Trauma-Informed Pediatric Care And How It Protects Your Children

Most of us will experience potentially traumatic events throughout our lifetimes. When these things happen when we’re young, they can leave us with severe mental scars that last a lifetime. Kids who have gone through traumatic experiences must have a support network that understands how to assist them. By including data from the Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress in its care guidelines, Advanced Pediatrics of Rockland works to meet the needs of its patients.

How Trauma-Informed Pediatric Care Protects Your Child

To better comprehend how traumatic events affect children in a healthcare environment, the Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress was established 20 years ago. As their knowledge of pediatric stress increased, they created resources that gave medical professionals the tools they needed to use in their everyday practice. Workbooks and advice booklets are available to parents and kids in the healthcare environment.

Using a multidisciplinary strategy is one aspect of trauma-informed pediatric care that is emphasized. The word “multidisciplinary” refers to including professionals with various specialties and backgrounds in the treatment process. It’s crucial to understand that “trauma” is not strictly defined but highly subjective and experiential. Examples of situations that could cause stress include:

• Being given an injection can be highly stressful and anxiety-provoking because of the syringe.
• Fighting a fatal illness like cancer or being near someone who is.
• Surviving an accident of any seriousness, but particularly one that is terrible or catastrophic.
• Residing in a hostile or uncaring atmosphere.

The instruction of doctors by a Center for Pediatric Stress member facilitates the provision of trauma-informed pediatric care education. Online resources are also accessible for the one-on-one instruction that practitioners receive and the classroom instruction so we can keep our dentists up to date on the most recent techniques. This education is crucial because it can be challenging to recognize trauma in toddlers.

Children may find it difficult to express their emotions or repress them out of dread or embarrassment, contributing to this. Symptoms to look for include:

• unusual anger outbursts or aggressive conduct
• becoming reclusive
• sudden loss of enthusiasm in long-time pastimes
• changes in sleeping habits
• sudden shifts in food choices, an increase or decline in appetite, and other dietary changes.

It’s critical to start getting your kid medical attention as soon as you notice symptoms like these. Even though there are many possible causes for some of these symptoms, it is essential to consider whether stress may be the cause.

Contact OC Kids Dental For Pediatric Care

It can be challenging to see our kids successfully through to adulthood. We have a responsibility as pediatric healthcare professionals to support parents as they navigate their child’s formative years. Through the use of pediatric trauma-informed care, we are better able to fight for your child’s health. We’re doing it right when we can make a child feel at ease while they receive medical treatment as part of a joyful or inspiring experience. Call (949) 362-9860 to immediately make an appointment at our Aliso Viejo, California, office! Your child’s oral and general health are our primary concerns.

Children experiencing lip-tied or tongue-tied can impact their health in various ways, including oral health. Tongue-tied and lip-tied are two very similar conditions that affect eating, speaking, and moving their mouth and can cause developmental problems with their dental health later in life. Luckily, these conditions can easily be treated. At OC Kids Dental, we can help you better understand these conditions, their causes, and how they can be treated!

How Lip-Ties and Tongues-Ties Affect Children And What It Means For Their Oral Health

Tongue and lip ties mean their tongues and lips cannot move freely. These conditions are caused by a more prominent frenulum in the mouth. The frenulum is a band of tissue along either the bottom of the tongue or at the top area of the lip line that assists with movement. If the frenulum is more prominent, it means that their mouths are restricted, which makes it harder for their mouths to develop, chew food, and pronounce words. 

When left untreated, these conditions can cause further problems as they grow, increasing the risk of cavities, gum disease, and bite problems. However, it’s also somewhat rare. Some symptoms to look out for when caring for your child include infant fatigue when eating, painful breastfeeding, and poor weight gain during their newborn years. 

Luckily, treating these conditions is relatively straightforward and risk-free, thanks to the expert care provided by pediatric dental surgeons. As specialists in pediatric oral surgery, they have many solutions on hand to help treat your child’s condition. These solutions include: 

• Frenectomies: A frenectomy is a simple surgery performed on infants and toddlers and works to remove the frenula for better mouth movement. Depending on the location of the frenulum, it can be performed under various types of sedation and performed on either the upper labial frenula or the lower lingual frenula.
• Frenuloplasties: Frenuloplasty works to alter the frenula instead of removing it completely with the goal of loosening it or repositioning it enough to increase mobility. Like frenectomies, they are performed with various forms of sedation depending on the patient and frenula location.
• Oral Myofunctional Therapy: Oral Myofunctional Therapy is a non-surgical treatment that helps reinforce movements to help your child breathe, swallow, and talk. As their facial muscles adapted to the larger frenula, the removal of the frenula means that they would need alternative therapy to help coordinate better mouth positions and movements. 

Visit OC Kids Dental For Quality Pediatric Care and Lip-Tie or Tongue-Tie Consultations

At OC Kids Dental, our team of pediatric dentists is here for all of your child’s needs. We work to provide the best source of pediatric dental care throughout our communities through a calm, fun-loving environment. We have pride and passion for our patients and work to give them preventative dental care that helps them grow and experience excellent oral health for life. To schedule a consultation with Dr. Cima Atabaki at OC Kids Dental and learn more about our dental services, call (949) 362-9860!