COVID-19 Office Update

Dear PDS Patients and Parents,


Our office remains CLOSED due to the COVID19 Pandemic. At this time our office will remain closed until May 1, 2020 or until we are cleared to open for normal business hours by government and healthcare organizations.

Please disregard any appointment reminders notices you may have received prior to today.

If you have an urgent need during this time, we will continue to be available for EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS ONLY. Please call our office so we may determine the best course of action for your specific situation.

We look forward to seeing you back in our office soon.

Sincerely,

Dr. Cortez, Dr. Sanchez, and Dr. Planells

Thumbsucking and Consequences

Thumbsucking has been a reflex for kids to soothe themselves, feel comfortable, secure or happy. Yet this can have some consequences on the child's permanent teeth. Thumbsucking and sucking on a pacifier can have the same consequences such as problems with the proper growth of the mouth and alignment of the teeth. It can also cause changes in the roof of the mouth.

According to the American Dental Health Association, children usually stop sucking between the ages of two and four years old.

If you would like to help your child stop sucking their thumb, you can try a few things.

• Praise your child for not sucking.
• Children often suck their thumbs when feeling insecure or needing comfort. Focus on correcting the cause of the anxiety and provide comfort to your child.
• For an older child, involve him or her in choosing the method of stopping. 
• We can also offer encouragement to your child and explain what could happen to their teeth if they do not stop sucking.

If you notice changes in your child’s primary teeth, or are concerned about your child’s thumbsucking consult your dentist. If you have any questions, please contact us at (562) 377-1375

What Makes Us Unique?

We have been serving patients in Long Beach and the surrounding areas for over 30 years! We consider dental health to be an integral part of overall good health. Our practice philosophy is to provide dental education and treatment, as well as orthodontics, for children, teens, and those with special healthcare needs. We believe that good dental health can instill a sense of well-being, provide a lifelong smile, and promote good overall health.

Dr. Santos Cortez, Dr. Estela Sanchez, Dr. Ana Planells and Dr. Gabriela Cervantes, as well as our team, are committed to supporting and educating our patients to care for their teeth and gums and help in the prevention of dental disease. We strive to achieve this goal in an environment that is soothing and welcoming to both parents and children of all ages.

What Sets Us Apart?

We offer pediatric dentistry and orthodontics for children, teens, and patients with special healthcare needs. With years of education, hands-on training, and experience, our doctors and staff are uniquely able to meet the specific dental needs of our young patients.

We utilize digital radiographs and the latest digital impression technology, which allows us to take digital molds for appliances and retainers without the goopy, messy material used in the past.

Our dental and orthodontic charts are digital, which allows for better communication with other dental and medical doctors. This reduces the number of X-rays patients undergo, and improves communication between providers, which leads to better care.

Make your child’s visit special!

As a new patient, your young child will receive a personalized book with his or her name and the name of the dentist. This book is kid-friendly and leads young children through their first dental visit and introduces them to, the dentist, dental staff, and some tools they will see during their visit. Read this to your child before his or her first visit to ease any fears.

We have a No-Cavity Club Program to reward children who perform good oral hygiene and have no cavities whereby they get entered into monthly drawings for gift cards. We also have many fun contests throughout the year to keep kids engaged and have positive experiences when visiting the dentist.

Here when you need us!

The doctors at Pediatric Dental Specialists are on-call for after-hours emergencies, including holidays and weekends. In the event of an emergency, you may contact our office to page the doctor on call, and expect to hear back within 30 minutes. The doctor will discuss the emergency over the phone and determine what action needs to be taken. Some emergency require seeing the patient in the office, other situations may be handled over the phone.

The Truth About Your Child’s Tooth Decay

Did you know tooth decay is the most common childhood disease? According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, 3 out of 5 children are affected by tooth decay. This disease may seem insignificant to some parents, but Pediatric Dental Specialists urge you to take it seriously to avoid more severe oral health problems in the future. With tooth decay being 5 times more common than asthma, we decided to help educate parents more on how you can help your child regarding this matter.

HOW CAN YOU HELP YOUR CHILD?

Encourage good dental habits.
Be sure to practice and teach your children healthy dental habits that will last them a lifetime. Make sure you emphasize daily brushing and show your child how to brush with a soft-bristled brush. Daily flossing is another important factor. Flossing should begin as soon as teeth touch each other. Parents should help floss children’s teeth until they are at least eight years old.

Make flossing fun.
The trick to making flossing a habit is to make it fun for kids to do. Here is one way to do that:

1) Purchase a “flosser friend” at the nearest retail store. This is a fun and functional flossing tool that holds children’s floss and promotes healthy habits.

2) Fill the flosser keeper with fruity children’s floss.

