Teeth Emergency at Perth Children’s Hospital

In an article written in the West Australian Newspaper on Tuesday 18 February 2020, the Child and Adolescent Health Service Chief, Aresh Anwar stated that tooth extraction has been the most common emergency surgery at the Perth Children’s Hospital since it opened in June 2018, pointing out that it was higher than for broken bones.  It also stated that children as young as 24 months were having five to six teeth extracted at once due to severe pain.

No parent wants their child to suffer pain, and dental caries (decay) can greatly affect the quality of life of young children often leading to children not eating properly, poor weight gain, disturbed sleep and behavioural issues.

Dental caries is largely preventable, and the Paediatric Dentists at Bicton and Cockburn, along with the Australasian Academy of Paediatric Dentists recommend that all children should have their first visit around their first birthday. This will provide parents with much appreciated anticipatory guidance regarding feeding habits, diet, finger sucking or dummy sucking habits and oral hygiene advice. Our Paediatric Dentists will also discuss various ‘risk factors’ that may influence your child’s future risk of developing dental caries.  Even at this young age, preventive advice will be tailored to your child in an effort to reduce their future risk of developing dental caries.