National Children's Dental Health Month: Baby teeth matter!

 

February is National Children’s Dental Health Month! Here are some facts about children’s teeth and tips for childhood tooth care:

Baby teeth are important. Children need to have healthy, strong baby teeth to eat, speak, and smile.  Just because children lose their baby teeth, “decay is not okay.” 

Babies are born with their baby teeth already formed under the gums. Baby tooth care should start early, before the teeth appear in the mouth! A baby’s gums should be gently wiped with a soft, damp cloth after drinking a bottle or eating. This gets baby used to his or her mouth being cleaned. 

Baby teeth start to come in at about 4 - 7 months of age. As soon as the first little tooth appears, it can be brushed with a soft toothbrush and a tiny smear of toothpaste, about the size of a grain of rice.

Gum pain gels are not necessary and can cause a rare but life-threatening condition called methemoglobinemia. It is better to let baby chew on a cold cloth or spoon if teething. This should relieve baby’s discomfort.

Always use a separate spoon to test baby’s food. Caregivers and parents can spread their own mouth’s germs this way. This is especially important if a caregiver has cavities or gum problems.

Never put baby to bed with a bottle with formula, milk or juice. Toddlers should not walk around with a sippy cup with formula, milk or juice.  These drinks are for meals. Frequent exposure to the sugar in them can destroy baby teeth quickly. Children should be encouraged to drink only water between meals.

Lift the lip to check baby’s teeth at least once a month. White spots or lines near the gums may be the start of cavities. Baby teeth should be smooth and all one color. White, brown or black spots indicates cavities. If the teeth are being wiped or brushed daily, this should not happen.

By the time kids are 3 years old, they will have 20 teeth! Teeth should be brushed twice a day, using a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste on a soft child-sized tooth brush. 

Children start to lose their front teeth at about 6-7 years of age. The loss of front baby teeth and the front permanent teeth coming in are obvious. Not so obvious are the first permanent molars that erupt in the back of the mouth around the same age, making daily brushing and flossing all the more important.

Flossing, too? Yes. While baby teeth usually have space between them that the tooth brush can reach, sometimes they don’t. As soon as “teeth touch” they should be flossed to remove plaque germs that grow in between the teeth.

Baby teeth fall out over time. Kids may still have some until they are 12-13 years old. Baby teeth hold the space for the permanent teeth coming in. Tooth crowding due to early tooth loss can increase risk of decay, gum problems, and needing braces.

Cavities are the NUMBER ONE chronic disease in children, more common than asthma. A cavity is a bacterial infection in a tooth!

Dental pain affects a child’s ability to learn and thrive. Dental emergencies cost parents and kids thousands of lost school and work hours. Emergency room visits for non-traumatic dental visits have risen to over $3.5 billion dollars annually.

The cost of an amalgam (silver) filling can be well over $100 dollars depending on how much of the tooth surface is affected. Composite (white) fillings cost even more. If a tooth needs to be “capped” it can run into thousands of dollars! Compare that to the cost of a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss.

Dental decay is preventable! Brushing and flossing at least twice a day keeps cavities away. Diets high in sugar and sugar sweetened beverages also lead to cavities. A well-balanced diet helps the mouth and the body stay healthy!

Preventing childhood cavities is so important and can be easy to do but young children need a hand. Pediatricians and dentists recommend the first dental visit by age one. Children up until age nine should have help and supervision while brushing.

Please visit the websites listed below for more on the information found in this article and additional resources.

Resources and sources:

https://www.cdc.gov/oral-health/index.html

https://www.ada.org/resources/community-initiatives/national-childrens-dental-health-month

https://wicworks.fns.usda.gov/topic/health-observances/national-childrens-dental-health-month

https://oralhealthsupport.ucsf.edu/news/dental-care-in-crisis-tracking-the-cost-and-prevalence-emergency-department-visits-for-non-traumatic

This blog and its posts are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or advise about any dental or medical condition. Please see your dentist or doctor for any treatment or information you need regarding your health.

LA is hip on teeth

Lights, camera, action! Los Angeles may be known as the movie capital of the world, but did you know they are so 'with it' when it comes to tooth health? LA County has embarked on a massive campaign around tooth health on social media, TV, and radio. Included are great videos and engaging materials to bring the health of the mouth, especially for children, top of mind. 

