Youby minute 8
We talk to you first, without your child in the room
The history, what happened last time, and what you are actually worried about.
This is what the other thirty minutes buy
The rule
We treat your child the way we would treat ours
It is an easy thing to say. In practice it means we do not do anything to your child that we would not do to our own, and we do not recommend anything we would not pay for ourselves.
The rest of this page is that rule, made specific. Here is where it shows up.
Forty minutes, not ten
Ten minutes is enough to find a cavity and fill it. It is not enough for a child to stop being frightened of the room. Scroll to see where the other thirty go.
01 / 05
GAP · NEEDS DR. SANCHIT PAULThe five stages are confirmed. The minute split across them (8, 16, 24, 33, 40) is a working estimate, not a measured one. Confirm or correct it before this goes live.
The decision
You decide with us, not after us
We tell you what we found, what we would do about it, and what we would leave alone. Then you pick one off the table.
The case
A small cavity in the enamel of an upper back milk tooth. Your child is four.
Fill it now
an option- What it is
- Numbing, a drill and a filling, all in the same visit.
- Right when
- The cavity is already through the enamel, or it hurts.
- What it costs your child
- Your child’s first drill, at four.
Watch it
what we would do- What it is
- Nothing today. We photograph it and look again in six months.
- Right when
- It is still in the enamel and the surface is hard.
- What it costs your child
- A second visit, and holding your nerve until then.
Seal it
an option- What it is
- A sealant over the groove. No numbing and no drill.
- Right when
- The groove is deep but the surface has not broken.
- What it costs your child
- One short visit, and it may still need a filling later.
We do not make the decision on our own. We also do not hand you a plan and leave you to work it out. You hear all three, with the reasoning, before anything starts.
GAP · NEEDS DR. SANCHIT PAULThis worked example is the right shape but the clinical detail is not signed off. Confirm the case, the three options and the recommendation, or replace it with a real one from the notes. Nothing here ships until then.The aim is that the next visit is a check-up, not a repair
Most children’s dentistry is spent repairing damage. We would rather spend it stopping damage, and that changes what a check-up is for.
Where a tooth does need work, we take the smallest amount of tooth we can and use bio-ceramic materials.
GAP 1 · NEEDS DR. SANCHIT PAULOne plain sentence: what bio-ceramic materials do, in words a parent would use. Not writing this from general knowledge.The goal is fewer root canals, not better root canals.
ImagePreventive work: sealant or fluoride being applied. 5:4.
Special needs care, at any age
We have treated more than 1,000 children with special needs.
AutismADHD
Sensory processingIntellectual disability
Neurodivergent
This is the one part of the clinic that is not limited to children. If you are an adult with special needs, or you care for one, we will see you.
Dr. Sanchit Paul wrote the special needs dentistry chapter in Muthu’s Pediatric Dentistry: Principles and Practice, 3rd edition.
Holds the Dr. J.C. Lee Award from SAAPD for work on laughing gas sedation.
ImageCalm, accommodating room setup. Avoid anything that identifies a patient. 5:4.
Fifteen years, children only
Tooth Tales has treated children only for fifteen years. We do not take general adult patients. Everything in the clinic is built to one size: the room, the chair, the instruments, the appointment length and the words we use.
15
years treating children only
10,000+
children cared for
25,000+
appointments
1,000+
children with special needs
Who is in the room
Your child is not handed to one person. Three things are true of every appointment, whoever is on that day.
01
A team of six to eight
Every case is handled by a team of six to eight people.
GAP 2 · NEEDS THE CLINICWhat does this buy the parent? Continuity of the same faces, speed, a second opinion in the room?
02
Trained for pain, anxiety and emergencies
Our approach to pain and anxiety follows the training set out by SAAD, the Society for the Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry.
GAP 3 · NEEDS CONFIRMATION“Aligned with training from SAAD”. Certification, or course attendance?
03
What happens to the instruments
Every instrument is sterilised in a hospital-grade autoclave between patients, with no exceptions. Filling materials come in sealed capsules.
GAP 3b · NEEDS CONFIRMATION“Smart capsule systems”. Confirm this means single-use sealed capsules.A jungle room, an aqua room, and a play area
The clinic has three rooms a child might end up in, and two of them do not look like a dental surgery. There is a play area, and children use it before the appointment rather than after.
Jungle room photo4:3
The jungle room
One of two treatment rooms.
Aqua room photo4:3
The aqua room
The second treatment room.
Play area photo4:3
The play area
Used before the appointment, not after.