3) Place the flosser keeper in an easily accessible location around the bathroom sink.

Cut down on sweets and sticky foods.
Sugary foods and drinks are the biggest culprits for causing tooth decay. Avoid extremely sugary snacks and candy that can stick to teeth and lead to plaque buildup.

Visit Pediatric Dental Specialists in Long Beach regularly.
Make sure you are bringing your child in for regular cleanings and check-ups. Children should be seen by a pediatric dentist for a checkup by age 1 and start regular clings at age 3.

When To Bring A Baby To The Dentist

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommend that you take your child to the dentist within six months after the first tooth erupts, or by his or her's first birthday, whichever comes first.

In the meantime, your primary healthcare provider should take a look at your baby's teeth (if he or she has any) and apply fluoride varnish every three to six months. Risk factors include a family history of cavities and poor dental health in the mother during pregnancy.

When you are ready to bring your child to the Pediatric Dental Specialists in Long Beach, be sure to communicate what fluoride treatments your baby has already received at the doctor's office.

If you can't afford dental care for your baby, consider getting in touch with your local health department to ask about resources.

What Is The Difference Between A Dentist And Pediatric Dentist?

Pediatric Dental Specialist in Long Beach is not your typical dentist office. Our pediatric dentists specialize in the unique needs of each child. Just like taking your child to the pediatrician for healthcare, pediatric dentists complete two to three years of specialty training in children’s teeth after dental school.

At Pediatric Dental Specialists, our doctors and staff are highly trained to:

1. Teach your child proper oral hygiene habits 
2. Help with the effects from thumb sucking and pacifier use 
3. Identify spacing issues early on that may need orthodontic treatment later 

And much, much more!

At Pediatric Dental Specialists, we set the foundation of your child’s oral and overall health from a young age. It’s our goal to provide early, preventative dental care for your child to ensure a healthy smile that lasts well into adulthood. For more information about Pediatric Dental Specialists in Long Beach, give us a call at 562-377-1375 or click here to visit our website.

The Secret of Getting Your Kids to Brush their Teeth

In our home some mornings are a juggle trying to get out of the house! Between getting ready for work, feeding and dressing two active toddlers for school - who has time to brush their teeth? Now that they are old enough to run when they see me coming with the tooth brush my husband and I realized it was time to create a better system to keep their teeth clean and cavity free…and us sane!

Start Early: Begin brushing before teeth grown in

Even before the new teeth start to pop in the mouth parents can get babies used to getting their mouths brushed. A moist cloth or a soft finger toothbrush can be used to clean a baby’s gums or tongue after every feeding. No toothpaste is needed at this stage. Once the teeth start to grow in you can transition to a toothbrush with a smear of toothpaste.

Toothbrushes come is many shapes and sizes, look for toothbrushes with small heads that are soft bristled.

Pick the right sized toothbrush, one size does not fit all.

If you walk by the dental aisle at your local supermarket you may become overwhelmed by the large selection of toothbrushes. Hard, medium or soft bristles? Electric or manual toothbrushes? The key to selecting a toothbrush for a toddler or child depends on the age. It’s better to select a toothbrush (whether electric or manual) with a smallhead, this make brushing more comfortable for your little one. As your child grows, the size of the toothbrush head can also grow. Bristles should be soft (or ultra-soft) so as to not damage a child’s delicate gums.  Kids often will struggle with tooth brushing if they do not like the taste of the tooth paste, so try different fluoride toothpaste until you find the right one! Once kids are older a pea size amount (not a ribbon!) of tooth paste should be used and wipe out the excess toothpaste with a towel or cloth.

Make it fun: Sing a song while brushing

Sesame Street’s Healthy Teeth, Healthy Me has many songs such as Elmo's Brushy Brush sone to make brushing fun. 

         

When kids are 2 to 3 years old they may start to exert their independence by wanting to dress or brush their own teeth or even refuse to brush at all.  Don’t let brushing become a power struggle! Turn things around by turning brushing into a game by singing a song or reciting the ABC’s  Have older kids listen to a song while they brush for the recommended 2 minutes twice a day.

Brush their teeth for them until age 7 to 8 years

   

Parents should brush their children’s teeth until they are 7 to 8 years for 2 minutes a

   day in the morning and at bedtime.

Did you know that children don’t have the manual dexterity to brush their teeth

    effectively until they are 7 to 8 years of age? 

    Parents should allow their kids to practice brushing their teeth so they learn. But they

    need to follow up by brushing before or after.

Model good behavior: brush and floss as a family

A parent is a child’s first teacher and one of the most influential. The behaviors we instill in our kids through childhood routines carry over into adulthood. When a parent shows their kids that they take care of their own teeth by daily brushing and flossing they are more likely to have a positive influence on their child’s future oral health.

