Helping Your Baby Find Relief From Teething With Dentist in Ancaster

Many sleepless nights and screaming fits can result from teeth erupting from a baby’s gums, but with gels, toys, and teething rings, it can be hard to discern which option is best for relief. As a dental expert and a mom to five children, Dr. Meg has a few tips to help!

Unfortunately, numbing gels can be dangerous for your baby and do little to actually numb the pain. These gels will likely rub off before the numbing agent can go into effect, and the numbing agent can kick in after the saliva washes the gel off the gums and carries it around the lips and into the throat. This impacts a baby’s ability to swallow, which can become detrimental to their well-being.

Instead, Dr. Meg recommends the following home remedies that are sure to soothe a baby’s aching gums!

1. She will often freeze low-sugar yogurt with Popsicle sticks poking through the bottom. Freeze the yogurt to the point where it’s solid but not too frozen, so the baby can gnaw on this homemade Popsicle and enjoy a healthy snack. You can also do this with seedless watermelon and peel-less apple slices.
2. Find rubber, mesh, or gel-like rings or blocks, and cool these toys slightly. Again, as your baby chews on these items, they will feel cool relief. Some toys and chewers even have options for including food into the mix!
3. Wet a washcloth with cool water, chill it in the refrigerator or freezer — be careful not to freeze it completely — and allow Baby to suck and chew on it.
4. If all else fails, your finger can offer the pain-relief your baby needs. Just make sure your hands are clean when Baby needs relief in a pinch.

 

While gels may not be the solution they promise to be, other medicated creams can work wonders. Rotating the appropriate dosage of Tylenol or Advil can offer relief, while petroleum jellies or lip balms can soothe the region around a baby’s lips from drool-related rashes. Do not smear these products directly onto a baby’s lips to avoid as much ingestion as possible.

Teething is an unavoidable part of development for babies, but you can make the experience bearable for your child.   When in doubt, ask Dr. Meg for more Supermom Tips!

 

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Dentist in Ancaster ON

Ancaster ON Dentist Teaching Healthy Habits

Getting your child to eat a snack that they enjoy and is good for them can feel like an impossible feat. As the mother of five children, Dr. Meg understands this challenge. She has compiled a list of teeth-friendly snacks for the whole family, so you can enjoy the sweet sounds of happy eaters.

Lots of Moo Juice

It might be gross, but saliva is a blessing for your teeth. Your body creates saliva to continually rinse your mouth of all the gunk that gets lodged in your teeth. Foods that require more chewing stimulate this production and one of the best foods to use is cheese. In fact, cheese slices, milk, and low-sugar yogurt are some of the best snacks for your child and their growing mouth. In addition to its saliva-inducing qualities, dairy is best known for its high volume of calcium, which can create stronger teeth. But there is a caveat to eating dairy for oral health: Opt for low-sugar items to avoid tooth decay.

An Apple a Day

Apples don’t just keep the doctor away; this handy fruit also promotes proper oral health! Apples rub away the grime and plaque other food leaves behind on your teeth, but unlike other crunchy foods, apples are not just supplying you with an edible toothbrush. While they can taste sweet, apples tend to be lower in sugar than other crunchy foods, such as granola or crackers. Apples are also packed with nutrients that specifically target the health of your teeth and gums, making the apple an oral superfood.

Go Green

Raw vegetables are some of the best foods for your teeth. Much like apples and cheese, vegetables can scrub away bacteria and plaque that stick to your teeth and rot your mouth. In addition, crunching produces more of that handy saliva that scrubs your teeth naturally. Lastly, raw vegetables are packed with vitamins to support oral health. Leafy greens, like kale or Swiss chard, boost your oral health with calcium, while carrots boast vitamin A, a gum-building nutrient.

Steer clear of sugary snacks and high-citrus foods, and instead, pack your children’s lunchboxes with delicious snacks that promote their mouth’s defenses.

Visit The Best Pediatric Dentist in Ancaster!

Most dentists spend 3/4 of their day staring at teeth. We obsess over the precise position and angles of your teeth. We eat, sleep, and breathe teeth.

We went to school for years to learn all about teeth. We’re always reading about new techniques and discoveries and research… about teeth.

And, of course, you want a dentist who takes your teeth seriously and knows what he or she is doing!

But!

Sometimes we dentists make the mistake of thinking that YOU want to know EVERYTHING about teeth…just like we do!

Which means we love to EDUCATE. And give you lots of facts.
And technical details.

And options upon options upon options.

We forget to cut through all the confusing details and give you a CLEAR RECOMMENDATION.

A good Ancaster dentist will give you all the options.

But a GREAT dentist will go one step further and strongly recommend ONE option.

And the reasons they give for recommending that option should be based on what’s important to YOU, and your priorities. And they can only know those priorities if they talked to you about them before making the recommendation.

Lots of options, without a clear recommendation based on your priorities only lead to confusion.

And many patients end up choosing something that does not fit their “smile goals.”

They pick the cheapest…or the one covered by insurance…

And then they’re back at the dentist a year later wondering why it didn’t work out!

