An estimated 17 million children in America go without dental care each year. A Dentist is there to help you keep your oral hygiene in check, so there shouldn’t be any excuses as to why this cannot be a priority to you. As a result, the most common chronic childhood disease is tooth decay. As National Children’s Dental Health Month kicks off, Great Expressions Dental Centers (GEDC) is providing parents with simple tips children can follow for healthy oral hygiene.
Following are some important tips to help your children maintain optimal dental health:
- Teach proper brushing and break bad habits. While your child is young, introduce healthy habits when it comes to their teeth. Teach brushing habits at 3 years old and break thumb-sucking and pacifier by age 4.
- Thumb, finger and pacifier habits. Children who continue these habits after the age of 2 can affect the way the child’s teeth bite together as well as growth of the jaw and bone. GEDC recommends parents talking to their children to get them to stop or have their pediatric dentists talk to them.
- First visit by first birthday. It’s best if children visit their dentist similar to Princeton Dental Wisconsin when the first tooth comes in, usually between 6 and 12 months of age. This helps to establish preventative care and to avoid baby bottle tooth decay and nursing caries.
- Primary teeth (baby teeth). These teeth serve a number of critical functions, including being involved in speech development. So it’s important they’re properly taken care of.
- Limit snacking and eat healthy. Stray from sugary and starchy foods that destroy enamel and stick with drinking water, especially between meals.
- Regular visits with your dentist. Visit the dentist before your child’s first birthday to learn how to clean your child’s teeth and learn the dangers of bedtime bottles and sippy cups. By the time your child is 5, dentist visits should be happening every six months. Visiting a Dentist Fort Wayne would be very beneficial for the health of your child’s teeth.
- Brush and floss daily. As soon as two teeth touch, it is important that children brush their teeth twice a day and floss.
- Orthodontic evaluation. Children grow quickly and orthodontists are trained to detect problems with the growth and development of the teeth and jaw. The American Association of Orthodontics recommends an orthodontic evaluation by 7 years old.
I am lucky that my girls love to brush their teeth. I mean LOVE to brush their teeth. They would sit at the sink all day if possible. I am happy to learn these other tips from Great Expressions Dental Centers. My youngest sucks her thumb and I am really trying to break her of the habit. We go to the dentist every 6 months – they both started around 1 year old. We have just started flossing as well. Follow these tips too and hopefully your children will have healthy teeth!
