Childhood Habits That Can Damage Kids Teeth
Good oral health care when young can set a positive precedent for their later life.
If you have arrived at adulthood with strong and healthy teeth, you probably have your parents (and your dentist) to thank for it. Far too many people already have some deterioration in their oral health by the time that they exit their teens. This doesn’t need to be the case but many of the problems start relatively early on in life.
If you are already past your teens, it may be too late to prevent some of the problems but you can still prevent any further ones, and you can of course, receive treatment to restore your teeth if you currently have a dental issue. The team at SG Dental and Implant Centre are always here to help you have the teeth that you deserve. For parents of those who are young enough to avoid these problems, we offer some useful advice below.
Thumb sucking
One of the earliest problems associated with childhood is when the child starts to suck their thumb. While this is entirely natural and offers some comfort to the child, doing so excessively or for too long can cause the teeth to be pushed outwards and generally cause the teeth to become misaligned, requiring the need for orthodontics later on to restore the teeth to their correct positions.
Mouth breathing
Many children breathe through their mouths. This can lead to the mouth becoming dry, which, as readers of our blog will be aware, is a significant contributor to the development of gum disease. Try to make sure that your child is well hydrated to avoid the worst effects of this.
Extended bottle feeding
If your child is still using a bottle or pacifier/dummy regularly after around one year of age, again there is a real risk of it affecting the jaw and teeth alignment. Even if it proves difficult to do so, it is advisable to wean them off this habit at an early age.
High sugar diet
This is a common one and one that many of our Burton parents will know all too well. With the abundance of sweets and other high sugar products available, it is difficult to prevent them becoming used to eating these on a regular basis, especially when they are so heavily promoted. While you may not be able to cut these from their diet entirely, it is a good idea to start promoting the use of more tooth friendly snacks. Take special care to prevent them from eating sweets or drinking sugary drinks before bedtime once they have cleaned their teeth.
Poor cleaning
Another problem among smaller children is that they don’t understand why they need to clean their teeth and will often complain about it being boring. You should supervise younger children and you could try using a toothpaste with a TV character that they like along with a child friendly toothpaste. You may find your ‘phone useful here. Perhaps finding a two minute video for them to watch while brushing their teeth so that they brush for long enough. Make sure that they are brushing during this time and add any ‘skipped’ seconds on at the end.
Delayed first dental visit
A lot of parents don’t think about taking their children to the dentist until it is too late, often when the child is in some discomfort with a painful toothache. In fact, it is recommended that you bring your child for their first dental visit at around one year old. It is very unlikely that they will need any treatment at this time but it does help to accustom them to the sounds, smells and sights of a dental clinic and can help them avoid having a fear of the dentist. It also means that if there are any areas that can be improved, that this can happen early on in a child’s life.
Few people actually enjoy seeing a local dentist and children are no exception. By bringing them to our Burton clinic at a young age, we can help them to overcome any anxiety about seeing the dentist. Bringing them this early also means that the chances of them needing invasive treatment, which after all is the thing that most people fear, is kept to a minimum. It is likely too, that if you bring them every six months as a child, they are more likely to continue this throughout their adult life, enabling them to have a healthy mouth into their later years.
If you have a child that hasn’t seen a dentist yet and is over one year old, why not make an appointment with one of the family dentists at SG Dental and Implant Centre? You can make an appointment by calling us today on 01283 845345.