelling and Infection 🤕🤒
5)Aesthetics (smile) is affected 🤭

Unfortunately , more often than not we see little kids in this advanced stage of the disease 😔
Oral health awareness in children has a long way to go, world over.

Tooth decay in children or Early Childhood Caries as it is called, is preventable. 😀😀

As per international guidelines, it is recommended that your baby has their first (PREVENTIVE) visit to a Pediatric Dentist when they’ve developed one or two teeth, usually around age one.
👶🏻 🦷👩🏻‍⚕️

“I got a silver star on my hair band and a silver star on my tooth too!!” 😄🤩😍🙌🏻

In our last post we discussed how parents often confuse tooth decay for just stains from food and delay getting a dental examination for their toddler.

Here we have explained how STAINS look different from CAVITIES (tooth decay).

Stains on children’s teeth could be due to :
1)Iron or other tonic that may be dark in colour
2)Inadequate or improper tooth brushing
3) Berries like blue berries, black berries
4)POMOGRANATES! Yes, when eaten more frequently , daily. Brushing well twice a day helps prevent it.
5)Chromogenic stains- these stains form due to black pigment forming bacteria present in excess in some children’s mouth.

Stains are of no worry because they only affect the aesthetics of the teeth and not the HEALTH of your child’s teeth. 😊
They’re external and can be easily cleaned by the dentist.
Stains DO NOT alter the structure of the tooth. The tooth will have its smooth and shiny surface intact.

A cavity or tooth decay will alter your baby’s tooth surface by:
1)making it ROUGH
2)making it OPAQUE and CHALKY
3)causing a discontinuity in the surface / crater/ hole 🕳
They affect the HEALTH of your baby’s teeth. 😔

If you notice any such change in your toddler’s teeth, you must seek dental care so that it does not worsen.
We say TODDLER because tooth decay in the front teeth can begin as early as 8-9months of age. 👶🏻🦷

A pediatric dentist will help treat it in a simple, comfortable manner and also prevent it in the future 👶🏻🦷👩🏻‍⚕️😄

This is commonly asked by parents when they notice such an appearance on their toddler’s teeth.❓👨‍👩‍👦 ❓

Most often parents assume they’re some stains from food or tonics that brushing isn’t able to clean.
(A cavity will appear like a crater but a stained tooth will still have its original smooth surface.)

More often than not parents are not aware that even a little baby under 1 year of age can develop tooth decay / cavities. 👶🏻🦷
It’s not your fault mamas and papas, oral health awareness especially in children has a long way to go, world over. 👶🏻🦷 🌍

As per guidelines, babies should have their first dental visit when one or two teeth have erupted into the mouth.
🦷👶🏻

If you happen to notice anything out of the normal on your baby’s teeth, get it examined.
We understand that currently it is, the pandemic versus a dental concern.
You may take a picture of the area and seek a video consultation to begin with, so that the pediatric dentist will be able to guide you further.
👶🏻 🦷 📸 📱 📞 👩🏻‍⚕️ 👨‍⚕️😊
PediatricDentistry

A cavity(hole) or tooth decay is the breakdown of the tooth by bacteria .

HOW?

When your child eats sugary foods or sticky, starchy foods ( packed processed stuff ),or has sugary drinks, it gets stuck on/ coats the teeth.
This is basically food for the cavity causing bacteria. They digest it and form acid as a by product on the teeth .
👶🏻 +🍪🍬🧁🧃🥤🍫🥫 🥯+🦠 = ACID 🦷

Frequent ACID formation due to FREQUENT consumption of these foods/ drinks plus inadequate brushing starts DISSOLVING the outer layer of your child’s teeth .
This is what gives that frosted, chalky white, patchy appearance on your child’s teeth at first (initial stage of tooth decay- often missed).

If the sugary, processed food and drinks intake plus inadequate brushing continues , soon, the acid dissolves more of that white patchy area and a hole or CAVITY develops .

Pointers :
✔️All food and drinks containing artificial sugar ( biscuits, chocolates, cakes, ketchup, jam, breakfast cereals, packed juices etc) must be restricted to special days/ occasions like a treat.

✔️Assisted, supervised brushing twice a day with toothpaste containing 1000ppm of fluoride.

✔️Incase you notice these patches developing on your child’s teeth, do get an examination done by a pediatric dentist.