DENTISTRY FOR SPECIAL NEED
Crafting Healthy Smiles for Special Needs Children
At Dentistry Junior, we understand every child deserves a healthy, beautiful smile. But for children with physical, cognitive or developmental disabilities, preventive oral care often gets overlooked amidst other pressing medical priorities.
It is crucial to understand the importance of dental care for children with special needs as they often face a higher risk of oral health issues due to various factors such as medications, dietary restrictions, or difficulties in maintaining oral hygiene. Their oral health can significantly impact their overall well-being, making specialised dental care vital to their quality of life.
Children with special needs often face
- Extreme dental anxiety making checkups traumatic
- Sensory processing disorders aggravated by clinical settings
- Limited communication ability to voice dental pain
- Motor coordination issues hindering home oral hygiene
- Seizure and cystic fibrosis medications causing dry mouth, gum swelling, teeth grinding
- Cognitive impairments unable to follow maintenance instructions
- Systemic health disorders or congenital defects like cleft palate increasing decay risk
Our Customised, Pain-Free Care
We tackle these oral health challenges through customised treatment plans suiting each child’s needs-
- Relaxed, sensory-friendly dental environment with calming lights, toys and parents cradling babies during procedures
- Patient acclimatisation plan introducing dental concepts gradually to minimise trauma
- Laughing gas sedation for anxiety and fear during complex treatments
- General anaesthesia for extensive procedures on severely disabled or uncooperative children
- Meticulous homecare counselling
- Catching issues early before they become painful and dangerous
The Importance of Visiting a Paediatric Dentist
Regular visits to a paediatric dentist are fundamental. Our team is trained to understand the needs of children with diverse abilities, providing a supportive environment and specialised care to ensure positive dental experiences.
At Dentistry Junior, we are committed to fostering healthy smiles for every child, including those with special needs. Our goal is to create a dental home where every child feels safe, cared for, and empowered to maintain excellent oral health.
FAQs
Preparation is key. Create a social story or visual schedule to explain what will happen during the visit, visit the dental office beforehand to familiarise your child with the environment, and communicate with the dental team about any sensory issues or specific needs your child may have.
Depending on your child’s needs and the complexity of the procedure, sedation options such as nitrous oxide (laughing gas), oral sedation, or general anaesthesia might be considered. Discuss these options with your dentist to determine the best approach.
We demonstrate tools first and go very slowly with praise rewards to gain your child’s trust over multiple visits. For severely fearful kids, we may guide you on acclimatisation techniques to try safely at home.
No, we never use restraints which can traumatize kids. Instead, extra staff are assigned to calm and distract patients with toys, books, blankets & toys while parents assist.
Practise oral care routines tailored to your child’s needs. Use adapted toothbrushes or oral hygiene tools if necessary, establish a consistent brushing routine, and explore various techniques or products that can assist in maintaining good oral hygiene.
