Keep Your Kids on a Healthy Track This Halloween

October is bookend with some pretty important dates for kids. The first Monday in October is National Child Health Day and the last day is, of course, Halloween. Two important dates for two very different reasons.

It’s important for kids to be aware of their health at a young age, but when an occasion like Halloween comes around, few kids are worried about their health! They’re thinking more about which costume they want to wear and how much candy they can collect in one night.

While National Child Health Day and Halloween might only occur once a year, teaching your kids to stay healthy year-round in an important lesson to adopt. Sadly, many kids are plagued with plaque and can even develop gum disease before they lose all their baby teeth!

So what is a parent to do? You certainly don’t want to completely skip out on the festivities with your kids! There is a simple solution that benefits more than just your child’s health: Gilchrist Dental Care's Candy buyback program!

Each year, Gilchrist Dental Care provides a drop-off point for kids to return their extra candy after halloween. In exchange, they will receive $1 per pound of candy (limit 5 pounds), a new toothbrush, and will be entered to win great prizes. Kids can still enjoy trick or treating and get some candy, then enjoy a some spending money!

What do we do with all that candy? The candy we buy back is shipped to Operation Gratitude and donated to soldiers serving in active duty.

To participate in our annual Candy Buy Back, bring your unopened, uneaten candy to Gilchrist Dental Care in Stevens Point on November 1st between 4–6 pm.

Keep your kids on a healthy track, give back to our active military members, and most importantly, have a very happy halloween with Gilchrist Dental Care!

5 Tips to Educate Your Children During Dental Health Month

February is here again and, although it’s one of the coldest months of the year, it’s our favorite! Why, you ask? Well, February is Dental Health Month and, with the Holidays having just passed, all the sweets and treats that we enjoy take a toll on our teeth, so it’s a good time for a little review of healthy dental habits.

Educating our friends and families about healthy dental habits is very important to us – especially this month. Teaching healthy habits to youth is hugely beneficial; tooth decay is the most prevalent chronic disease among children and teens age 6-19. In fact, Dental Health Month began 77 years ago as a one-day event in Cleveland, Ohio with the aim to educate parents about their children’s dental health.

To help you out, Gilchrist Dental Care is celebrating Dental Health Month by offering free exams and x-rays all month long! Call us at 715-344-5280 to schedule your appointment.

So, how do you begin to teach healthy habits to your children? We’ve put together a list of 5 tips to get you started:

5 Tips to Educate Your Children During Dental Health Month

1. Make Brushing Fun!

Let’s face it: Brushing your teeth isn’t very fun. However, singing songs never fails to make tasks more fun for kids! Here are 7 great songs to make brushing more fun!

2. Don’t Underestimate Baby Teeth

A common mistake is thinking that baby teeth and how you take care of them doesn’t matter. Baby teeth help develop normal speech and chewing abilities. They also control the growth pattern of the face and make room for adult teeth. If baby teeth are not taken care of, all of these things can be thrown out of whack, causing lifelong dental issues.

3. Teach the Right Techniques

Teaching proper brushing and flossing techniques is critical! If you do a poor job of brushing and/or flossing your teeth (even if you brush every day) you’re sure to experience dental issues. Educate children early on about the importance of good dental hygiene. For proper brushing and flossing techniques, click here.

4. Teach Good Nutrition

We often forget that what we eat not only affects our overall health, but it also directly affects our teeth. It’s very important to talk to your kids about good nutrition, the damage sugary treats can do, and that when they do indulge, brushing teeth afterward will help keep cavities away.

5. Set a Good Example

Perhaps the most important thing to remember as you teach your children about dental health is that you need to be a good role model. Children take in what is around them and learn from example, so if your kids see you brushing and flossing your teeth, they’re more likely to do the same.


The last thing to remember is to take things slow and easy. Like all good habits, brushing and flossing properly won’t happen overnight, it can take some time to solidify good habits, so be patient!

A Recap of Gilchrist Dental Care's Annual Candy Buy Back

Halloween has come and gone, and our Annual Candy Buy Back was a huge success!

On Nov 1st, from 4-6 pm we invited kids to stop in with their leftover candy, to earn some cash. All of the candy collected was donated to Operation Gratitude, an organization that sends candy overseas for our active duty troops to enjoy. Some families even came in after the event to donate more candy!

In total, we received 202 lbs of candy, from over 75 kids.

Don’t worry the kids didn’t leave empty-handed! Each child received $1 per pound (up to 5 lbs) and a new toothbrush.

Everyone who donated was also entered into a drawing to win other prizes.

This is our way of helping protect young ones and their developing teeth while giving back to our service members.

As you can see, the kids loved earning a little spending money for their trick or treating efforts and felt great donating to the troops.

If you didn’t participate this year, don’t worry this is an annual event here at Gilchrist Dental Care. Make sure to check back next year.

Join Gilchrist Dental Care in Our Annual Candy Buy Back

October 31st is full of excitement for kids as they scatter throughout the neighborhood, trick or treating and stuffing themselves with sweets. Once Halloween is over, there is usually a lot of candy left over and the potential for a cavity to develop in their mouth. Do something different with the excess candy this year.

