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Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: October 5, 2026 Kids swallowing fluoride toothpaste is normal, and at the recommended amount it's safe. A rice-grain smear holds about 0.1 mg of fluoride. A 33-pound toddler would have to swallow about 2.5 ounces of paste at once to reach the dose the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) calls "probably toxic." That's roughly 700 smears

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: October 2, 2026 A tooth abscess in children needs a dentist the same day you spot it. It won't heal on its own, and antibiotics alone won't clear it. The fix is to treat the tooth: clean out the infected nerve with a pulpectomy and cover the tooth with a crown, or take the tooth out. Go to the ER first if your child has trouble breathing or swall

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: October 1, 2026 A sensory processing disorder dentist changes the light, the sound, the chair, the flavors and the pace of a visit to fit how your child takes in the world. The starting point isn't a label. It's a list of what sets your child off. That list does more work than a diagnosis. SPD isn't a diagnosis in the DSM-5, the manual US clinici

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 30, 2026 When your child chips a tooth, do 4 things. Rinse the mouth with warm water. Hold a cold compress against the outside of the cheek. Find the broken piece, and keep it wet in water or saline. Then call us at 303-500-3202. If you're already a patient and it's after hours, press 2 and you'll reach the pediatric dentist on call. Th

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 28, 2026 A dental emergency kit for kids holds 12 items and runs 2 different protocols, because a knocked-out baby tooth and a knocked-out adult tooth get opposite treatment. An adult tooth goes back in the socket, or into cold milk, inside 15 minutes. A baby tooth never goes back in. Pushing it into the socket can damage the permanent

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 26, 2026 Every 6 months for most kids. Every 3 months for kids at high cavity risk. That's how often a child with special needs should see the dentist, and the diagnosis isn't what sets it. Cavity risk sets it. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry publishes an interval for each risk level. A special health care need is 1 line on

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 24, 2026 Dental problems in children with special needs are more common and more severe than in other kids. Cavities, bleeding gums, worn-down enamel and knocked-out teeth all show up at higher rates. The usual explanation is that these families don't get to the dentist enough. The national data says that's backwards. Children with spec

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 22, 2026 Nitrous oxide wears off in about 2 to 3 minutes. Oral sedation takes several hours. General anesthesia takes the rest of the day. There is no single answer to how long dental sedation lasts in kids, and the popular one you will find on most dental websites, 2 to 4 hours, matches none of the 3. The number that matters isn't on a

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 20, 2026 The difference between kids and adult teeth cleaning isn't a smaller toothbrush. A child's cleaning is built to do a different job. Adults come in so a hygienist can scrape hardened calculus off the roots and check for gum disease. Kids come in so I can watch permanent teeth arrive, fix brushing that isn't working, get f

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 18, 2026 Your child's appointment is over and now you're the one in charge. Here's the short version. After nitrous oxide, there's basically nothing to recover from and your child can eat and go back to school the same day. After oral sedation, expect 4 to 6 hours of grogginess and a quiet day at home. After deep sedation, plan on the r

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 16, 2026 Most kids screened at age 7 don't need Phase 1 braces. That's the part the rest of the field leaves out. Phase 1 braces correct 1 specific problem while a child still has a mix of baby and permanent teeth, usually between ages 6 and 10. They work. For the right problem, they save a much harder correction later. But the research

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 14, 2026 The signs of a tooth infection in kids are a gum pimple, a gray or dark tooth, face or jaw swelling, bad breath, pain that wakes them at night, chewing on one side, a loose tooth that shouldn't be loose, and fever. But pain is the least reliable sign on that list. The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme tells denti

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 12, 2026 If your child just had a tooth knocked out, here's the short version. Find the tooth. Pick it up by the crown, the white chewing part, and keep your fingers off the root. If it's a permanent tooth, put it straight back into the socket and have your child bite gently on a clean cloth. When that isn't possible, drop it in a cup

Written By: Logan Grover, Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 10, 2026 Most parents are handed a two-way choice. Silver crown or white crown. Pick one. That choice is missing an option, and it's missing the question that matters more than color. When your child needs a crown on a baby tooth, the thing that changes their appointment isn't the shade. It's how much of the tooth has to come off, and w

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: September 6, 2026 The signs of weak enamel in children are chalky white patches, yellow or brown marks on the back molars, teeth that hurt with cold drinks, rough or pitted chewing surfaces, and new cavities that show up even when brushing is fine. Most of those signs trace back to 1 of 3 different problems, and the 3 don't get the same tr

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: August 31, 2026 Early orthodontic treatment can lower the odds that your child ever needs jaw surgery. It can't promise to prevent it, and any office that guarantees that is overselling. Most articles skip the part that matters most: the strongest evidence for treating early has nothing to do with surgery at all. A 2018 Cochrane review fou

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: August 29, 2026 If your child's filling or crown just came out, do this: stay calm, find the piece and save it if you can, keep your child on soft foods, and call your pediatric dentist to be seen in the next day or two. Do not try to glue it back in. Call the same day if there's swelling, bleeding, a broken or knocked tooth, or real pain.

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: August 27, 2026 Most articles about sedation dentistry for special needs children open by selling you on sedation. We start by trying to avoid it. At Mini Miners Pediatric Dentistry in Erie, Colorado, sedation is the last rung on a ladder that begins with a no-treatment "Happy Visit" and no-drill options like the Hall crown. Some children

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: August 25, 2026 Take your child to see an orthodontist for a first check by age 7. That is the recommendation from the American Association of Orthodontists, and it holds even if the teeth look straight. Here is the part most parents miss: that first visit is a screening, not the start of braces. Most 7-year-olds who get checked do not nee

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: August 23, 2026 Caring for your child's dental crown comes down to a handful of small habits, and most of them match what you already do on every other tooth. Brush it twice a day. Floss around it. Skip sticky candy and hard ice for a few days while the gum settles. The crown itself, whether it's a silver stainless steel cap or a white zir