Children's Oral Health
Is your child's oral hygiene routine effective? It can be difficult for parents to get their children to brush properly. However, this is something that children must be taught at an early age. Proper oral hygiene habits will last your child a lifetime. Because most children consume sugary foods and drinks, proper oral hygiene habits are essential for their oral health and general well-being.
You might think that oral hygiene is not that important at an early age.
A common misconception is that they will lose their baby teeth anyway so it's not that important to teach proper oral hygiene.
While the fact they will lose their baby teeth is true. We need to understand the crucial role their baby teeth play and the importance of proper oral hygiene.
These teeth help your children chew, speak and smile. They also hold the space in the gums for their adult teeth. When a baby tooth is lost too early, the adjacent teeth may move into that space. This makes it difficult for the adult teeth growing under the gums to find room to come in. This may lead to crowded adult teeth. Thus, setting the stage for orthodontic treatment in the future.
Tips for parents:
•Lead by example. As with everything you do, your children are watching and emulating you.
When you take oral hygiene seriously your children will too.
•Include your child in his/her oral hygiene routine by letting them pick out their toothbrush.
•Talk to your child about the importance of proper oral hygiene, in an age-based manner.
•When it is time to see the dentist, prepare your child for the visit by reading them a dental story.
(We have dental stories for your children in our children's section of this blog).
•Always speak of a dental visit whether it's yours or theirs in a positive tone.
For example:
“ brushing and flossing your teeth and seeing the dentist, will keep that beautiful smile mommy/ daddy love to see”.
Whatever, words you choose, your main goal is to encourage proper oral hygiene habits in a way your child will understand.
At Oshawa Centre Dental Office we understand that children can be apprehensive about a dental visit.
You can rest assured knowing that your children are in good hands and will be treated with caring, respect and understanding.