Dental Care Vital to Children’s Health

Caring for your children’s teeth and gums is vital to your child’s overall health. Poor or inadequate care can lead to cavities and gum disease, which are painful and can lead to serious infections that can spread through the body. Also, improper oral health can affect your child’s self-esteem.

I am seeing more and more children with gingivitis, the first stage of periodontal disease that affects 9-17% of children between ages 3 and 11 and 70-90% of teenagers. (American Academy of Periodontology, June 11, 2004)

It’s also important that you don’t treat your kid’s baby teeth as “throw-away teeth” or “practice teeth.” It’s important that you instill good habits when you child is young. The premature loss of baby teeth to decay can cause speech problems, misaligned permanent teeth, problems with jawbone and muscle development.

The number one way to avoid problems is to teach your children to brush at least once a day, but twice a day is preferable. I advise parents to begin cleaning their baby’s gums daily even before that first baby tooth erupts. Later, begin flossing since it is an important part of removing plaque and when your child is old enough, teach them how to floss their teeth.

Young children have fun brushing their teeth with Cute Oral-B brushes because they come shaped in the popular children characters such as Power Rangers, Buzz Lightyear, Disney Princess and The Pirates of the Carribean just to name a few. These tooth brushes are manual or powered. The powered ones brush just as gently as the manual brushes.

Also, limit sweets and chewy snacks like raisins, sugary sodas and juices.

This is a guest post by Dr. Eugene Stanislaus, DDS in Brooklyn, New York,