When you
become a parent, worry becomes a normal part of life. Whether it's sending the
kids off to school or worrying about the latest virus in the media, every
parent manages their fear of the unknown daily. One area where parents should
not worry is their children's teeth. Teaching your young ones to make good
choices about food and proper oral care goes a long way toward creating a
healthy, happy human being.
Tooth
decay remains a significant problem in dental care. Any kid's dentist will tell
you that it is imperative to educate yourself and your young ones about making
good choices. Tooth decay begins when food
containing lots of sugar and starch (foods that make up a significant portion
of the American diet today) is used by bacteria in our mouth to create acids.
These acids begin to slowly eat away the enamel that makes up our teeth. The
loss of minerals in teeth due to these acids (demineralization) will cause
tooth decay over time as teeth begin to weaken and decay.
Young children and adolescents
are especially susceptible to these dangers due to their diet. Schools, fast
food restaurants, and the snack aisle contain lots of opportunities to choose
foods that could cause tooth decay. Sugar laden foods, fruit juices, and snacks
all begin problems that your kid's dentist finally sees during a visit to the
office. Small choices every day about what we eat influences dental hygiene,
good or bad.
Creating
good dental hygiene habits in your children is especially important. Habits
start early and can make the difference between strong teeth and tooth decay.
Childhood tooth decay, also known as pediatric dental disease, remains the #1
chronic childhood illness. Early tooth decay often leads to greater problems
such as pain and infections in the teeth and mouth. If tooth decay remains
untreated, greater problems often occur as well. Difficulty eating or speaking
due to pain may lead to malnourishment.
Making
good choices about what your children are eating is the first and most
important step in creating good, lifelong habits where food choices and tooth
care are concerned. Any kid's dentist will share their experiences with the
problems created by our diet and what is in our food. Foods that fight tooth decay and
promote dental health are especially important.
Calcium
rich foods, such as milk and other dairy products, help build tooth and general
bone strength. Fiber rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables, help create
natural defenses for our teeth. Whole grains, with their high amount of iron
and B vitamins, help promote healthy gums. Combining these foods in your
child's diet will help ensure that every visit to your kid's dentist is as
pleasant as possible. Coupling good food choices with the recommended regimen
of flossing, brushing, and regular visits to the dentist will ensure your young
one's teeth are healthy and strong.
Taking
care of your young and growing child is a big responsibility. A multitude of
things exist to protect children from in this day and age. How to properly care
for teeth shouldn't be a large source of worry. Consult your kid's dentist to talk about what you can do to help
ensure that your young ones grow up with healthy teeth. They will thank you for
it years later when the good practices you taught remain with them as adults.
The winter
holidays can be a great time to be a kid. Children go from dressing up and
enjoying candy during Halloween, to visiting family and eating delicious
desserts for Thanksgiving, to opening presents and candy stocking stuffers at
Christmas time. Winter is when kids have frequent opportunities to eat more
sweet foods than they usually do. What does a kid's dentist advise to help a
child who may not have a lot of impulse control to prevent cavities even at
this sweetest time of the year?
One of the
most important things a parent can do to assist their children is to ensure
that the children brush their teeth twice a day and don’t eat sugary foods or
carbohydrates or drink sugary or carbonated drinks after they brush in the
evening. Parents should supervise the brushing of children’s teeth until they
are at least 8 years old. Anytime a child has two teeth touching, the child
should floss at least twice a day and should be supervised in this until they
are 8 as well.
Parents
should be active in monitoring what their children eat. Usually, it is best
that children don’t snack more than three times a day. Although it is usually
advisable to have children snack on foods other than just sweets, the winter
holidays do bring out more opportunities to snack on less healthy foods. The
most important thing is to not let children eat all through the day and to have
them avoid sugary sweets after evening brushing and flossing.
Even milk
has sugars that can get between the teeth and cause cavities if a child drinks
it after the evening tooth-brushing. Also, sometimes parents will allow more
carbonated drinks over the holidays. These can actually cause more damage
than a normal sugary beverage, as the acidity of the carbonation can cause an
erosion of the enamel as well as the sugar in it can increase the likelihood of
a cavity. Often, juices have more sugar in them than parents realize, so
reading labels is very important for a child’s tooth care. Natural sugars are just as hard on our teeth
as the refined sugars we use in cooking, baking, etc.
A healthy
snack for a child’s teeth is cheese, such as aged cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella,
and Monterrey jack. Not only are these cheeses healthier for teeth than sugary
snacks, but they also work to clear the mouth of hidden food while
neutralizing acids that can harm teeth.
Just
because sugary snacks are not healthy for teeth doesn’t mean kids should never
eat them. Just make sure if they are
eating sugary or less healthy snacks that they brush when they are done to
avoid cavities. Parents need to be
involved and help ensure that their children’s teeth are healthy and their
habits are good.
