At Sealy Dental Center in Katy, our kid-friendly dentistry team combines our advanced knowledge of dentistry with gentle dental techniques. Every single one of our dental team members is focused on maintaining an environment that is comfortable and stress-free for our youngest patients. Once your child has turned 1, they are ready to receive care from our Katy dentists.
We encourage you and your child to ask questions and are always here to address any concerns you have as a parent. In addition to providing children's dental treatment, we also offer empathetic oral health education and use simple explanations to answer your child’s questions.
If your child is anxious about visiting the dentist, ask us about our safe sedation dentistry options that could make their appointment more relaxing!
First Visit
Our kids' dentists understand that you want the best for your child. Sealy Dental Center in Katy uses the latest advancements in dentistry to provide the highest quality care possible. It’s completely normal for a child to be unsure or nervous about their first dental visit, but they don’t have to be! Our dentist office is designed to make your child comfortable and excited to visit the dentist.
Checkups
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentists (AAPD) advises that children be seen for a checkup every 6 months. These visits allow our doctors to closely monitor new changes in your child’s mouth and ensure that you, as a parent, have the information you need to promote continued oral health in your child. We may suggest additional checkups if your child is more susceptible to cavities or if your child is showing signs of orthodontic problems.
Teeth-Strengthening Mineral Application
Dental teeth-strengthening mineral treatments are safe and effective in decreasing the number of cavities in children. We often recommend this treatment along with dental sealants to help protect your child’s teeth. This teeth-strengthening mineral acts as a shield for the tooth’s outer enamel and can actually reverse early dental decay in some children.
Protective Dental Sealants
Protective dental sealants are thin coats of plastic painted onto your child’s back teeth to protect their deep grooves and depressions from accumulating bacteria and food particles. Studies show that 88% of cavities in American school-aged children are caused by food and bacteria being caught in rear molars.
At Sealy Dental Center in Katy, we typically apply a protective sealant to your child’s back teeth, premolars, and molars. The sealant will last for several years, but we will continue to check it during your child’s regular dental appointments.
Laughing Gas
If your child is anxious, has special needs, or just needs extra help staying calm and comfortable, our kid-friendly dentists may recommend laughing gas. Laughing gas is a completely safe way to help children receive the dental care they need - free from fear or anxiety. Once the pediatric dentistry treatment is over, the gas will be completely out of their system after just a few minutes. Laughing gas is widely considered to be low risk.
At Sealy Dental Center in Katy, our goal is to always care for your child’s dental health in the safest way possible!
Pulpotomy
Baby teeth are not as strong as adult teeth. If your child’s tooth suffers a large cavity, bacteria can damage the pulp inside the tooth, causing pain and inflammation. When the soft tissue inside the pulp chamber becomes infected or inflamed, our kids dentist might recommend a pulpotomy. Instead of removing the entire tooth, we will put a medicated filling into the pulp chamber to keep the remaining pulp inside the tooth alive and healthy.
Tooth-Colored Fillings
Children's cavity treatment depends on how severe the decay is as well as each child’s age and risk of future cavities. At Sealy Dental Center in Katy, we typically treat cavities with discreet, effective tooth-colored fillings.
Crowns
Dental crowns are tooth-shaped coverings cemented to a badly damaged tooth to restore its shape and functionality. Our doctors may recommend a crown for your child’s tooth if it has a large cavity, was broken or chipped due to trauma, or if the tooth hasn’t developed correctly.
Tooth Extractions
Unfortunately, sometimes a child’s tooth may be too badly decayed to save. In this case, we will perform an extraction. An extraction may also be recommended if the tooth is severely fractured or is crowding other healthy teeth.
Wisdom Teeth
Not all wisdom teeth need to be extracted but in many situations, it’s best to pull the wisdom teeth before they jeopardize the smile as a whole. Our pediatric dentistry specialists can determine if your child's wisdom teeth growth is causing damage to neighboring teeth, or cannot fully erupt. In these cases, we may consider extraction.
At the earliest, wisdom teeth are removed in the mid-teen years, but third molars do not finish developing until closer to about 30 years of age.
Questions About Our Kids Dentistry Services?
Is your child due for a preventive checkup? Give us a call to schedule their appointment with our dentists today!