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We have a parking lot behind our building that can be accessed from both 208 Ave and 72 St. The stalls next to the townhouses can be used for longer visits.

We are on the first floor of Lattice 2. It is at the South East side of the 208 Ave and 72 St intersection in Willoughby, Langley. Our office entrance is located at the back of the building towards the parking lot. There is a convenient gentle sloped ramp for strollers and wheelchairs.

You can find parking stalls next to our building towards Blundell Rd.

• We are conveniently located on the first floor of Blundell Medical Dental Centre next to Blundell Shopping Centre. 
• Our unit is located on the North end of the building. If you’re entering from the shopping mall side, you will see our unit to your left. From the Rosewood Village side entrance, walk past the stairs and turn right to find our office towards the northern end of the building.
• You can enter the parking lot easily from Blundell Rd. If you are coming from No 2 Rd, you can access our building by following the signs for Rosewood Village and enter the alleyway behind McDonald.

Yes. As long as your child allows it to be used in their mouth.There is good evidence that an electric toothbrush is more effective at removing food debris and bacteria compared to a manual one. You can still get the same effect with a manual toothbrush, you just need to work harder with the proper brushing technique. If using an electric toothbrush with your little one, always ensure the toothbrush head is the correct size and that they’re comfortable with the vibration.

Yes. We recommend the use of fluoride toothpaste as soon as the eruption of the first tooth.

Fluoride is a very effective ingredient to strengthen our teeth and neutralize cavity-causing bacteria. At high levels, fluoride can be unsafe and cause changes to the tooth colour and appearance.

In Langley and Richmond, BC, our public water is not fluoridated. Toothpaste and professionally applied varnish is a very safe way to use a controlled amount of fluoride while avoiding harmful levels.

If your child is under the age of three, a small rice grain size of fluoride toothpaste is safe to be swallowed twice a day. Don’t worry about wiping or having your child rinse or spit the toothpaste. In fact, fluoride works the best topically, when they stay on the surfaces of teeth. As your child gets past the age of three, it is safe to use a small green pea size amount.

Yes. Prolonged use of soothers and finger sucking can shift teeth and change jaw shape. If the habit is stopped before 3rd birthday, the changes made by the habit can be reversed without any intervention. If the habit continues past that, we might need some help from our orthodontist in the future.

In general, we recommend that we work on weaning off the habits by two years of age. Try to avoid working on the habit cessation at the same time with other major changes as potty training or new daycare. 

It is important to get your child motivated about stopping the habit as they get older and become big boys and big girls. We talk about soother fairies, gifting soothers to babies or exchanging them with other toys.

Yes and no. We see lip and tongue ties that are obvious and look uncomfortable but cause no functional issues with feeding and speech. On the other hand, there are lip and tongue ties that are not easily visible that cause significant functional issues with feeding and/or speech. We work closely with lactation consultants and speech therapists/pathologists to accurately diagnose the functional effects of the lip and tongue ties that may need revision and treat them only when needed. 

We utilize a soft tissue diode laser for the revisions of lip and tongue tie. We see babies as young as 1-day old. We are usually able to accommodate the same day treatment if the revision is indicated.

Yes, we accept all dental insurance and we do direct billing. This means you will only pay what is not covered by the dental insurance and we will take care of the insurance portion.

When it comes to major treatments, we also offer payment plans to accommodate your family’s unique needs.

We strictly adhere to the pediatric dentistry fee guide set by the British Columbia Dental Association. In general, the pediatric dentistry fee guide is set slightly higher than the general dentist fee guide.

• Bottle related dental cavities are very common, especially when the bottles are used for a prolonged time, at a high frequency, or at night.
• Pediatricians and pediatric dentists recommend families to start introducing open cups from 6 months of age to foster healthy eating habits. This does not mean you have to stop using bottles at 6 months of age, but to start limiting the night time bottles especially after brushing. If your baby still needs night time bottles, you can use baby wipes containing xylitol to safely clean off any residual milk or formula feeding.
• You can also start scheduling bottle feeding instead of on-demand use, so the bottles are not expected as a compensatory soothing reward. If your child still wants bottles, you may start diluting milk with water with a goal of gradually switching to 100% water. Depending on a child, stopping the bottles cold turkey can be an effective method as well.

• Breastfeeding is an amazing source of nutrients for babies and a great bonding experience for families. After 6 months of age, infants require complementary foods to meet their nutritional needs and this is generally when the weaning begins.
• There is no scientifically proven or recommended time when all breastfeeding should stop. It depends on the individualized needs of mother and child. Weaning may be abrupt or gradual, be child-led or mother led.
• Nursing has been associated with dental decay and now we have a good amount of research to show us how to prevent cavities while breastfeeding continues. 
• Night time brushing is very important. Beastmilk alone does not cause cavities – but when a small amount of sugar (other food) is added, the mixture is far worse than a regular sugar solution in causing cavities. This means you should brush your children’s teeth with a regular nylon bristled toothbrush, twice a day, especially at night time with a smear of fluoride toothpaste, as our water in British Columbia is not fluoridated.
• If your family chooses to continue nursing after the eruption of the first tooth, you can start wiping the residual milk with xylitol containing baby wipes so there is no unswallowed milk in their mouth.
• After the eruption of the first tooth, which is generally at around 6 months of age, start scheduling nursing if possible. This can help develop healthy eating habits and on-demand nursing which has been shown to cause dental cavities in some studies.
• Babies should be seen by a dentist by their first birthday who is experienced in seeing this age group, like Dr. Fran. During this visit, if there are any early signs of dental decay is noted, we can discuss individualized prevention strategies.

Yes. Root canal treatment is indicated when cavities reach the pulp (the nerves and vessels) of the teeth. For deep cavities that need root canal treatment, omitting this process will leave the infection underneath the fillings and crowns which will lead to future infection and/ or abscess. With proper anesthesia and support, this treatment is no more uncomfortable or painful than a routine dental procedure.

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