At Caring Tree Children’s Dentistry, Dr. Kucera and the team are committed to sharing our dental and health-related knowledge. We want to keep parents informed and arm them with tools to help their families live healthy, happy lives. Our bi-monthly blog features articles about different oral health topics that affect growing kids, from what to pack in a healthy lunch to the links between gum disease and different health conditions. We hope the topics we choose help you make better all-around health decisions for your kids and to ask questions. Feel free to share, comment, and join the conversation!
Studies conducted in 2016 found that 43% of children ages two and up had cavities—that’s a decrease from 2012 study results that found cavities in 50% of children in the same age group. While that drop gives us hope, it means tooth decay still affects 43 out of 100 children two and up. We know […]
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At Caring Tree Children’s Dentistry, our bad news is usually limited to the diagnosis of a dental infection we can treat without much difficulty. We’d like to keep it that way, which is why we may broach more sensitive subjects at times—specifically around the ages of 11 and 12 when doctors might recommend a Human […]
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Benzocaine has been an over-the-counter local dental anesthetic for people of all ages for many years. It is available in most drugstores, often under product names such as Anbesol®, Orajel™, Hurricaine®, and Baby Orajel™. Recently, the use of benzocaine has been linked to a rare but serious condition called methemoglobinemia, a disorder that reduces the […]
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We’ve all heard the expression that a dog is a (hu)man’s best friend, and dog lovers wouldn’t disagree. There’s also a common misconception that “a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s mouth”. As it turns out, that’s not true at all, and there are many reasons you should never let your dog kiss you […]
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Lincoln and Grass Valley pediatric dentist Dr. Michelle Kucera wants to tackle the issue of babies and water intake in today’s blog. Of course, water is the healthiest beverage available for kids and adults, particularly when it comes to oral hygiene, but in babies less than six months of age, water is a no-no. Until […]
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Today, Grass Valley and Lincoln pediatric dentist Dr. Michelle Kucera wants to give teens the bottom line about tobacco use: there is no such thing as a “safe” or “safer” tobacco product. Every tobacco product contains nicotine in varying amounts—and not only is nicotine addictive, but it can also harm the brain. (Many people don’t […]
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When you’ve got your child’s first dental visit noted on the calendar, you might feel more anxious than they do as you approach the big day. At Caring Tree Children’s Dentistry, we want to help both of you relax and see there’s nothing to fear about having your smile cared for. Our team is kind […]
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Today’s families seem to be busier than they were in the past—lots of homework, extracurricular activities, and hopefully, some quality time spent with the family. Here are a few ideas from pediatric dentist Dr. Michelle Kucera to make consistent oral hygiene a little more convenient:
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In this blog article, Dr. Michelle Kucera discusses Social Stories™ and how they help provide emotional support to autistic kids with the goal of improving their dental (and other) experiences. A social story about going to the dentist follows specific criteria and story elements to reinforce a safe, detailed description of a dental visit in […]
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We’ve all seen variations of DIY methods when it comes to pulling loose baby teeth: the string and door slam method is by far one of the most popular (although we’re not sure why). But our team at Caring Tree Children’s Dentistry is here to advise against this and similarly aggressive techniques so your kiddo […]
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