Gilchrist Dental Care in Stevens Point is hosting their annual Candy Buy Back on November 1st from 4–6 pm. Here is how it works:

Your kids can bring in their extra candy from trick or treating to our dental office to receive $1 per pound (limit 5 pounds), a new toothbrush, and enter to win great prizes! The candy we buy back is shipped to Operation Gratitude for soldiers on active duty to enjoy! This is one way Gilchrist Dental Care helps protect young children's developing teeth from decay AND gives something sweet to our service members. It is a win-win all around!

Our annual Candy Buy Back program is also a great opportunity for your kids. It can be hard for children to limit themselves or let go of candy, even if they know they should not eat it all. Explain to them that they can still enjoy trick or treating, still get some candy, and get to earn some spending money on the side; you will surely win them over! It can also be exciting for your child to collect candy while trick or treating when they know that it can translate to cash.


To participate in our annual Candy Buy Back, bring your unopened, uneaten candy to Gilchrist Dental Care in Stevens Point Wednesday, November 1st between 4–6 pm.

Encourage Your Kids to Join Gilchrist Dental Care’s No Cavity Club!

At Gilchrist Dental Care, we have a fun incentive to reward kids with great teeth. Children under the age of 10 who visit Gilchrist Dental Care for a check-up and don’t have cavities get to join the No Cavity Club!

We love being able to recognize children who are taking good care of their teeth, and have been doing so since the beginning of the practice. If a child has no cavities at the end of their checkup, their photo taken and added to our No Cavity Club bulletin board. Plus, they get entered into a quarterly drawing to win an oversized stuffed animal like the one below!

Staying cavity-free is tough, especially for kids. We value and congratulate our young patients for taking care of their dental hygiene. If you’re looking for tips to prevent kids’ cavities and help them earn their spot in the No Cavities Club, follow these tips:

• Brush your children’s teeth twice a day and help them floss daily. Children may not be ready to brush their own teeth effectively until they’re well into grade school, and will likely need reminders and timers to help them brush for the recommended 2 minutes. Make sure to use fluoride toothpaste.
• Limit sweets in your kids’ diets. Give them healthy snacks with protein, calcium, and other nutrients to keep teeth strong.
• Don’t “clean” your child’s pacifier by putting it in your own mouth. Any cavity-causing bacteria from your mouth will transfer to theirs.
• Wipe babies’ gums with a warm washcloth before bed, and once those first teeth arrive, use a soft, toddler toothbrush to gently brush their teeth (or tooth, as the case may be).
• Don’t give babies and toddlers juice, tea, soda, or sweetened drinks in a bottle, and limit consumption of these beverages. Particularly at bedtime, juice or milk in a bottle could mean that those liquids sit on their teeth and cause issues.
• Be sure to schedule semi-annual dentist visits beginning before age 3. Not only does it help small children get accustomed to the dentist’s office, it is essential for kids’ ongoing oral health as they grow.

This adorable teddy is our next prize for our No Cavity Club drawing winner. Encourage your kids to keep their teeth cavity-free and try their luck at bringing home a new friend! To make an appointment for your child’s semi-annual check-up and cleaning, call us at (715) 344-5280. We hope to see your children’s smiling faces on our No Cavity Club bulletin board at their next check up!

The Perfect Pearly White Smile: Summer Teeth Whitening Special

This summer at Gilchrist Dental Care, we are offering you the chance to get that perfect pearly white smile you have always wanted! There are many reasons to whiten your teeth with our treatment - some of which we will outline below.

Special Occasions

Summer is filled with special occasions in which we want our smile looking its best. A common summer event that people prepare for is a wedding. Whether you are in the wedding party or a guest hoping to impress, you will feel more confident showing off your smile with white teeth. Summer is also a busy time for class reunions. If your particular special occasion is not during the summer, we offer the option to touch up your teeth after the whitening treatment has been completed using your custom trays 1 or 2 days prior to the event.

Convenient Teeth Whitening 

Our $99 teeth whitening treatment is a take-home system with custom trays fabricated to ensure a perfect fit. You simply wear your trays for 1 hour each day for 7 to 10 days, or until your smile reaches its desired whiteness. This system is very convenient allowing you to whiten at your convenience; while in the shower, during the commute to work, or when you're just watching a movie. Stop in to take advantage of the summer special for your smile.


Whatever the reason your teeth may have lost their sparkle, get the whitest and brightest smile ever with our $99 teeth whitening treatment. It is convenient, easy to use, and will boost your confidence when attending upcoming events or special occasions. You just have to hurry and stop in because this special will be gone when summer ends!

Smile With Confidence – Six Month Smiles from Gilchrist Dental Care

Many of our adult patients sheepishly admit to us that they don’t love their smile. Some are even downright embarrassed to fully show their teeth when laughing or smiling. They are self-conscious of their mouth on a regular basis, wondering if others are staring or focused on that one crooked tooth or extra gap. Here at Gilchrist Dental Care, we believe everyone can smile with confidence and Six Month Smiles might be the perfect choice to help you do so.

