3 minute read
Ask the experts!
My daughter seems to have relatively straight teeth but my general dentist recommended seeing an orthodontist. Why?
Orthodontists deal with both the appearance and function of teeth. While your daughter’s teeth may be straight, your dentist may be concerned with their function both in the short and long term.
The upper and lower teeth need to bite in a certain way to provide optimal function. If functional alignment is not achieved, your daughter could have ongoing issues such as:
Compromised chewing and speech
Excessive and uneven tooth wear that can lead to cracks requiring fillings, crowns or extractions
Jaw joint pain
Tenderness of the head and neck muscles and associated headaches
Asymmetrical growth of the face
Your dentist may also be concerned about issues such as crossbites, missing permanent teeth or impacted teeth that all require specialist attention. An orthodontic assessment could assist in the prevention of these issues by treating functional problems whilst maintaining your daughter’s straight teeth.
Melissa Ferdinands, Oral Health Therapist, Bachelor of Oral Health BOH UniMelb.
Peninsula Orthodontics, 134 Tanti Avenue, Mornington.
What is the Apgar score?
The Apgar score is a test used by doctors, midwives and nurses to assess your baby’s health at birth. It helps medical staff decide if your baby needs emergency care. The Apgar score is used to check a newborn baby at 1 minute and 5 minutes after birth and measures skin colour, heart rate, reflexes and responsiveness, muscle tone, and breathing rate. Each feature is scored from 0 to 2, with 2 being the best score. The scores for each feature are added up to give a total Apgar score out of 10.
Why is vitamin K important for my baby?
Vitamin K helps your baby’s blood clot and prevents serious bleeding. Babies do not get enough vitamin K naturally from their mother during pregnancy. Breast milk also does not provide babies with enough levels of vitamin K. This can result in vitamin K deficiency in newborns. Vitamin K is usually given as a single injection in your baby’s leg muscle shortly after birth. If you prefer that your baby does not get an injection, they can have liquid vitamin K drops into their mouth.
Why do children get hiccups?
It’s understood the mechanism for hiccupping is the same for people of all ages — from babies to adults. The involuntary, sharp contraction of the diaphragm causes a sharp intake of air into the throat. As the epiglottis (a flap at the top of the airway) closes, it makes the ‘hic’ sound. In adults, hiccups can be caused by eating hot, spicy foods, drinking fizzy drinks, smoking or chewing gum.
