Oral care and overall health are inextricably linked. Tooth infections cause pain. Gingivitis leads to plaque getting into the heart. Tooth loss can affect nutrition.
To ensure your child is as healthy as possible, make sure their oral care routine is strong. Here are six tips to keep your child’s teeth as strong and healthy as possible so your child grows up as fit as a fiddle.
Oral Care for Kids
Don't Use Reverse Osmosis Water Filters
One of the most important steps you can take in your child’s oral care is to not use a reverse osmosis water filter. If you want to use a water filter, get one like a Brita.
Most cities require the addition of fluoride to tap water. If you get a reverse osmosis filter, any fluoride that your city may have put in the tap water is removed.
If you do not live in a city that puts fluoride in the water, ask your pediatrician if your child needs to take a fluoride supplement.
At Cornerstone Dental, we’ll give your child’s teeth a fluoride varnish to protect them from cavity formation by strengthening the enamel. However, your child may also need to take an oral supplement or use fluoride mouthwash or toothpaste to maintain their oral care.
Oral Care and Your Child's Diet
It is also highly advisable to watch your child’s diet in order to maintain their oral care. You can’t always stop them from trading their homemade lunch for a brownie or a slice of pizza, however, you can monitor what they eat at home.
Explain that high-sugar foods should be consumed in moderation and they should brush their teeth afterward. Also, moderate your child’s access to sweetened beverages, like fruit juice, soda, iced tea, or lemonade regularly.
If your child is old enough to chew gum, make sure that they are chewing sugar-free gum. Gum can provide children with numerous benefits, including increased saliva production and jaw strengthening. However, high-sugar gum may result in the development of cavities.
Brush Your Child's Teeth
Brushing your child’s teeth is a key step in pediatric oral care. As a general rule, you should start brushing your child’s teeth when they are 12 to 24 months old. However, you should keep in mind that the toothbrush should be small and soft.
Brush your child’s teeth twice daily or more with a little water. Before your child’s teeth start coming in, clean their gums, tongue, and inner cheeks with warm water and a gauze-covered finger.
It is safe to brush your child’s teeth with a tiny dab of toothpaste. Just make sure it is fluoride-free. You may start using toothpaste with fluoride when your child is old enough to spit the toothpaste out instead of swallowing it. If you’re not sure how to brush your child’s teeth, we can help.
Also, keep in mind that toothbrushes should be switched every three to six months, and children can start brushing their own teeth around seven or eight years old.
Keep Your Child's Mouth Safe
Mouth safety is another key oral care step. If your child plays sports, they should wear a mouthguard. It is possible to purchase a mouth guard at a sporting goods store.
However, you should strongly consider seeing your dentist about having a mouthguard professionally molded to your child’s teeth. This will be safer and more comfortable than what you can purchase over the counter at a recreation store.
The material your dentist will use for a mouthguard will also be a higher quality, offering far better protection than a store-bought mouthguard.
Bring Your Child in for Regular Dental Checkups
According to the AAPD (American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry), regular dental check-ups and cleanings can start as soon as your child’s first birthday. While your child may only have a few teeth at this point, your dentist can detect oral care problems and advise you on how provide proper care.
Starting your child’s checkups early will help them to be more comfortable with going to the dentist later on in life.
Remind Your Child to Stop Sucking Their Thumb
You can also help maintain your child’s oral care by reminding them to not suck on their thumb. Thumb sucking can lead to an overbite or other alignment issues.
In turn, this can result in TMJD (temporomandibular joint dysfunction). TMJD is a medical condition that falls under the umbrella of TMD (temporomandibular disorders). It affects the two bones that meet at the temporomandibular joint (the skull’s temporal bone and the mandible).
Most of the time, people with TMJD suffer from joint pain in one or both of their temporomandibular joints due to moderate-to-severe inflammation. However, it is not uncommon for myofascial pain to occur. Myofascial pain is usually felt around the temporomandibular joints and i
What Else to Avoid in Cases of TMJD
If you believe your child suffers from TMJD, make sure they are not chewing gum regularly. Regular gum chewing will only exacerbate the symptoms.
The more they work the jaw muscles, the more tired they get. When they are too overworked, your child may notice pain in such regions as the:
- Cheek
- Temple
- Jaw
- Neck
If your child chews gum past the point of muscle exhaustion, there is a chance that they won’t just feel muscle pain. Their joints will tire significantly, and they may feel extreme joint pain.
As a substitute for chewing gum, offer your child altoids or a similar hard candy that will provide them with a similar flavor. Also, anyone suffering from TMJD should avoid taking large bites of food and steer clear of chewy foods, like:
- Licorice
- Beef jerky
- Steak
- Bone-in turkey legs
- Bone-in chicken wings
Causes of TMJD
An improper bite is not the only potential cause of TMJD. Other potential causes of this painful disorder include stress and other psychological factors, birth defects, and lower facial trauma.
If you notice that your child is regularly stressed, teach him a better way to respond to stressful situations. Depending on your child’s age, you may have him close his eyes and count backward from 10 to ground themself.
You also may ask them to make sure their tongue is resting on the roof of their mouth away from the teeth and advise them to breathe in and out through their nose.
To keep your child’s mouth as healthy as possible, you should ensure they are getting enough fluoride. If your city does not add fluoride to the water, ask your pediatrician about taking an oral supplement.
Also, make sure your child is brushing their teeth after eating sugar and not chewing high-sugar gum.
Are You Searching For A Martinsburg Area Dentist For You Or Your Family?
If you’re searching for an experienced dentist please feel free to contact us online or call our Martinsburg, West Virginia dental office directly at 304.267.6059 to schedule your appointment. We provide a wide range of general dentistry care as well as more involved dentistry services for patients throughout the Martinsburg area and look forward to you joining the Cornerstone Dental family.
