Guest post by Dr Thang Nghiem, UltraSmile Dentistry
This post is brought to you by the folks behind the Tooth Fairy, now out on DVD and Blu-ray, who have teamed up with UltraSmile to give you some top tips for helping your kids look after their teeth!
1. Think “Clean not Green.” Teeth should be clean so there is no leftover food on them for the bacteria (bugs) that live in your mouth to eat. Bacteria cause decay by eating sugary leftovers and turning them into acid. The acid rots the teeth and makes holes (cavities). Clean teeth have no sugar leftovers on them and therefore don’t decay. Clean teeth = no cavities.
2. Good dental health to avoid gum disease should begin at birth. After each feeding, gently wipe the baby’s gums with a soft, damp washcloth or gauze pad to control the accumulation of plaque and to establish this ritual as part of the daily routine
3. A good way to encourage your child’s dental hygiene is by using a flavoured fluoride toothpaste. The taste and appearance of toothpaste can make brushing a more enjoyable experience, so children are more likely to brush twice each day and brush for longer periods of time. Appropriate brushing can help prevent cavities, gum disease and other dental health issues.
4. Children age six or less should brush twice a day for at least two minutes each time using no more than a pea-sized dab of toothpaste and a soft-bristle brush to remove plaque and provide fluoride protection.
5. Children should not brush their teeth straight after food as the acid in the food has softened the enamel. It is best to wait as long as possible after eating to brush their teeth or brush prior to eating. If it is not possible to brush children’s teeth while out and about then try giving them raw baby carrots, these help to clean the teeth. Apple like all fruit is not ideal as they contain acid and sugars which are bad for the enamel of the teeth.
6. Parents should take their young child with them to their next routine dentist appointment to reduce some of the child’s potential anxiety in the dental chair. The child will have a chance to get used to the sounds, smells and staff in the dental office, prior to his/her own dental visit. The first trip should be as early as age 1. Most dentists prefer to wait until age 2 or 3 unless there are any problems or possible problems. Plan on a check-up about twice a year for most kids. These routine checkups give your dentist the best chance to diagnose any problems early, and make specific recommendations for each child. Remember — prevention and early treatment are the best medicine.
7. If a child (or an adult) has a permanent tooth knocked out of his/her mouth, follow these procedures: gently rinse (not scrub) the tooth off and place it in a cup of warm milk (salt water is the second best choice; plain water, the third best), call the dentist and bring the child and the soaking tooth in immediately for re-implantation and stabilisation.
8. Parents should not give an unattended or sleeping child a bottle with milk or juice; instead, children should drink water to prevent baby bottle tooth decay.
9. Avoid giving children fizzy drinks, as they can cause enamel erosion, and always dilute their juices. Encourage children to drink through a straw if they are drinking juices, milk or fizzy drinks as it by passes the teeth. (Fizzy drinks are doing severe damage to our children’s teeth, with nearly half of five-year-olds examined suffering tooth decay, a study has shown. Some 45% of five-year-olds surveyed suffered from tooth decay due to the consumption of acidic foods, soft drinks, fruit juices and pickles)
10. Dental sealants are an excellent way to prevent tooth decay in children. The dental sealant procedure takes only minutes, is painless, is less than half the cost of a filling and is virtually 100 percent effective at stopping decay. Children should receive sealants on permanent molars as soon as they erupt (about ages six and 12 years). Dental sealants may last up to 10 years, two to four years is a more reasonable estimate. Sealants can be highly effective in protection against cavities provided the sealant is continuously monitored by a dentist. Sealants should be checked by a dentist during regular check-ups and if needed they can be re-applied. Sealants are only applied to the back teeth – the molars and premolars. These are the teeth that have pits and fissures on their biting surfaces. Dental sealants maybe available on the NHS but in many cases they are only available privately.
11. Orthodontic treatment (braces) should be started early if possible. It is recommended that all children get a check-up with an orthodontist no later than age 7. While your child’s teeth may appear straight to you, there could be a problem that only an orthodontist can detect. Of course, the check-up may reveal that your child’s bite is fine, and that is comforting news. By starting early, it is less likley that permanent teeth will have to be removed. Let your regular dentist take x-rays to check for missing permanent teeth (preferably by age six). If baby teeth must be removed early due to decay, make sure to have a space maintainer put in to help keep the teeth from drifting.
12. Milk teeth should be cared for in the same way as adult teeth and consideration must be given to the developing permanent teeth when milk teeth are knocked out prematurely. The primary function of milk teeth is to aid food digestion. Without them, a child’s growth and development would be affected. Secondly, milk teeth serve to maintain space for the proper alignment of the adult teeth. The loss of these teeth prematurely would have a direct impact on the order in which the permanent teeth erupt and the position they occupy in the mouth. This could lead to crooked teeth later in life. Hence, when milk teeth are lost prematurely a space maintainer is often recommended. Thirdly, having crooked teeth will impact upon dental hygiene as it is often harder to clean them. This would put the child at more risk of tooth decay and gum disease. Fourthly, a child learns to speak during the milk teeth phase. Without these teeth, a speech impediment may develop. Having a speech impediment and crooked teeth may affect the developing psychology of your child.
13. Try and get your child to use an electric toothbrush as they have been shown to be at least 25% more effective at removing plaque than manual toothbrushes and many children enjoy the fun sound and feeling of the electric toothbrush. They can be helpful for children who are not yet coordinated enough to brush thoroughly with a manual toothbrush (usually children under four years).Children under 10 should be supervised when using an electric toothbrush. The right toothbrush should always be chosen for the child’s age group
14. Flossing is effective in removing food debris and plaque from between teeth that bushing misses. Children can begin flossing from the age of four years and parents should be flossing their child’s teeth as soon as any two teeth touch. This could be as early as 2 years if the front teeth are in contact.
15. Foods rich in calcium, fluoride, phosphorous and vitamins, especially Vitamin C, can help to strengthen a child’s teeth. Starchy or sugary foods encourage plaque acid and tooth decay, and should be limited to mealtimes when the extra saliva produced helps to rinse food from the mouth. Calcium from dairy foods, canned fish, dark leafy greens helps to preserve the density of a child’s jaw bone making it better able to withstand erosion by bacteria. Phosphorous from meat and nuts aids bone and tooth formation. Fluoride from canned salmon and tea helps teeth to become more resistant to acid erosion. Vitamin C from citrus fruits helps to maintain the health of the child’s gums.
16. Fluoride is one of the best ways to prevent tooth decay. It works by strengthening the tooth’s enamel and making it more resistant to acid attack. Fluoride is therefore necessary to keep teeth strong, but only at appropriate levels. Fluoridated toothpaste can be introduced when a child is capable of spitting, usually at two to three years of age. Below the age of six, children should use only a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste and care must be taken that they do not swallow the paste. Excessive ingestion of fluoride during tooth development may lead to a condition known as dental fluorosis. This problem presents itself later in life as areas of permanent staining, yellowing and mottling of the permanent teeth. This risk is lowered after the age of five since the front teeth are nearly formed.
