Family dentistry
One practice, every age
At Alamo Heights Dental we value education and preventive care, so we spend time equipping you and your family with knowledge that can eliminate or minimize tooth decay and other future problems.
Starting early
Your child’s first visit
We begin seeing children around six to twelve months of age, when the first primary teeth emerge. Routine checkups aid in early diagnosis, which can help limit extensive treatment later.
What happens at that first appointment varies with age and need — it may include an exam, x-rays, a cleaning, fluoride, and education. What matters more is that it goes well. A child whose early visits were calm and unhurried becomes an adult who books their own cleanings.
A parent or guardian must accompany all patients under 18 years of age.
Preventive care
What keeps teeth healthy
Most of what we treat is preventable. These are the four things that do the most work.
Regular checkups
Routine visits catch decay, cracks, and gum problems while they are small. Early diagnosis is what limits extensive treatment later.
Sealants on new molars
A thin coating over the grooves of the back teeth, placed soon after they erupt, where most childhood cavities begin.
Home routine that works
We show you and your child what to do and why — technique, timing, and the foods and drinks that are actually causing the damage.
Whole-body awareness
Oral health connects to systemic wellness. Dentists often identify signs of disease before a physician does, simply because we see you more often.
Every age
Care that changes as your family does
We serve patients across all age groups with a wide range of treatment needs — and we would rather build a relationship with a family than see a series of strangers.
Children & teens
First visits, cleanings, fluoride, sealants, and monitoring the adult teeth as they come through. Wisdom teeth are assessed in the late teens.
Adults
Cleanings and exams, fillings, crowns, and cosmetic work — plus attention to grinding, gum health, and the wear that accumulates quietly over decades.
Later life
Replacing missing teeth, stabilising dentures with implants, and managing periodontal health — all with the surgeon and the restoring dentist in one practice.
Why it matters
The mouth is where a lot of things show up first
Oral health is connected to systemic wellness. Dentists frequently identify the manifestations of disease before physicians do — not because we are looking harder, but because patients see us more often, and because the tissues of the mouth reflect what is happening elsewhere in the body.
That early signal is worth something. It gives you and your physician more options, sooner. It is one of the better arguments for keeping up with routine visits even when nothing hurts.
Family dentistry
Questions from parents
When should my child first see a dentist?
We generally begin seeing children between six and twelve months of age, when the first primary teeth come in. Early visits are short and deliberately positive — the goal is for your child to be comfortable here long before they ever need treatment.
What happens at a first visit?
It varies with age and need. A visit may include an exam, x-rays, a cleaning, fluoride, and education for you and your child. For a very young child it may be little more than a ride in the chair, a look, and a conversation with you.
Will my child need x-rays?
Only when they will change what we do. X-rays let us see decay between teeth and check that adult teeth are developing and positioned correctly. We take them at intervals based on your child’s risk, not on a fixed schedule.
Do you place sealants on children’s teeth?
Yes. Sealants are usually placed on the permanent back teeth soon after they come in — around age six and again around age twelve — because that is when molars are most vulnerable to decay in their grooves.
Can our whole family be seen in one practice?
Yes, and most of our families are. We treat patients across all age groups with a wide range of needs, which means one office, one set of records, and appointments that can often be scheduled together.
Bring the whole family
One office, one set of records, and appointments that can often be booked together.