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Hello from Pearland Pediatric Dentistry. At this time, following Governor Abbott’s executive order, our office is only open for emergency cases. We anticipate being back to our normal schedule on May 4th, 2020. We will keep our patients and community informed through our Facebook and Instagram pages. We are currently working on contacting our patients by phone to reschedule appointments. If you have questions, concerns, or a dental emergency we are asking patients and parents to call us at 713-436-4080 and the answering device will contact Dr. Clark.

As always, to keep your whole family’s smile healthy and happy we stress a healthy diet and to limit snacking. We follow the American Dental Association recommendations when suggesting dental care tips to our patients. Remember that every time you have something to eat or drink, your mouth becomes an acidic environment which promotes the formation of tooth decay. This is why it is important to not constantly snack on food or sip on drinks. Of course, brushing twice a day and flossing at least one a day will help decrease the chance of cavities!

To stay active while spending time at home Dr. Clark’s family is participating in a virtual exercise challenge with another family. Each day, one family member comes up with a new exercise routine for everyone to try out. One day the challenge was to get 10k steps and another day they had to do 4 rounds of certain exercises. Also, Dr. Clark’s daughters have also enjoyed taking their dogs for walks around the neighborhood.
Other than exercise and spending time outside the house Dr. Clark keeps in touch with her friends more often than normal. She is also learning a lot through webinars. Since her family isn’t busy with after school activities, they also take the time to teach her girls more life skills (their favorite is cleaning the toilets).

Though this time is challenging for so many we encourage you to enjoy this time with your families! Enjoy having time to cook and eat together. Find joy in the simple things and continue to have a strong faith and hope! Try to focus on the positive things and accept that there are a lot of things out of your control. It is important to find things to laugh about every day and also find at least one thing to celebrate each day!

We hope we get to see our lovely patients again soon! Until then, we wish everyone health and safety.

Is this a trick question? After all, you and your family probably already know quite a lot about cavities:

• It all begins when bacteria-filled plaque sticks to teeth and starts to attack enamel. How?
• Because the bacteria in plaque use the sugars and other foods we eat to produce acids.
• These acids gradually weaken teeth by dissolving minerals that help make up our enamel (a process called demineralization).
• Over time, a hole, or cavity, develops in the tooth surface.
• Left untreated, bacterial decay can spread to the inside of the tooth, creating a more serious cavity.

Dr. Pamela Clark might discover an unexpected cavity at a regularly scheduled dental exam at our Pearland, TX office, but there are also some symptoms that should have you calling for an appointment. A cavity can cause sensitivity when eating something hot or cold, or it can be painful, or you might even notice visible discoloration or damage to the tooth surface.

So, if your child has any of these symptoms, it’s a cavity, right? It might be—but it might not. Sometimes, because the symptoms are similar, what we suspect is a cavity is really enamel erosion.

The bacteria-created acids weaken enamel. But it’s not just bacteria that subject our teeth to acids. Acidic foods are one of the leading causes of tooth erosion.

And while we expect damage from a lifetime of acidic foods and beverages to catch up with us as we age, the fact is that erosion is becoming a problem even for young children. How is this possible? Let’s look at some food chemistry.

Our normal saliva pH level is around a 7, which is neutral. Any number lower is acidic; any number higher is alkaline. Acidic foods have a low pH (the pH of lemon juice, for example, measures between 2 and 3), and can reduce our normal, neutral pH level. When saliva pH levels drop to 5.5 or lower, tooth enamel starts to demineralize, just as it does when exposed to the acids from oral bacteria.

Regularly snacking on citrus and other acidic fruits, fruit juices, flavored drinks, sour candies, and other acidic foods can cause enamel erosion. Especially erosive are sports drinks, energy drinks, and colas, because they contain some combination of citric acid, phosphoric acid and/or carbonation.

So, when might you suspect enamel erosion? Your child might be sensitive to hot or cold foods, or feel pain, or even have noticeable enamel loss or pitting. Even though these symptoms may not have been caused by plaque and bacteria, acidic erosion from our diets leaves weakened enamel just as vulnerable to cavities and decay.

How to avoid erosion?

