In February, the American Dental Association sponsors National Children’s Dental Health Month. This month-long national health observance brings together thousands of dental professionals, health care providers and health educators to promote the benefits of good oral health to children, parents, grandparents, teachers and caregivers.
Scotland County Health Department would like to remind parents that their children can avoid cavities. Brushing your teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, cleaning between your teeth by flossing daily, eating a healthy diet that limits sugary drinks and snacks, and seeing your dentist regularly for prevention and treatment of oral diseases or tooth decay are keys to a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.
Often new parents ask “when should my child begin seeing a dentist?” Your child should see a dentist by his or her first birthday because as soon as teeth appear in the mouth, decay can occur. One of the risk factors for baby bottle tooth decay is prolonged exposure of baby’s teeth to liquids such as fruit juice, milk or formula, which all contain sugar. A helpful tip would be that parents encourage children to drink from a cup by their first birthday, using a training or ‘sippy cup’ for a short time. Once your child has learned how to sip, the sippy cup is really no longer needed. However, it’s very important that parents be very careful as the changeover from baby bottle to training cup is occurring. Toddlers are often unsteady on their feet and can fall while drinking from a cup, which could injure the child’s mouth.
Speaking of mouth injuries, are you prepared for a dental emergency? Thousands of dental emergencies – from injuries to teeth and/or jaw, to a painful, abscessed tooth take place every day. Would you know what to do if your child broke a tooth or had a tooth knocked out while playing outdoors? What if your child had a bad toothache in the middle of the night and you couldn’t get to a dentist until the next day? Knowing what to do can lessen the pain and could save a tooth that might otherwise be lost. So keep your dental office phone number and emergency numbers handy. Your dentist can provide you with instructions on how to handle that dental emergency and can also provide you with helpful tips on what to do for toothaches, objects caught between teeth, broken teeth, and other possible injuries.
Scotland County’s very own NC Public Health Dental Hygienist, Cindy Warwick, is another good resource for dental health. Cindy assists individuals and caregivers in finding dental providers that fit their needs. She can also explain about the continuing efforts of the North Carolina Oral Health Section’s educational and preventive services to school children and how they have been providing Fluoride Rinse and Dental Sealant Promotional Projects right here in Scotland County and across the state to help prevent tooth decay during cavity prone years.
“Dental decay is a hidden disease; hidden because a child may not complain of pain until it becomes unbearable to eat, sleep or concentrate in the classroom,” Ms. Warwick stated. “When combining brushing; flossing; Fluoride Varnish (IMB/Into the Mouths of Babes, at your Pediatrician’s office); drinking fluoridated water; visiting your dentist twice a year for checkups; and through Dental Sealants, she continued, children can potentially be cavity-free adults.”
Here are more ways to take charge and reduce your children’s risk of tooth decay …
— Sugary foods and drinks should be consumed with meals. Saliva production increases during meals and helps neutralize acid production and rinse food particles from the mouth.
— Limit between-meal snacks. If kids crave a snack, offer them nutritious foods.
— If your kids chew gum, make it sugarless. Chewing sugarless gum after eating can increase saliva flow and help wash out food and decay-producing acid.
— Monitor beverage consumption. Instead of soft drinks all day, children should also choose water and low-fat milk.
— Help your children develop good brushing and flossing habits.
— Schedule regular dental visits.
For information on the importance of dental health, choosing healthy snacks and developing good nutrition habits, please contact Cindy Warwick, RDH, with the NC Oral Health Section, Region 6, or Kathie Cox, health educator II, Scotland County Health Department at 910-277-2470, Ext. 4478. Be sure to stop by our dental health exhibit for educational materials and activity sheets for children. For information visit the NC Oral Health Section’s website at www.oralhealth.ncdhhs.gov. or the American Dental Association website at www.ada.org