All Posts

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 21, 2026 Most parents hear "sedation" and picture their child unconscious on an operating table. That image is wrong, and it's costing families real treatment time. Sedation dentistry for kids is one of the safest, most studied areas of pediatric care. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Academy of Pediatrics j

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 19, 2026 Most babies cut their first tooth between 6 and 10 months. But if your child hits their first birthday with bare gums, you're probably wondering whether something's wrong. Tooth eruption delay in infants is more common than most parents realize, affecting roughly 9.1% of babies according to a 2025 cohort study published in Pub

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 17, 2026 Most parents don't need to pull a loose baby tooth at all. A tooth extraction for kids is the removal of a primary (baby) tooth, either at home when it's loose enough to come out painlessly, or by a pediatric dentist when something has gone wrong. The AAPD's 2025–2026 Reference Manual is direct about this: let baby teeth fall

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 15, 2026 Your child's dentist just recommended a tooth extraction, and your stomach dropped. That reaction is normal. But pediatric tooth extractions are one of the most routine procedures in children's dentistry. According to the CDC's 2024 Oral Health Surveillance Report, about 50% of kids aged 6–9 have experienced some form of tooth

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 14, 2026 Your baby's first tooth will probably break through the gums around 6 months old. The last of the 20 baby teeth should be in place by age 3. That's the tooth eruption at its simplest. But the window of "normal" is much wider than most parenting books suggest, and the gap between what parents expect and what actually happens ca

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 11, 2026 The AAP published a clinical report in August 2024 that changed the conversation around tongue ties. Their position: ankyloglossia is a normal anatomical variation, frenotomy should only follow failed lactation support for breastfeeding problems, and there's limited evidence that releasing a tongue tie prevents future speech o

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 10, 2026 Most articles about untreated tongue ties read like scare tactics. Every consequence sounds catastrophic. Every child apparently needs immediate surgery. The reality is more complicated than that, and the AAP's 2024 clinical report confirmed what experienced pediatric providers have been saying for years: not every tongue tie

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 7, 2026 Tongue ties might be the most over-discussed and under-understood condition in pediatric dentistry right now. Diagnoses rose roughly 800% between 1997 and 2012, then kept climbing. Some of that increase reflects better awareness. A lot of it reflects something else entirely. The AAP published a clinical report in August 2024 th

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 6, 2026 Dental crowns on baby teeth typically last until the tooth falls out on its own. That could mean two years or seven years, depending on your child's age when the crown was placed and which tooth it's on. A 2025 systematic review found that stainless steel crowns hold a 97.88% retention rate at five years, which makes them one o

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 4, 2026 White spots on kids' teeth are one of the most common concerns parents bring up during dental visits, and for good reason. Those chalky, opaque patches aren't just cosmetic. They often signal weakened enamel, and in roughly 1 in 4 cases, they're the first visible stage of tooth decay. The good news is that most white spots are

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: May 1, 2026 Yes. White fillings for kids are safe, mercury-free, and backed by both the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. If your child has a cavity and your pediatric dentist recommends a composite filling, you're not taking a risk. You're choosing the most widely used restorative material in ped

Written By: Logan Grover, Health Content Writer Reviewed By: Dr. Alison Grover, Board-Certified Diplomate Pediatric Dentist Last Reviewed: April 29, 2026 Your child's gums are bleeding when they brush, and you're not sure if that's normal or a real problem. In most cases, bleeding gums in kids signal gingivitis, the earliest and most treatable form of gum disease in children. A 2025 systematic review of 12 studies found that gingivitis affects anywhere from 20% to over 90% of

Most parents assume braces are a teenage thing. But if your child has crowded teeth, a noticeable bite problem, or breathes through their mouth at night, you might be looking at signs that call for early orthodontic treatment well before their 13th birthday. The American Association of Orthodontists recommends every child get an orthodontic screening by age seven. Not because every seven-year-old needs braces, but because that's when enough permanent teeth are present to c

A pediatric tooth extraction is the removal of a baby (primary) tooth by a children's dentist when the tooth can't be saved through fillings, crowns, or pulp therapy. Most extractions take under 20 minutes, cost between $75 and $300 per tooth, and heal within a few days. If your child's dentist just recommended one, you probably have a lot of questions. This guide answers the big ones. A pediatric tooth extraction is a routine dental procedure where a children's dentist remo

Brushing baby teeth should start the day that the first tooth pokes through the gum. Both the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) and the American Dental Association (ADA) say the same thing: use a rice-grain smear of fluoride toothpaste on a soft-bristled infant brush twice a day from tooth one. And yet, roughly 11.1% of U.S. children ages 2 to 5 already have untreated tooth decay , according to the CDC's 2024 Oral Health Surveillance Report. Most of that damage i

Most kids lose their first baby tooth around age 6 . The bottom two front teeth almost always go first, followed by the top two. By age 12 or 13, the full set of 20 baby teeth is usually gone and replaced by permanent adult teeth. That's the short answer. But the timing varies more than most parents expect, and what happens when things don't follow the standard schedule matters a lot more than people realize. Baby teeth fall out when the roots slowly dissolve as the permanent

Most kids need professional fluoride treatments two to four times a year, starting when their first tooth breaks through the gums. That's the short answer. The longer answer depends on your child's cavity risk, your local water supply, and whether they're keeping up with brushing at home. Fluoride treatments for kids are one of the cheapest and most effective ways to prevent cavities. A single fluoride varnish appointment takes about two minutes, costs $20–$50 without insura

Your child's dentist just said the word "crown," and your stomach dropped. You were expecting a filling. Maybe two. Not a cap over the whole tooth. If you're trying to figure out whether your kid really needs a pediatric crown or if a filling would do the job, you're asking the right question. Pediatric crowns vs. fillings come down to how much the tooth is damaged. A filling patches a small hole left by decay. A crown covers and protects the entire tooth when the damage is

Your kid’s teeth came in crooked, and you’re Googling “what age can kids get braces” while they sleep. Fair enough. Most kids start braces between ages 9 and 14, but the American Association of Orthodontists recommends a first orthodontic evaluation by age 7. The right timing depends less on your child’s birthday and more on what’s going on with their jaw growth, bite alignment, and how permanent teeth are coming in. Some children benefit from early intervention at 7 or 8.

Orthodontic treatment for children breaks down into three stages: early intervention (ages 6–10), active treatment (ages 11–14), and retention. Each stage targets different problems at different points in your child's jaw and tooth development. The national cost for a full course of treatment runs $3,000–$7,000 for standard metal braces, according to 2025 orthodontic clinic data, though early-phase work alone can cost $1,000–$3,500. Orthodontic treatment for children is any