Here is an adorable video they created:

  

Check out the entire campaign here:

https://choosehealthla.com/Teeth/

Teeth are for everyone

February is National Dental Children’s Health Month but it’s a good time to think about the health of your mouth no matter what your age. Dental health is a life-long endeavor and teeth need to be taken care of at every step along the way.

Women thinking of getting pregnant should go for a dental visit! Men who plan to be dads should go, too. Anyone planning to care for a child can decrease the risk of that child getting cavities by taking care of problems with their own teeth.

During pregnancy, dental care is totally safe and regular dental visits are encouraged. Inflammation in the mouth can affect the unborn child and is even associated with preterm birth.

Babies are born with all their baby teeth under their gums. Infant gums should be wiped with a soft, damp cloth after feedings to keep the mouth healthy because teeth start to come in at about 5 months of age. Breastfeeding a child is important to a child’s mouth development as it helps widen the roof of the mouth and contributes to having teeth that come in straight. A baby should never be put to bed with a bottle with anything in it but water as this can cause cavities. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Dental Association recommend a child’s first dental visit by age 1.

From the first tooth on, teeth should be brushed daily with a smear of fluoride tooth paste up to age three, a pea-sized amount ages three and up, and with supervision of brushing till age nine. Baby teeth really matter because they help with speech development and nutrition, and since kids lose them slowly until age 11 or 12, baby teeth are needed to hold the space for the adult, permanent teeth coming in.

Children should be encouraged to eat whole fruits and vegetables and avoid sugary drinks. A rule to live by for dental health is water anytime, milk with meals, sweet drinks - skip it! This goes for adults as well because ‘we are what we eat and drink’ and good nutrition is as important to teeth as it is to the rest of the body.

Adolescents, teens, and college-aged kids can really slack-off with personal hygiene and should be encouraged to continue with daily brushing and flossing. Scheduling regular dental visits during school breaks and summer breaks is a good way to ensure any dental problems are caught early. Adults are busy and can slack off on regular dental visits and hygiene, too.

total health-ym

There is especially a lack of flossing, which is needed to get rid of germs between teeth. Keeping floss handy and within reach at home, in the car, in your pack or purse, helps keep this good habit top of mind. Flossing keeps the gums healthy. Bleeding gums are not normal. Brushing and flossing regularly reduces bleeding and helps avoid worse problems with the gums and teeth down the road. It is important to see a dental professional right away if you are concerned about your teeth, gums, or having any mouth pain.

Finally, keeping your mouth healthy is not only good for your whole body, it is good for your wallet. A permanent, adult tooth that gets a cavity (which is an infection of the tooth) is now a weakened tooth. If the mouth continues to be neglected, that cavity can come back under a filling, get bigger, need a crown, a root canal, or even be lost and need to be replaced with a bridge or implant. It is estimated that one tooth can cost well over $6,000 to repair over a person’s lifetime.

Taking care of your teeth truly can pay off!

This blog and posts are not intended to diagnose or treat and should not be taken as medical or dental advice. If something is bothering you, say something. Your medical and dental professionals can help.

National Dental Hygiene Month, October 2015

Floss, Brush, Brush (photo: Y. Mikalopas)

October has many, many, specially designated days and weeks but is probably most notably known as Breast Cancer Awareness Month - if you haven't noticed all the pink ribbons and products around, open your eyes. October is also National Dental Hygiene Month and for six years, the American Dental Hygienist Association and Wrigley, the gum company, have together promoted good oral health habits during this month. While Wrigley's does have gum brands that are sugar-free they also have plenty of products that contain sugar, are very sticky, and not anything that someone should eat if they want to have healthy teeth. I kind of feel about this the way I feel about wine companies promoting breast health by putting pink ribbons onto their bottles and the way I feel about tobacco companies making donations to smoking cessation programs. Having said that, the American Dental Hygiene Association is a wonderful group of very dedicated professional hygienists who are very passionate about people taking care of their teeth to have healthy mouths and live healthy lives. I am proud to be a member. So this
month take a few minutes every day to "Do the Daily 4"- Brush, Floss, Rinse, Chew. I'll be happy if you do the "Terrific Two" - brush two times a day for two minutes and floss once daily. And remember, the more you do at home, the less your hygienist has to do when you are in the chair!