Six Month Smiles is for adults with crooked or spaced teeth who are unhappy or embarrassed by their smile. Six Month Smiles fits into your lifestyle – with an average treatment time of just 6 months, there’s no hassle of spending 2 or more years in traditional metal braces. Treatment appointments are roughly every four weeks and are fast and comfortable. In between those appointments, the consistent, low force of the wires will gently align your teeth without notice.

Maybe you have engagement photos or a wedding coming up and you want to flash your pearly whites without worry. Six Month Smiles generates results about two to three times faster than traditional methods, with consistent and predictable outcomes.

With tooth-colored wires and brackets, Six Month Smiles won’t make you feel like you’re back in the 7th grade! And at about a third the cost of aligners, Six Month Smiles won’t break the bank either.

As a certified provider of Six Month Smiles, you won’t need an additional referral or trip to the orthodontist to get the smile you’ve always wanted. Call us now for a free consultation and let us help you get on the fast track to laughing, talking, and smiling with more confidence!

Gilchrist Dental Care Celebrates Dental Health Month

February is Dental Health Month! As our favorite month of the year, we like to bring dental health to the forefront through education as well as free exams and x-rays for our individuals in the community!

Did You Know...

Dental Health Month began 76 years ago as a one-day event in Cleveland, Ohio. The goal was to educate parents and caregivers about children’s dental health and the benefits of a healthy smile. To this day, tooth decay is still the most prevalent chronic disease among children and teens age 6-19, which makes education even more important.

This year’s National Children’s Dental Health Month’s slogan is “Choose Tap Water for a Sparkling Smile,” highlighting the importance of choosing fluoride-treated tap water over bottled water to keep teeth healthy. This month-long annual observance is a chance for thousands of dental professionals, healthcare providers, and educators to teach good dental hygiene and oral health.

 

Celebrating with Area Schools

What started many years ago with a single visit to Dr. Gilchrist’s daughter’s kindergarten class has now expanded to the entire community! Several members of our staff enjoy the opportunity to teach children about the importance of good dental hygiene habits and the effects your dental health has on your body.

We offer dental presentations to 450 preschoolers at the YMCA, Little Scholars, St. Stan’s, St. Bron’s, St. Joe’s, and The Imagination Center. These visits engage kids in learning how to take care of their teeth with the help of our trusty dragon puppets Daisy, Delilah, and Duke. Children respond to these special visits and the fun props that help illustrate brushing, flossing, and more. Plus, our staff members love to get out into the community to share our passion for dental health!

Celebrating with the Community

Dental Health Month is an opportunity for Gilchrist Dental Care to offer free dental exams and bitewing x-rays to anyone in the community. Come into our office for a free dental x-ray and exam, and we will identify any problem areas or concerns.

Rest easy this month. Whether you’re an established patient or a new patient, we’re here to improve your dental health!

Can gum disease threaten my health?

Yes. Infections in the mouth can reek havoc elsewhere in the body.  Since 1998, evidence has mounted to support the link between a person' s gum health and their overall general health. We do know that periodontal (gum) disease is a bacterial infection, and all infections are cause for concern.  While more research needs to be done, research is suggesting that periodontal disease may:

• Contribute to the development of heart disease, the nation's leading cause of death.
• Increase the risk of stroke.
• Pose a serious threat to people whose health is compromised by diabetes, respiratory diseases, or osteoporosis.
• Increase a woman's risk of having a preterm, low birth weight baby.

How does this happen?  Researchers have found that when food is being chewed, diseased gums release significantly high levels of harmful bacterial components, such as endotoxins, into the bloodstream.  Once in the bloodstream, these harmful bacterial components can travel to other organs in the body, such as the heart, liver, and lungs, where they can cause harm.

The good news is that most gum diseases can be prevented or controlled.  If your goal is to live a healthy lifestyle, this is all the more reason to keep your dental health a priority!

“When should I bring my child in for their first dental visit?”

This is a common question I get asked almost weekly.   The ADA now recommends that parents take children to a dentist no later than their first birthday.  This is a change from what I was taught in dental school when we were told to recommend the first dental appointment between the ages of 30 and 36 months.  The thinking was that by that age the majority of baby teeth would have had a chance to come in.  Why has there been a change in philosophy?

On a whole, the incidence of dental cavities has steadily gone down over the past 50 years.  Water fluoridation and dental sealants have been big contributors to this trend.  What has been alarming, however, has been that the past decade has seen a marked increase in cavities in children between the ages of 1 and 5.  This has been attributed in large part to “baby bottle syndrome” and the extensive use of sipper cups filled with sugar containing fluids (e.g., juice).  Sometimes, by the time they are 3 years old, children have developed advanced dental decay and even abscessed teeth, posing an extremely difficult challenge to restore.  This, obviously, is not the way I would like to introduce a child to the world of dental care!

Seeing a child within 6 months of the time that their first tooth comes in gives a dentist the chance to catch potential cavities when they are much easier to fix, but even more importantly,  it provides us an opportunity to educate parents on those things they can do to prevent these issues from ever starting.  If there ever was a case for “an ounce of prevention” this is it.

The long term goal of these early visits is to provide this generation of children a lifetime of good oral care habits which will result in reduced anxieties and plenty of stress free dental visits!