Raising
a child can be challenging, each stage of life brings different changes. Taking
care of a child’s teeth is important for their health and to ensure they have a
healthy smile.
It
is not very long before that first tooth starts peeping out of the gums. You as
a parent must make sure that your child, as they grow, knows how important it
is to look after their mouth, gums, and teeth. It is a parent’s job to make
sure kids take care of their teeth and knows how to do it until they leave home
for college, well, maybe even after that.
A
variety of research has been done on kid’s teeth over the years. With these, it
has been discovered that about 19 percent of kids between the ages 2 and 19 has
cavities that are not treated.
These
cavities can be stopped if the parents just take some time to make sure that
their kids look after their teeth. Kids pick-up a variety of bad habits that
are a threat to their oral health. These habits have to be stopped before it is
too late or it can destroy their health.
Different Habits
Kids
are not the only ones to be blamed as many parents also have some bad habits.
As a parent, you must take the right actions to make sure your child’s oral
health is in top shape.
Avoiding the
Dentists
The
worst thing that can be done is only taking your child to see a dentist if
there is something wrong. A child should see a dentist twice a year even if
there is nothing wrong. A dentist can pick-up a problem even before we know it
is there. So, you see why it is vital to take your child to see a dentist on a
regular basis.
Breastfeeding
There
is nothing wrong with breastfeeding, it is better than bottle feeding. But even
so, all milk, breast, and bottle, contains substances that can turn into sugary
acids. This is especially true if present in the mouth for a long time.
When
a baby wakes-up through the night, they are going to want milk. When newly
born, this is fine, yet, as they grow this habit needs to be stopped. Your baby
is going to drink milk until he or she falls asleep and there is still going to
be some milk left inside the baby’s mouth.
Milk
contains lactose, this is a sugary substance. Lactose makes up about 40% of the
calories found in milk. It is vital to clean your babies mouth after each
feeding, use a soft wet cloth just to wipe any excess milk out of their tiny
mouths. Giving water through the night is much better to prevent a sugary layer
which can cause multiple oral health issues in the future.
At
first, you are not going to see anything wrong with your baby’s teeth but if
this does not stop it is going to start causing cavities. For a baby, at such a
young age, suffering from cavities or gum problems cannot be nice.
There are
different things that have to change to protect a little babies’ teeth.
Here
is some more habit to consider and to change:
• Just as with breastfeeding at night, it is
not recommended to give your baby a bottle to fall asleep with unless the
bottle has water in it.
• Do not let your child drink or sip on
sipping cups for an entire day. Only give him or her some juice to drink with a
meal or once through the day. Plus, you should start teaching your child to
drink out a glass as soon as possible.
• Inform your kids not to swallow toothpaste
as it is not healthy. When kids are very young and still does not understand
then just brush his or her teeth with water.
• Thumb sucking is
not a bad thing but if it does not stop at the ages 3 to 4, you as a parent has
to get them to stop this habit. Thumb sucking can cause their teeth to grow out
misaligned.
• Just like thumb sucking, pacifiers have to
be taken away at the ages 3 to 4 years. Pacifiers can cause a lot of dental
problems in the future.
• A lot of kids like chewing on pencils. This
is not healthy for their oral health neither their own health as we do not know
how many germs are on that pencil.
• Another thing a lot of children do is
chewing or nibbling on their nails. Usually, they do this because of something
that may be causing stress. This also has to be stopped, biting one’s nails
destroys teeth, plus, there are a lot of diseases that live under that nails.
• Keep soda’s away from small children as
these kinds of drinks can cause a lot of kids to get cavities due to loads of
sugar that are in soda drinks.
Please
do not wait for the last moment to do something to change these habits. Change
them while your kid is still small. Visit a pediatric dentist regularly and
ensure your child has healthy gums and teeth for life.
