Dott.ssa Elena Papuzzo
Odontoiatria
Ortodonzia Infantile
Dr. Elena Papuzzo graduated with 110/110 with honors in 2007 in Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. Her graduation thesis is the result of a long study on the genes that influence the harmonic development of the skull. Her brilliant university career saw her as the winner of the “Gemini Prize”, awarded to the best student of the year of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery chosen from all the Italian branches of the Catholic University.
Part of her fourth year of study he spends abroad at the prestigious “Alfonso X El Sabio” University in Madrid, where she looks after patients, children and adults.
Already at the time of her pre-graduate clinical internship in the wards of the Dental Clinic of the Gemelli Polyclinic, her interest and passion for the care of the little ones had become clear.
In this regard, during the summer she attends dental clinics for children with problems in Brazil, Porto Alegre, participating as a foreign student in clinical internships.
After graduating, she decides to continue her studies with the Specialization in Orthodontics, the branch that deals with restoring the harmony of the jaws of the growing patient and the correct alignment of the dental arches of the child and adult patient.
She began her collaboration in offices in Roma, Latina and the province, where she practiced her profession dealing exclusively with Child Dentistry and Orthodontics.
In 2009 she became Head of a screening project of the Lazio region which will see her engaged for 3 years in the Pontine area in a battle for the prevention of carious diseases and dental malocclusions in children and vulnerable groups (disabled, Roma, Sinti and exiles).
Since 2009 she has also started her collaboration with the humanitarian association Overland for smile which sees her engaged for one week a year in the care of orphaned children in Romania.
Participates annually in courses, congresses and updates in Italy and abroad, she is a speaker at Italian conferences together with the group of professionals, exclusivists in Orthodontics with whom collaborates at the Fatebenefratelli Hospital – Villa S. Pietro-Rome
Her work philosophy focuses on prevention and minimally invasive treatment, using painless and cutting-edge methods, making use, where necessary, of the use of nitrous oxide for conscious sedation. The main purpose of her in her daily practice is to establish a relationship of mutual affection with the little patient, with a playful and empathetic approach that will give him confidence in the figure of the dentist and that will accompany him in his growth and in the rest of his life.
Child Dentistry
Pedodontics, or even Child Dentistry is that branch of Dentistry that deals with the treatment of caries and oral pathologies of the young patient.
At around 6 months of life, milk teeth begin to appear inside the mouth and should be taken care of right away with a few simple attentions.
In fact, even though they are destined to fall out, they play a fundamental role in the growth and harmonious development of the jaws, as well as in the nutrition and well-being of the child.
A visit to the dentist is generally recommended by the pediatrician when problems arise in the baby’s mouth or when the doctor notices that something is wrong with the growth of the jaw.
Our philosophy, on the other hand, favors an ANTICIPATED and PREVENTIVE ACTION aimed at educating the child’s parents and the child himself about the care and health of this mouth so as not to have dental problems in childhood and in the future.
The visit is recommended for around 4 years old, even in the total absence of oral problems, and is performed by a dental specialist in childhood: the pedodontist.
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The milk teeth
From 6 to 24/30 months of life, the 20 teeth of the infant dentition will emerge in the baby’s mouth.
The moment of the eruption, when the tooth comes out into the oral cavity, is generally accompanied by soreness of the gums, localized inflammation, discomfort during feeding and sometimes even by some line of fever.
In the child you will notice the desire to introduce objects or simply hands in the mouth, as well as the relief given by cold or even refrigerated objects and foods.
The teeth, once popped, should be cleaned by the parent with a damp cloth at least once a day, preferably in the evening before bed.
The pacifier, pacifier or bottle should never be covered with or contain sugar, honey or melted biscuits.
These foods, in fact, because they are rich in sugars, harm the tooth enamel, which in this phase is very delicate, causing the onset of white areas of de-mineralization of the enamel which will then degenerate into dark spots: caries.
This childhood pathology is known as the BOTTLE SYNDROME, and is unfortunately very frequent.
It is due to the parents’ habit of making the baby fall asleep with a bottle in his mouth, containing sugared milk or chamomile.
Over time, the child’s teeth become opaque white, then yellow then dark, until they flake off and sometimes reduce to stumps that emerge from the gum with consequent infectious problems, such as access, nutritional and with many psychological problems.
