Creating Healthy Habits: Oral Hygiene
As a dental assistant for almost 10 years in my twenties I saw many a child come through the dental office. Many were there for a routine cleaning, but many were the ones that came in with tooth aches and cavities. I always felt so bad for the little ones who were too young to be responsible for their teeth and yet they had a mouth full of decay. It is undoubtedly our responsibility as parents to care for our children’s teeth, and then to teach them the proper way to care for them. The second you see a tooth come through, start brushing your baby’s teeth. They will love the feel of the bristles and you are introducing them to the habit early on. Brush them at least twice a day, even when they are toddlers and don’t want to. If you were two, would you want to either?! They don’t understand the consequence if they don’t.
If you have a difficult child who won’t sit still, lay them down on the floor on their back and put your legs over their arms with their head almost in your lap, have them tip their head back and brush. You have a better angle of sight and sitting like that can help keep them from wiggling all over the place or getting away! If they are yelling and screaming, that is a good thing. Their mouth will be open and their teeth visible to brush! Don’t feel bad for doing this. You’ll feel worse when they are sitting in the dental chair getting a shot before a filling.
When they show an interest to brush their own teeth, encourage it! Our little girl, who is almost 3, loves to brush her teeth. I know she doesn’t do a good job, but I always tell her that she can do it herself after mommy does it. Our oldest son loves to floss his teeth even though he has huge gaps between all of them. I never tell him he can’t, because I want him to form the habit young before his permanent teeth come in and are close together. The saddest thing I ever saw was an 18 year old with decay in every tooth. Many needed root canals and crowns. It ended up costing his parents a fortune and the sad truth is that the habits he had that got him there will bring him right back in a few years with more.
When their permanent teeth start coming in, get them sealants! Even if your insurance doesn’t cover them, they are a huge investment in their oral health. They usually run about $30 a piece, but are well worth the money. My parents had them put on my teeth and those, along with good habits, kept me cavity free until I was 30. The one cavity I’ve had filled was after a long hard pregnancy where I rarely flossed due to gagging! So, who knows, I could still have been free of them if I hadn’t slacked in my own responsibility. Also, be regular on their cleanings at the dentist. If you don’t have insurance, at least have it done once a year and then invest in a Sonicare. In my opinion, they are the best electric toothbrush out there.
Most importantly, watch their diets. A diet full of sugar and especially soda pop will ruin a beautiful set of teeth rather quickly. Sipping on a soda pop is a sure route to a cavity. When you let sugar sit on your teeth all day long, you give it plenty of time to break down your enamel and soften it into a cavity. Encourage your teenagers to drink water at school and during the day. If they do decide to have a soda, have them rinse their mouth with warm water afterwards.
Never ever give your baby a bottle in their crib. Many babies will fall asleep drinking their bottle and then the bottle just hangs there by their mouths with the milk dripping in. Their teeth will rot super fast with it sitting there like that. As the milk breaks down, the acids in it will eat at their enamel and cause immediate decay. If this happens when they are babies, they have to be taken to a specialist who can take them to the hospital, put them under anesthesia and then do the dental work. In severe cases, crowns will have to be put on their teeth – - and they aren’t the pretty white ones, teeth that small can only be crowned with the ugly silver ones.
Just be aware that you are teaching your children the oral hygiene habits that they will take with them for the rest of their lives. Set them up for success by making it fun. When they are old enough to understand, teach them about their teeth and what an important function they play in our daily lives. We have so many good ways to take care of them nowadays that no child today should ever see a set of dentures.
