It's practically a rite of passage to get your teeth straightened as a teenager. According to the American Association of Orthodontists, over 4 million children under the age of 17 receive orthodontic treatment each year.

When you have a child, it can feel like you're juggling. There are so many things to remember to keep your child happy and healthy. You have to find a pediatrician you like. You need to find just the right preschool. You need to make sure you're providing a healthy diet. All of these are important.

Your child's teeth play an important role in their day-to-day life. They help with speaking, eating, and swallowing, not to mention how they help shape your child's face. Without healthy teeth, life would be difficult.

Summer days are not always lazy days. A family may find themselves just as busy in the summer as they are during the school year. School is traded for summer camp. Soccer is traded for baseball. And weekend trips are traded in for week-long vacations to venues near and far.

From the moment their child's first teeth start coming in, it’s the dental question on every parent's mind: Will my child need braces? In the cases of some kids, an answer of "yes" is obvious. These are the kids whose teeth are coming in crooked or with large gaps.

The idea of using lasers in dentistry began in the 1960s. It took about thirty years, however, for lasers to be safe enough to use routinely. Nowadays, lasers are used for a wide range of dental procedures—and the benefits are amazing, especially for kids.

Southern California is beautiful. Whether you're just visiting or live here year-round, there's so much to do and see. This is especially true in Huntington Beach. Huntington Beach may be known for surfing—it isn't called Surf City, USA, for nothing!—but there's plenty more the area has to offer.

Your baby's teeth are important to you. You want them to have healthy teeth from the moment they first come in. You want to make sure your child develops good dental hygiene habits early on so they will be able to maintain them as they grow older and take on more and more responsibility.

There are so many things to keep track of when you have kids. Whether they're still little or growing up fast, they have schedules and activities keeping everyone busy all day every day. It can be easy to let things fall by the wayside, including dental hygiene.

Just as you have a special doctor for your child—a pediatrician—you may want to consider a special dentist for your child—a pediatric dentist. Your pediatrician has spent years studying about how to care for children's bodies. A child's body is not the same as an adult's. They need to be treated differently.