The game of the first visit
The first visit to the specialist dentist in childhood is recommended around the age of 4, for various reasons:
– the age at which all 20 milk teeth are present in the mouth;
– the age at which the child should have stopped using the pacifier;
– the age in which he eats solid foods,
– the age at which he should start brushing his teeth alone, “playing” with the toothbrush under parental supervision.
In the right environment and in the right way, the moment of the visit will be a game for the little patient and a useful informative chat for the parent who will be given all the appropriate advice.
We always advise not to talk too often to the child about the visit so as not to transmit any anxiety or stress.
Unlike adults, children have no negative preconceptions about the dentist, so they shouldn’t be afraid!
Promising prizes to the child is like indirectly telling him that he will suffer something bad for which he will then have to be rewarded; it would be better to tell him that he will go to the dentist, a friend of mom and dad to have his teeth counted, to learn how to brush and to check that there are no holes.
Prevention: Information, Hygiene, Fluoride and Sealing
Milk teeth, as well as permanent teeth, if not brushed or cleaned properly, are subject to the onset of caries.
Caries is a disease of multifactorial origin, in which the presence of bacteria, fed on sugars and left to act on the tooth, produce an acidic environment that dissolves the enamel crystals first in a reversible way and then irreversibly.
The classic brown / black hole indicates the presence of a now full-blown caries that must be treated, that is, eliminated with a rotating instrument and filled the hole with a ceramic paste similar in physical characteristics to the natural tooth.
Preventing tooth decay is possible thanks to an early visit, daily brushing, sealing of the molars and proper nutrition.
From the age of 5, the age in which the child is more cooperative, receptive and available to dialogue, professional hygiene and teeth cleaning are recommended at least once a year.
The dental hygienist will not only clean the child’s teeth using ultrasound, in painless way, but will explain and show him how to best brush them with a nice giant model of the dental arches.
At the end of the cleaning of the teeth, if it is deemed necessary, a fruit gel containing it will be applied so that it is incorporated by the dental enamel making it stronger and resistant to caries.
Daily fluorination with fluoride tablets is recommended only according to the child’s needs after analyzing the child’s nutrition and its actual “risk of tooth decay” with the parent.
Sealing of gooves and dimples
From 6 years onwards, the age in which permanent molars appear in the oral cavity, it is possible to perform PRIMARY PREVENTION against caries on these teeth: the Sealing of the furrows of permanent molars!
It is an absolutely painless preventive method, recommended by the WHO, which involves cleaning the surface of the newly erupted molar, the application of a gel that prepares the enamel and the placement of a white fluid resin containing fluoride only in the sulcus of the tooth. , which becomes solid through a plasma light.
Sealing is a physical encumbrance of the furrows and dimples of the molars, which does not allow colonization by bacteria.
The seals, if subjected to good maintenance and if, as recommended, gummy foods and foods, such as chewing gum and toffee are avoided, will last in the mouth for a long time, allowing the child to pass those critical years of growth in which he pays little attention to oral hygiene!
Between 6 and 8 years it is possible to seal the first permanent molars, while between 11 and 13 the second permanent molars.
Interceptive Orthodontics
During the first visit, in addition to the health of the teeth and mouth, the normal and harmonious development of the jaws, the bases on which the teeth rest, are also evaluated.
The growth of the child and consequently his face are the result of the expression of the genetics inherited from his parents but also the sum of the FUNCTIONS that have their seat in the face.
Breathing, swallowing, phonation must take place in a physiological way to ensure that the growth of the jaws is harmonious.
Finger clogging, bottle feeding, pacifier, oral breathing, enlarged adenoids, deviated septum, infant swallowing, are all considered “bad habits” that result in impaired bone growth if not corrected. of the face.
The narrow palate resulting in a cross bite is the most frequent and typical expression of these spoiled habits.
The solution is easier the earlier the intervention is (5-6 years).
It serves precisely to eliminate the causes, the muscular and functional interferences and to get rid of the “bad habits” before the malocclusion develops or to eliminate it early in its initial manifestations.
Until a few years ago the general tendency was to wait for the final dentition to be completed (12/14 years) and then to intervene with appliances, sometimes very invasive.
Today, our philosophy focuses on the prevention of malocclusion, to improve the quality of life of the child during childhood and to avoid, in most cases, invasive appliances in adolescence!
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