At The Dental Anesthesia Center, we know the challenges that come with maintaining your child’s oral health during the busy fall season.
Fall is a season of crisp air, cozy sweaters, and plenty of treats! As the leaves change, it’s also a great time to focus on your child’s oral health. Between Halloween candy and seasonal snacks, it’s easy for sugary temptations to take a toll on their teeth. But don’t worry—with a few proactive steps, you can keep your child’s smile healthy this Fall.
Our adult daughter has cerebral palsy and requires being fully sedated when having anything done. The DAC was such a positive experience. Dr Hoffmann and his staff were kind and did great explaining things. As a mom, I had a lot of questions about how certain things would be done as usually she’s in her chair when getting examined at her local dentist and they had everything under control including transferring from her chair to the dentist chair and keeping her secured in the dentist chair as well as keeping her neck and legs comfortable. Many thanks to them!
Response from the owner:Thank you so much for your kind words. We’re grateful for your trust and happy to hear that you had such a positive experience with our team. Our goal is always to provide compassionate, attentive care in a safe and comfortable environment. We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience.
TWENTY YEARS! That is how long our special needs son has been seeing Dr Hoffman and his dedicated team! Our son suffers from an intellectual disability, is non-verbal, and is unable to cooperate for dental cleaning, x-rays, or other routine dental work. He requires general anesthesia. It is such a blessing to avoid a hospital setting just for dental work.
The team is always well staffed, friendly, personable and very professional. Every single year we have been supported by a deeply caring team who are dedicated to patients with a very wide range of disabilities and needs. They have shared useful dental advice and tools (3 sided toothbrushes, blocks to hold open their mouth for daily at-home care, etc.) which improved our son’s daily dental care. We always receive a call back the day after to check his recovery-even on weekends!
Highly recommended and so appreciative to have this team supporting our ever long road of raising a special needs son.
Response from the owner:Wow — thank you for sharing such a heartfelt review! We are so grateful for your trust and for allowing our team to be part of your family’s journey over the years. It means so much to us to know that our care and support have made a difference. We truly appreciate your kind words and recommendation!
We've been coming to Dr.Hoffman for twenty years. There's a reason we keep coming back! He's great. His staff is great. He's double boarded as an MD (Anesthesia) and DDS!!! Our son with special needs needs sedation for even a cleaning. You get what you pay for. He's expensive and... we know he's getting the best care!
Response from the owner:Thank you for trusting our team over the years and for your kind words about Dr. Hoffmann and our staff. We truly value your confidence in the care we provide!
Omg!! This place is Amazing! The people who work here are so very nice and understanding. I love this team
Response from the owner:Thank you so much for your kind words! We truly appreciate your support and are grateful to have such wonderful patients.
Searching for a new dental clinic is challenging for someone who has
dental anxiety, fear, and traumatic experiences in a dental chair. The staff and doctors at the Dental Anesthesia Center were immediately very welcoming. Dr. Thoms put together a very detailed plan to repair and replace the previous work that I had in the past that was now causing problems. Putting my faith in him was the best thing that I could have done for my situation. I am more than completely satisfied with all of the extensive dental work that I’ve had with Dr.Thoms. I had my fourth sleep dentistry experience yesterday and I’m very happy with my results. I highly recommend this practice and truly want to give them more than five stars! Thank you for giving me back my health and confidence.
Response from the owner:We know it isn’t always easy to find a dental office where you feel at ease, so your words mean the world to us. We’re so glad you feel comfortable with our team and truly appreciate your trust and recommendation!
Solidify Routines
Often, when schedules change, so do routines. With Fall arriving, your children are probably back to school. This radical lifestyle shift can lead to failing oral care if you’re not careful. To avoid this trap, make sure your children are carrying out their regular dental routine every morning and night. If they do not, try doing it with them to make it a fun, communal event. Doing so will make your children much more enthusiastic about their oral health.
Handle Halloween
When Fall comes, so does Halloween. While this might be your children’s favorite time of year, it can quickly become a nightmare for their teeth. All of that candy can damage their oral health and quickly lead to cavities. Still, you should not feel obligated to cancel Halloween altogether. Instead, handle it smartly and moderately. One way to do so is by limiting candy consumption per day and not being afraid to throw it out after some time passes.
Pack Lunches
Over the summer, you can control almost every meal your children have. Once the school year comes around, they often have much more freedom to eat unhealthy food that damages their teeth. You can lessen this risk by packing your children’s lunches most days. Doing so will give them healthy, teeth-friendly options rather than the problematic food they might find at school.
Football Season
If you’re a football fan, you may host or attend small viewing parties on Sunday. While these events are fun, they also usually feature poor dietary options. Between soda, chips, and other snacks, navigating these events seems like a minefield for your children. Just as with Halloween, you don’t have to ban them from consuming any foods and drinks they love. Instead, be aware of the risks associated with some snacks and limit their consumption.
Sugary Drinks
An unfortunate truth about sending your child to school is that they often have access to vending machines. Considering how many adults have trouble staying away from soda, you can imagine that children find it even harder. Additionally, many kids start their favorite sport in the Fall. At practices and games, there may be pressure to consume sports drinks. If you can, try to curb this behavior by educating your children about the dangers of sugar.
While Fall has many positive aspects, it can be problematic for your children’s oral health. That being said, with common sense rules and habits, you should get them through the season without any issues. Of course, if some oral health issue arises, you can always call our St. Louis pediatric dentists to schedule an appointment.
