Pediatric Dental ExamsIn Manhattan Beach
What are Pediatric Dental Exams?
Pediatric dental exams are routine checkups designed to monitor your child’s oral health, development, and hygiene habits as they grow. At Toothlings Pediatric Dentistry, Dr. Melissa Grant provides gentle, thorough dental exams tailored to every age and stage—from your child’s very first tooth to their teenage years. These visits allow us to catch issues early, guide healthy habits, and ensure your child’s smile stays strong and confident for life.
The Benefits of Pediatric Dental Exams
Prevention and Early Detection
Regular dental exams help us identify concerns like weak enamel, cavities, gum issues, or bite problems before they become more serious. Early detection allows for simpler, less invasive treatment and helps your child avoid discomfort or anxiety later on.
Customized Oral Health Guidance
Every child’s smile is unique. During your child’s exam, Dr. Grant offers age-appropriate advice on brushing, flossing, nutrition, and habits like thumb sucking or pacifier use. Our goal is to support your child’s health while empowering parents with clear, personalized, and shame-free guidance.
Comfortable, Kid-Friendly Care
Our team takes extra care to make dental exams feel positive and fun. We explain everything in kid-friendly terms and use a gentle approach to help build trust—so your child feels confident coming to the dentist. We always go at the child’s pace and their comfort is our top priority!
Prevention and Early Detection
Regular dental exams help us identify concerns like weak enamel, cavities, gum issues, or bite problems before they become more serious. Early detection allows for simpler, less invasive treatment and helps your child avoid discomfort or anxiety later on.
Customized Oral Health Guidance
Every child’s smile is unique. During your child’s exam, Dr. Grant offers age-appropriate advice on brushing, flossing, nutrition, and habits like thumb sucking or pacifier use. Our goal is to support your child’s health while empowering parents with clear, personalized, and shame-free guidance.
Comfortable, Kid-Friendly Care
Our team takes extra care to make dental exams feel positive and fun. We explain everything in kid-friendly terms and use a gentle approach to help build trust—so your child feels confident coming to the dentist. We always go at the child’s pace and their comfort is our top priority!
What to Expect During a Dental Exam
We start by taking a thorough health history for your child and discussing any concerns or changes you’ve noticed, as well as any pertinent family history that can help us create a tailored preventative plan. We’ll also review current oral hygiene and dietary habits in the home and make individualized recommendations as necessary.
Dr. Grant carefully checks the teeth, gums, tongue, ] jaws, and airway for any signs of decay, infection, lesions, or developmental concerns. An airway evaluation is an important and often overlooked part of this exam, as early detection is the key to addressing many of these issues related to breathing, sleep, and proper facial development.
We evaluate how your child’s teeth are coming in, check for alignment or bite issues, and track their growth over time.
Following the exam, we’ll provide feedback and next steps—whether it’s preventive care, treatment recommendations, or orthodontic and other specialist referrals as needed.
Comprehensive Exam
Dr. Grant will conduct a thorough examination of your child’s teeth to identify areas of decay and determine if SDF is the appropriate treatment. Not every cavity can be effectively treated this way, however this assessment ensures that we choose the best approach for your child’s specific needs.
Prepare the Tooth
The decayed teeth are gently cleaned and dried to prepare them for the SDF application. This step ensures that the solution adheres properly and can effectively address the decay.
Application of SDF
Using a small brush, Dr. Grant will carefully apply the SDF solution to the affected areas. The process is quick and painless, allowing your child to remain comfortable throughout the treatment. Depending on your child’s needs, additional applications may be required at future appointments to ensure the lasting success of the treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions
That’s completely normal! At Toothlings Pediatric Dentistry, we create a calm, welcoming environment and take time to help each child feel safe, heard, and supported during their visit. Our goal is always to make you and your family feel comfortable in the office, and we can adjust and accommodate your child’s individual needs.
Most children should see a pediatric dentist every six months for an exam and cleaning. However, Dr. Grant may recommend more frequent visits based on your child’s needs.
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that children see a dentist by age 1, or within six months of their first tooth erupting. Early visits help establish good habits and build familiarity with dental care, as well as screen for preventable problems.