Children’s Dental Checkups & Teeth Cleanings in Hillsboro

Dental checkups and teeth cleanings are an essential part of oral health care for every patient we treat, but establishing a routine of visiting the dentist twice a year at an early age sets kids up for a lifetime of healthy, happy smiles. We recommend kids visit the Dentists at Orenco for their first pediatric dental checkup and teeth cleaning following the eruption of their first tooth or before their first birthday. These early checkups are often referred to as happy visits because they are used to explore children’s developing dental structures to ensure everything appears whole and healthy. We almost never need to perform any services that will cause your little one discomfort during these appointments. Our goal is to help kids get used to visiting the dentist and start building positive associations with dentists from a young age. During the initial appointment, we typically examine your child as he or she remains in your lap for optimal comfort and safety. Once your child is old enough to better understand dental care, they’ll have more thorough checkups that resemble your own preventive care including diagnostics, evaluation, cleanings, and consultations.

Diagnostics

We use state of the art digital x-rays to capture images of your smile’s underlying dental structures in order to ensure teeth are developing correctly and there are no signs of decay or other concerns. We also use intraoral photos to get a clearer image of patients’ smiles and give kids and their parents the opportunity to see areas of concern from the dentist’s perspective. This allows us to partner with kids and parents to improve oral health and hygiene.

Evaluation

Dr. Royse will carefully examine the diagnostic x-rays and intraoral photos and performs a tooth by tooth examination of your child’s smile looking for signs of common oral health concerns including tooth decay, gum disease, bruxism (nighttime teeth grinding and clenching), temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction, oral cancer, and more.

Cleaning

Even those kids (and adults) who do an excellent job of brushing and flossing teeth every day can miss areas of their smile. That’s where professional teeth cleaning comes in. Our hygienists carefully remove bacteria, plaque, and tartar from even the hardest to reach surfaces of teeth keeping smiles free from decay and preventing most common oral health concerns.

Consultation

The consultation is possibly the most important part of any dental visit for patients at any age. This is the time the dentist takes to sit one on one with patients and/or their guardians. We’re happy to answer your questions and your child’s questions, explain areas for concern and possible treatments and develop a treatment plan to keep smiles whole and healthy in partnership with our patients and their parents. We are also happy to discuss and demonstrate best practices in at-home hygiene during this time.

Trip to the Treasure Chest

We want to keep kids associating dental visits with fun. That’s why we end every visit by giving your child a goody bag of dental hygiene supplies and allowing them to take a trip to our office treasure chest where they’ll be able to pick out a cool toy to take home.

Whatever your child’s age or stage of dental development, we’re happy to provide comprehensive dental care that exceeds even the highest expectations in a comfortable, welcoming Hillsboro dental practice that allows them to transition from dental care specifically catered toward kids to advanced dental care for adults in one location. Contact The Dentists at Orenco for Kids to find out more today.