• Serve acidic foods sparingly, or as part of a meal. This helps our saliva pH stay in the neutral zone.
• Balance acidic foods with low-acid choices to neutralize acids and restore a normal pH balance. For example, mix those acidic berries with a banana.
• Use a straw! These are not only fun, but this simple solution keeps erosive drinks from bathing young teeth in acids.
• Encourage your child to drink water instead of an acidic beverage, or drink it afterward to rinse acids away. The pH of pure water? A perfect, neutral 7. And by using tap water instead of bottled water, you’ll be providing fluoride, which helps strengthen enamel.
• What about brushing right after eating or drinking something acidic? Ask Dr. Pamela Clark if your child should rush for the brush. We may recommend waiting 30 minutes or so after an acidic treat to give the teeth time to remineralize. Otherwise, brushing might cause more wear and tear on enamel.
• Finally, while foods are often the source of acid erosion, medical conditions can cause erosion as well. Talk to us about ways to minimize erosion while addressing these medical needs.

Be proactive. Ask your Dr. Pamela Clark about healthy drinks and snacks for healthy teeth. Make sure to keep on top of brushing and flossing, and stick with fluoride toothpastes. And visit our Pearland, TX office regularly for exams and cleanings.

There’s really no trick to it—preventing enamel erosion helps keep your child’s teeth structurally strong and cavity-free for a lifetime of beautiful and healthy adult smiles.

March has arrived which means spring is finally here! The freshness and newness of spring makes it a great time to declutter and organize our homes and our office here at Pearland Pediatric Dentistry. 

At home, Dr. Clark plans on going through her daughters' closets and taking out clothes and shoes to either donate or give to her younger niece. Dr. Clark is also setting aside time to organize digital pictures so the family can enjoy them. Her family has so many wonderful and fun memories together that she wants to make sure all those memories are remembered. In the office, the team schedules days throughout the year to do deep cleaning and decluttering. Springtime is one of those times when we make sure we are organized and squeaky clean. 

We celebrate every new season with fun office decorations and themed in-office drawings for our patients. We also schedule themed dress up days for our team and we love when our patients join us. Outside of the office, Dr. Clark is looking forward to planting flowers in her backyard. You can find the rest of us outside enjoying warm days with their families.  

In the latest in office news, our team is looking forward to all of our patient families meeting our two newest team members: Ms. Alicia who works with our administrative team and Ms. Candy who is a registered dental assistant. Make sure to say hello to our newest additions--they can’t wait to meet our awesome patients! We will also be hosting our Doctor Referral Appreciation Luncheon and having our annual CPR re-certification in the near future. 

Need a little motivation to keep up with your health goals this year? Remember you are what you eat! A healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, and good protein help you stay healthy and also help keep your chompers in tip-top shape. Having treats every once in a while is fine as long as good choices are made, you have a reasonable size portion, and you brush afterwards. 

We hope everyone is having a warm and cheery start to their spring. We are looking forward to seeing many of our patients over Spring Break!  

Is every trip to the dentist a difficult one because your child suffers from dental anxiety? Or has difficulty sitting still in our chair? Or needs a first filling, or another unfamiliar procedure that you are concerned might be upsetting? If so, consider dental sedation for your child’s next visit.

Nitrous oxide, often called laughing gas, has been used for more than a hundred years in dentistry. A very safe process, inhalation sedation leaves your child happy and relaxed. He or she will remain awake and responsive, and able to follow our instructions.

The mixture of nitrous oxide gas and oxygen is administered through a child-sized mask. When your child breathes in through the nose, the gas begins to work at once. As soon as the mask is removed, the effects begin to disappear immediately. Because nitrous oxide is non-irritating, starts and ends working quickly, and allows your child to remain conscious and breathe easily, it is the most common form of pediatric sedation.

Dr. Pamela Clark and our team are concerned with your child’s safety above all, and we are carefully trained in any of the sedation procedures we offer. We always take into account your child’s age and weight, health history, medications, and any conditions that could have an impact on the sedation experience. We will talk to you and your child about what to do to prepare before the visit, and what will take place during and after treatment.

An important part of our work as children’s dental caregivers is setting them up for success in future visits. If you feel nitrous oxide sedation can help your child overcome anxiety, sit calmly to help make procedures go smoothly, or prevent unpleasant reactions to new or longer procedures, please talk to us about inhalation sedation during your next visit to our Pearland, TX office. Our goal is to make each visit positive and worry-free for both child and parent!