Are your kids excited to get back to school, nervous, or not feeling ready? A new school year can be exciting, but also a little stressful. And that stress isn’t just on our kids! As busy parents, we have a multitude of items on our to-do lists. One of the items that often gets overlooked is our dental care. Let’s look at a few of the items that can be great to get checked off the list before going back to school!

1. Dental cleaning and check-up: This one is easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of the summer. If you or your child is due for a 6-month check-up, or perhaps hasn’t had one at all this year, the summertime can be a great opportunity to mark this off for 2026.
2. Outstanding dental work: Sometimes your dentist has recommended treatment that has not been scheduled, or maybe the work was rescheduled due to a busy school year or work schedule. Getting your dental health up to par before the busy school year starts affords you a great opportunity to check this off your to-do list.
3. Starting braces or Invisalign: Many kids and parents get an orthodontic consult with the intention of getting their treatment started before the school year starts. The summer can often fly by before we remember to get scheduled. Starting braces or Invisalign is great over the summer because it allows you or your child to get familiar with orthodontic treatment before the demands of the school year start. It’s also important for our young high school students, as waiting until your senior year to get started may be an issue if your child needs two years of care and is going away for college.
4. Wisdom teeth: We all know that wisdom teeth can be tough to deal with. Once extracted, it is possible to have soreness and swelling. Coordinating this treatment with your dentist or oral surgeon over the summer can really help to avoid downtime, missing school, and really allow time to heal in the comfort of your own home without the constraints of school or work.
5. Replacing retainers: Replacing old retainers, damaged retainers, or even retainers that were lost over a fun summer is critical to hold teeth in place and prevent them from getting crooked again. This will help you or your child to avoid needing orthodontic treatment again. As the process to replace a retainer usually requires 2 visits (a digital scan appointment followed by a delivery appointment), getting started over the summer can help ease your schedule.

Let’s make getting back to school more fun and less stressful! Call North Meadow Dental and Orthodontics today to get the dental care your family needs—and make the new school year a little easier!