6 - Step Oral Health Assessment for your children in NEWPORT HEALTHY SMILES

This "6 - Step Oral Health Assessment" is also supports by California Dental Association.

 

1. Interview / Risk Assessment / Anticipatory guidance
Introduce your child to the dental office, let your child know why we are here today.
Overview and expectations of the visit together with the child and parent.
Determine your child caries risk factors if any.

Watching the "Caesy video presentation" will help the child and parents to understand "tell, show, do" method.

2. Position the child (under 1 year old)
Assume the knee to knee position with the child sitting in the caregivers lap
and lowering the child’s head onto your lap.

 

3. Toothbrush Prophylaxis
Brush the child’s teeth, showing the parent / caregiver how to do the same at home.
This is a good time to remind the family about the importance of using a small
dab of fluoride toothpaste (or non fluoride for child unable to spit) daily.

 

4. Oral Assessment
Give the child a toothbrush or toy (distraction) while you “count” the child’s
teeth aloud, using the toothbrush handle as a mouth prop. Assess the child’s
oral condition, looking for chalky white spots, obvious tooth decay, tooth defects,
or other abnormalities.
Based on our interview with the parent / caregiver and our assessment, decide if
the child is at low or high risk for tooth decay. (See “good food and bad food")

 

5. Fluoride Varnish Treatment
Provide a full mouth fluoride varnish treatment if the child is at high risk for
tooth decay.  Please click here for more information on Fluoride Varnish.

 

6. Summarize and Review Anticipatory Guidance and Counseling
Raise the child back up into the parent's / caregiver’s lap and discuss our findings and
recommendations for follow-up, anticipatory guidance and home care.