Smart patients know that the BEST way to make the BEST decisions for their health is to find a dentist in ancaster they can TRUST. A dentist who will explain all the options, but make a clear recommendation based on YOU.

Think of it like your favourite server at your favourite restaurant. Instead of handing you a menu and saying, “Pick something,” they recommend something that they KNOW you will enjoy. And if they REALLY know you…you will!

If a server only recommended the most expensive item…or the least expensive… or the daily special…every time you went… would you trust them? No. You know they are recommending the same dish to every table they serve tonight. Their recommendations are not based on what YOU like.

A great dentist knows that you are free to make whatever choice you think is best for your health. But we also understand how confusing and overwhelming it can be.

A great dentist spends LESS time describing the technical details of each and every option… and MORE time asking questions to understand YOU

• What do YOU want for your teeth?
• What are YOU worried most about?
• What are YOUR priorities?

Once your dentist understands where you are now… and where you want to go… then they can make a CLEAR RECOMMENDATION about how we can best go from HERE to THERE.

In my career, I have recommended completely different plans of action for the SAME exact situation for different patients. Because I knew that the patients all had different priorities and desires.

So beware of any dentist who:

• Leaves you with a list of options and then makes it YOUR responsibility to choose
• Makes “boilerplate” recommendations
• Makes recommendations that might be great for your TOOTH…. But not as great for YOU.

Instead, do this: Find a Family dentist you trust.

How do you know you can trust him or her?

• Do they take the time to get to know you – your worries, your values, and your priorities? Or do they just talk about teeth all the time?
• Do they take time to make clear recommendations? Or do they leave you “dazed and confused” about which you option you should choose?

Your mouth is important. Smiling, eating, talking…most of the joys of life revolve around your mouth! Don’t trust it to someone who isn’t interested in what YOU want.

Are you open to seeing if we are a good fit to work together? If so, click here (link to contact)  to get started.

The dirty little secret I’d like to share with you today is that your insurance is not doing stuff for YOU. I get a lot of clients who tell me “Oh, my insurance doesn’t cover that because it’s cosmetic”, or “My insurance doesn’t cover this because of this”.

Your insurance doesn’t cover stuff because it’s not profitable for them. It doesn’t mean that you don’t need it. So, when your dentist recommends a crown and the crown is not covered, it doesn’t mean that it’s not needed or the insurance doesn’t feel that it’s needed, It’s that is not covered in your plan because the insurance doesn’t want to invest the money in it and it’s not profitable for them.

You need to kind of step away from that insurance mindset because the insurance is not looking out for your best interest! If you get a recommendation from your cosmetic & implant dentist and it doesn’t match up with what’s covered by your insurance plan – Do not fall into that trap! Like I said, the insurance is not there for you, they do not care about you, they’re focused on the profitability of the plan. That is a dirty little secret that I’m glad I got out there! 

I always take your budget (and your priorities, and goals, and worries) into consideration. And I can help you coordinate with your insurance company to make sure you get the coverage you are entitled to. Plus, I can help you time your treatments to make them as affordable as possible.

But don’t assume that a dentist’s recommendation is the right one for you just because your insurance covers it.

Decide what’s most important to you first. Then select at the treatment that best fits what you want. After you’ve decided that, THEN you can decide whether you can afford it or not, with or without the help of your dental insurance. (And if you CAN’T afford the “perfect” treatment plan… that’s ok. There are dozens of other options, and I can help you find the one that IS perfect… for YOU)

Ready to learn more? Click here to get started.

As a parent, you’re busy. You have to prepare lunches, get your kids ready and sent to school on time, and remember that there’s piano practice tonight and youth group tomorrow. When you get a message from our dental practice that it’s time to schedule your next dental appointment, you may think you don’t have time to squeeze one in. How could you possibly need to see the dentist again?

You may want to rethink that!

When it comes to dental appointments and the frequency they occur, every schedule should be unique. It is financially beneficial and healthy to attend regular dental appointments based on your individual needs. Your teeth and mouth’s susceptibility to tooth decay is reliant on many factors, including your genetics, diet, and oral health habits. As a result, your neighbor may only need to see the dentist twice each year, but your dentist may recommend you visit every three months.

Many families opt for one or two days out of the year when the entire family is seen for dental cleanings and care. While this is a busy mom’s dream, it could also be detrimental to your children’s oral health. Instead, we will assess the individual health risk of every member of your family and make recommendations for the frequency of cleanings each person needs.

Think about it this way: How much does your child change over the course of a year? At 1 month old, they may start registering sounds and sights, but at 1 year old, most babies are crawling or walking, gabbing away with baby sounds, and exploring their world in ways they never could before. Likewise, your child’s oral health changes rapidly. It’s imperative they see the dentist on a regular basis as established by the dentist Ancaster.

As an adult, your physical growth and development are much different than a child’s. Your individual needs vary as you age and common aging conditions and circumstances take a toll on your oral health. Once again, it’s crucial that you and your dentist establish a timeline that fits your needs and health risk.

Our team can work with you and your family to establish a timeline that fits into your schedule.

Learn more by giving us a call. 289-768-9905

Smiling Dental Ancaster, Ontario