• baby dentist santa cruz
    February 2020

    Taking Care of Tiny Teeth: Baby’s First Visit to the Dentist

    Taking Care of Tiny Teeth Baby’s First Visit to the Dentist By Primavera Hernandez, Senior Health Educator, Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency It seems to happen overnight. One day your baby is giving you the most delicious gummy smile and the next day, as your baby grins lovingly at you, you notice the white speck of their first tooth! This is a milestone worthy of their baby book and a visit to the dentist!  If your baby does not have teeth by their 1st Birthday it is still a good time to take them to the dentist for their first check-up. Why so early? The American Academy of Pediatrics…

  • Nannette Benedict santa cruz dentist
    May 2019

    Mother and Son Dental Practice: Happy Smiles May 2019

    Mother and Son Dental Practice: Happy Smiles May 2019 By Nannette Benedict Most of you reading this paper have kids. So I am writing about the joy of sharing my passion of dentistry with my kids. Dentistry is an exacting profession so I did not want to push my passion onto my kids. The profession requires a love of people, a desire to help, and an understanding of both science and art. I could tell early on that my son Devin would be able to enjoy dentistry(since he excelled in everything), but it needed to be his decision. I hired him and his brother to help in the office—installing the…

  • sugar kid's teeth santa cruz
    April 2019

    It’s Not Just Candy and Soda: Healthy Smiles April 2019

    It’s Not Just Candy and Soda: Healthy Smiles April 2019 By Alison Jackson, DDS “I don’t understand why my child has cavities. They don’t eat candy or drink soda.” I hear this every day. It’s true that sugar is bad for your teeth and parents are right to look to candy and soda as a cause of cavities. However, we are learning that things are often more complicated. The true cause of dental carries (the infectious process that causes cavities) is the acid that detrimental bacteria excreta on your teeth. These bacteria thrive on sugar. It doesn’t matter the source of sugar. Candy and soda are an obvious source of…

  • Santa Cruz dentists
    December 2018

    Children’s Teeth: Why Do Some Molars Grow so Soft? Healthy Smiles: December 2018

    Children’s Teeth: Why Do Some Molars Grow Soft? Healthy Smiles: December 2018 Dr. Megan Normally our teeth are protected by a very strong layer called enamel that protects the pulp tissue or nerve inside the tooth. Enamel owes its qualities to the significant amount of calcium phosphate and hydroxyapetite. Hypomineralization or hypocalcification is a tooth condition where enamel and dentine (the outer and middle layers of the tooth) are softer than normal. The condition is notable at eruption of these teeth. It may affect one to four molars, and in some cases the incisors (front teeth), could be affected. Unfortunately, this condition can make it more likely for the tooth…

  • November 2018

    What are “Spacers”? Who Needs Them?

    What are”Spacers”? Who NeedsThem?: Healthy Smiles November 2018 By Dr. Megan You might have heard of “spacers” when some parents talk about their children having a spacer in their mouth or the need for the spacers to be removed. Space maintainer, the more professional term, refer to appliances used to hold the space needed to maintain the form of the arch in mouth. In most cases when a baby tooth is extracted earlier than it is supposed to fall on its own, a space maintainer is recommended, but why? Believe it or not, teeth move! This is how braces work. Teeth movements including tilting, shifting or rotating would not be something…

  • October 2018

    Trick or Treat: Halloween is Really Scary for Kids with Diabetes

    Trick or Treat: Halloween is Really Scary for Kids with Diabetes By Tony Hicks Jenny Urban discovered her 6-year-old son, Chase, had Type 1 Diabetes – five days before Halloween. “It was a rapid adjustment,” said the Half Moon Bay resident, with a laugh. “It became a totally different holiday for him.” And for his mom, who suddenly found herself monitoring the now 14-year-old’s blood sugar,  monitoring how much exercise he was getting, and how much candy he could have at night’s end, when kids traditionally sort and compare their loot.  Celebrating what’s supposed to be the creepiest day on the calendar gets even scarier for some parents each year,…

  • October 2018

    What’s a Dentist’s Eye View of the Sweets Given Out at Halloween?

    What’s a Dentist’s Eye View of the Sweets Given Out at Halloween? By Dr. Megan With the advent of the Trick or Treat, there could be some levels of concern, thoughts, or even fear in every parent’s mind, contemplating how to handle the situation with their children. It is considered a joyful experience to which many children are looking forward. How can we let them enjoy the full adventure without a constant concern about the volume of all the sweets brought in? Parents who have met me, probably know how I try to spend some time talking about what sugar does to the brain. You read it right. I’m not…

  • September 2018

    Brushing, Fluoride, and All the Fun Stuff

    Brushing, Fluoride, and All the Fun Stuff: Healthy Smiles September 2018 By Dr. Megan For little babies, basically after every time milk is consumed a clean and wet cloth may be used to wipe the gums. So what is exactly achieved here? Well, it is not always about teeth. We would like to eliminate any residual milk left on the gum tissue, hence eliminating a “pleasant” habitat in which cavity causing bacteria can thrive. Occasionally parents are concerned that their ritual of cleaning baby’s mouth might wake them up after all the effort of putting them to sleep. Think of this way: milk contains sugar and is capable of causing…

  • August 2018

    Do Baby Teeth Matter At All?: Healthy Smiles August 2018

    Do Baby Teeth Matter At All? Healthy Smiles August 2018 By Dr. Megan We are constantly encountered with questions from parents asking whether it is important to maintain baby teeth. After all, kids lose them, right? Through my years of experience working with children, I have seen a variety of reactions from children as they step into the clinic. Some are very cheerful, excited and can’t wait to jump on the chair, and some other…not so excited! Children are not all the same. We all know twins with different characters, personalities and coping skills. If it takes a little longer for one child to get himself or herself adjusted to…