The key to successfully implementing any new routine is consistency. Once your kids realize they are not getting out of it you will avoid a lot of the tears and arguments over brushing. And hopefully avoid the cavities too!!!

Nifty “Eggs”periment

Summer is drawing to a close. If the little ones aren’t at camp, you may be running out of ideas to keep them occupied. Why not use a fun and simple science experiment to focus their attention for a while? This one includes a lesson about why it’s important to brush teeth to make plaque go away.

Gather the items you will need for this experiment:

* 1 hard-boiled egg with the shell on
* 12 ounces of Coke, Pepsi or other dark-colored cola
* 1 container large enough to hold the cola and egg
* 1 plastic bowl
* 1 toothbrush
* 1 drop of fluoride toothpaste
* Clean-up supplies

Explain to your child that plaque is a sticky layer of germs that collects on her teeth. If she doesn’t brush, plaque can cause serious problems for her teeth, for example holes in the teeth (cavities) or swollen gums (gingivitis). Tell her that you are going to do an experiment to see how plaque coats her teeth, and why brushing twice a day is important for healthy teeth and gums.

Conduct the experiment:

1. Make the comparison between the white color of the egg and the while color of your child's teeth.

2. Place the egg into the container and pour the cola over it, so that it completely covers the egg.

3. Let the egg sit in the cola for 24 hours.

4. Remove the egg from the cola. The egg will be stained and yellowish.
5. Explain to your child that the colored layer that has appeared on top of the eggshell is just like the layer of plaque that occurs on her teeth.

6. Place the egg in the plastic bowl and give your child the toothbrush with the drop of toothpaste on it.

7. Let her brush the "plaque" off of the egg. The yellowish film will disappear, exposing the white eggshell. Explain that the same thing happens when she brushes her teeth.

Baby Teeth – and Gums – Need Special Care!

One question we hear all the time is “When should I start brushing my baby’s teeth?”

You should begin regular cleanings even before your baby has teeth. After each breast feeding – or bottle-feeding – use a clean, damp washcloth to gently rub your baby’s gum tissue. You can wrap the material around one finger to make it easier to remove any food bits from your baby’s mouth.

When your baby’s first tooth comes in switch to a baby toothbrush. Look for special baby toothbrushes in your drugstore – they have just a few bristles and are very soft. There are even brushes shaped like finger puppets that fit over the tip of your pointer finger! All you need at this point is water – no toothpaste yet.

After a few more teeth appear, you can start using toothpaste, but you only need a tiny bit, and make sure it doesn’t contain fluoride for the first three years. From the beginning, have your little one practice spitting the toothpaste out after brushing. That way, he or she will already have the good habit of spitting when you switch to fluoride toothpaste, which should never be swallowed.

If you have any questions about caring for your baby’s teeth, please contact our office at (562) 377-1375.

The Tooth Fairy

Losing your first tooth, or any baby tooth for that matter, can be exciting! Your baby tooth may be gone, but in no time you will have a bigger, “grown-up” tooth in its place. So what do you do with the lost tooth? That’s simple…place it under your pillow at night and when you are fast asleep the tooth fairy will come and whisk your tooth away leaving behind a special gift just for you! Here’s a simple craft project I found a little while back that will help make the tooth fairy’s job a little easier and give your tooth a special place to stay until it is taken away. Please click on the link for instructions and pictures!

Tooth Fairy “Tooth” Box
(remember to ask your parents for help when using hot glue and scissors)


What you will need:
--I large empty match box
--Enough felt to wrap the box and inside sliding tray
--Ribbon
--Glue (tacky glue or a hot glue gun)
--Markers
--White, pink and blue (or your favorite color) felt for decorating the matchbox
--Scissors

Step 1: Pull the inner tray out of the box and line the inside with glue and felt as shown. Wrap the outside of the box with felt and glue it in place.

Step 2: Glue ribbon to the outside of the box in a hanging loop shape. Fold another piece of ribbon in half and glue it to the bottom of the inner tray to create a handle for sliding it in and out.

Step 3: Draw a tooth shape on paper, cut it out, and trace it onto the white felt twice. Cut out the teeth and face details.

Step 4: Decorate the teeth with the eyes and cheeks and draw on a mouth. Glue one tooth to the outside of the box.

Step 5: Create a tooth pocket by applying glue to the sides and bottom of the remaining tooth as shown, leaving an opening at the top. Glue the pocket to the inside tray. Once the glue dries, the box is Tooth Fairy-ready. Have your child put the tooth inside the inner pocket and hang it outside their door before your child goes to bed!