Children’s Dental Care in Townsville

We recommend that your child comes in for their first dental visit soon after their first birthday.

During this appointment, we’ll check that their first teeth are coming through correctly and advise you about the best way to brush and floss their teeth to keep them as healthy as possible. We can perform an oral health assessment while your child is comfortable sitting on mum or dad’s lap.

We want your child to feel as comfortable and happy as possible while they’re at our Townsville clinic. That’s why we’ve set up a dedicated Children’s Room to keep kids of all ages entertained while they wait for their appointments, featuring toys and an X-Box with the latest games.

If it’s your first time visiting us, we’ll introduce your child to our staff and let them know they can ask questions any time. It’s our goal to build trust with both parents and children, to help make visiting the dentist a positive experience that could last all through their lives.

When it’s time for your child to see their dentist, we’ll give them a full oral health assessment and suggest any treatments that could be helpful. These may be corrective treatments such as a filling to treat tooth decay and cavities or preventative treatments such as fissure sealants to make their teeth more resistant to plaque.

We believe in early intervention orthodontics and can perform an orthodontic assessment on children as young as 6 years old. By identifying orthodontic needs early, we can reduce the need for braces in their teens.

After we’ve conducted a thorough assessment of your child’s oral health, we may recommend treatments to correct a problem we’ve identified or to reduce the likelihood of problems developing in the future. We’ll explain what these treatments involve so you can decide what’s best for your child.

These treatments can include:

• white fillings – to restore teeth with cavities
• fissure sealants – to protect their teeth against plaque
• extractions – if a tooth is too badly damaged to save
• custom-fitted mouthguards – to protect their mouths from injuries during sports
• orthodontics – to straighten crooked teeth or correct bite problems.

If your child is aged 2-17 years, you’re eligible for Medicare, and you meet the other requirements, you may be eligible to claim your children’s dental treatments through CDBS. This $2.7 billion government initiative provides benefits for general dental services to encourage parents to look after their children’s oral health.

Treatments covered by CDBS include dental check-ups, x-rays, fillings and some extractions. The total benefit entitlement is capped at $1000 per child over a two-year period.

Many parents have a difficult time judging how much dental care their children need. When you bring your child in for their dental check-up, we’ll educate you both in the best ways to care for their teeth and gums and how to prevent cavities.

It’s never too early to start caring for your child’s teeth. Good oral hygiene habits should begin before your child’s first tooth even comes through, such as wiping your baby’s gums with a soft damp cloth after feedings to help prevent the build-up of bacteria.

Helping your child to brush their teeth

As soon as your child gets their first tooth (usually around the age of 6 months), it’s time for you to start brushing their teeth with a small, soft-bristled toothbrush twice a day.

They can start using special children’s toothpaste when they reach 18 months and move on to adult toothpaste by the age of 3. Be careful not to use more than a pea-sized amount and make sure your children spit out the toothpaste, as ingesting too much fluoride can cause mottling and staining of their developing permanent adult teeth.