A healthy smile from the very first tooth — without fear or tears

A child's first visits to the dentist shape their relationship with oral health for an entire lifetime. Our primary goal is to create, through a patient, gentle and child-friendly approach, an environment where children feel safe, relaxed and completely free of fear. Through play and education we build trust, while at the same time carrying out all the important preventive measures such as fissure sealing, fluoridation and the timely detection of irregularities in the growth and development of the jaws.

At our practice, the care of children's smiles is led by Dr Sanja Vujkov, Specialist in Pediatric & Preventive Dentistry. Her extensive experience and special dedication to working with the youngest patients guarantee that every visit will take place in a pleasant atmosphere, laying healthy foundations for beautiful and strong teeth as they grow.

Why Are Baby Teeth Important and How Do They Act as “Space Maintainers”?

Baby (deciduous) teeth have one great, invisible role — they serve as natural “space maintainers” for the permanent teeth that are currently developing deep within the jawbone.

• ▸Proper alignment: When a baby tooth stays in place until it naturally falls out, it guides the permanent tooth exactly into the position where it should emerge.
• ▸Preventing crowding (crooked teeth): If a baby tooth is removed too early due to advanced decay, the neighboring teeth will shift into that empty space. When the time comes for the permanent tooth to erupt, it will have no room — which leads to crowding and later, costly orthodontic treatment.
• ▸Proper speech and chewing development: Healthy baby teeth allow the child to chew food properly and to develop clear and distinct speech without difficulty.

The Milestone at Age 7: Why the First X-ray (Orthopantomogram) Matters

When a child turns 7, major, often invisible changes take place within the jaws. Even though everything may look perfect on the outside, this is the ideal time for the first panoramic X-ray of the jaws (orthopantomogram).

With this X-ray we determine two critical things:

• ▸Presence of permanent tooth buds: We check whether all the permanent tooth buds are present. It is quite common for a child to be congenitally missing a permanent tooth (hypodontia) or to have an extra tooth, which requires early intervention.
• ▸Developmental stage and eruption path: We can clearly see the direction in which the permanent teeth are moving and whether there is any obstacle that could block their normal eruption.

Timely diagnostics at this age allows us to intervene before a larger orthodontic problem develops that would require years of wearing braces.

Preventive Measures in Our Practice for Your Child's Healthy Smile

To keep baby teeth healthy and give permanent teeth the best possible start, we focus on painless prevention: