Oral Hygiene & Diet
Strong little teeth are built at home, one brushing and one snack at a time. A check-up twice a year is a great start. The other 363 days belong to you and your child, so we spend real time on what happens between visits.
What every hygiene visit covers
We look at how clean the teeth really are, not just whether there are cavities. Kids get to see the spots their toothbrush keeps missing, which turns brushing into a game they want to win.
Rushed mornings and tired bedtimes are when habits fall apart. We help you build a routine that survives both, with plenty of encouragement for your child.
What your child eats and sips through the day matters as much as brushing. We talk it through honestly, without judgment, and leave you with swaps that work for picky eaters.
Weak enamel and early decay give off warning signs long before a tooth hurts. When we spot them, we act with the gentlest option first, and you always hear the plan before anything happens.
Brushing as they grow
Most baby teeth have arrived by age three, and from around age six they start handing over to adult teeth. Each stage asks a little something different of you.
Babies and first teeth
Start the day the first tooth peeks through. Use a soft baby brush with a smear of fluoride toothpaste no bigger than a grain of rice, following Canadian and American pediatric dental guidelines. Twice a day, even when bedtime is a battle.
Toddlers and big kids
Move up to a pea-sized amount of toothpaste and aim for two minutes, twice a day. Let your child brush first so their hands learn the job, then finish the round yourself. Most kids need that backup until about age eight.
The switch-over years
Baby teeth wiggle out while adult teeth move in, and the new molars at the back are easy to miss. This is the stage where extra attention pays off for decades. Add floss wherever two teeth touch.
Snacks that do teeth a favour
Teeth do their best when meals have a rhythm. Three proper meals with a couple of planned snacks in between gives saliva time to do its cleanup work. It is the all-day grazing, more than any single treat, that wears enamel down.
Water is the drink we cheer for between meals. Juice and other sweet drinks are best kept to mealtimes, if at all, because sipping them slowly through the day gives sugar hours of contact with teeth.
In the smart snack box
Worth watching
A note from our team: nothing on the watch list is forbidden. Those foods simply cling to teeth, so save them for mealtimes and follow with water. Kids who eat well and keep their teeth comfortable sleep better, focus better and smile more.
Dr. Anu Korada
Dr. Anu trained in the UK and moved to Canada from London with her family. A mother of two herself, she brings more than 15 years of experience in pediatric and special care dentistry across Canada and the UK, and she teaches pediatric dentistry at UBC and BC Children's Hospital.
She believes good oral hygiene is the gateway to good overall general health, and that positive early visits prepare children for a lifetime of looking after their own smiles. Her favourite part of the job is making the dental chair a place kids feel at ease.
Questions parents ask us
When should flossing start?+
As soon as any two teeth touch. A toothbrush cannot reach between them, and that snug spot is exactly where cavities like to hide. Floss picks make the job much easier on small mouths and parent hands alike.
My child hates brushing. Any tricks?+
Let them pick the brush, play a two-minute song, brush your own teeth beside them, and keep the mood light. If it is still a wrestle, tell us at your next visit. We have talked hundreds of kids into liking this, and we enjoy the challenge.
Is fluoride toothpaste safe for little ones?+
Yes, in the right amount. That is a rice-grain smear for babies and a pea-sized dab from the toddler years on, which is why we repeat those two measurements so often. Fluoride remains the best cavity protection we have.
Do baby teeth really matter if they fall out anyway?+
They matter a lot. Baby teeth hold space for adult teeth, shape how the jaw and face grow, and let kids chew and speak comfortably. Losing them too early to decay can crowd the adult teeth waiting underneath.
How often should my child come in?+
Every six months for most kids, starting around the first birthday. Children who are more cavity-prone may benefit from seeing us a little more often, and we will tell you honestly if that is the case.