Growing healthy teeth
Tooth decay is the single most common chronic childhood disease – five times more common than asthma, four times more common than early-childhood obesity and 20 times more common than diabetes. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control show it’s on the rise too, increasing to 28% among 2-5 year olds in the last decade. And it can have long-term effects on children’s health, leading to painful dental work, infections and lost teeth. The pain of tooth decay can interfere with a child’s ability to concentrate, learn, eat and sleep. The disease can be life threatening – children have died as a result of severe dental infections.
Why baby teeth matter
Many parents think that baby teeth don’t really matter because they’re temporary… ‘Why treat her baby teeth? They’re only going to fall out anyway…’ is something I hear constantly from parents and caregivers. The fact is, these baby teeth play an important role in a child’s health and development. They enable her to chew her food thoroughly – an essential component in the initial stages of digestion – and help her pronounce all those new words she’s learning properly.
Most of these first teeth, apart from the front ones, will be there for a decade – and keeping them healthy is essential for your child’s adult teeth to grow in healthy and strong. If your child’s baby teeth are left to decay, they can become infected or abscessed. In addition to causing pain and suffering, infections can harm and even destroy the developing permanent teeth which are growing in the your child’s jaw. Plus, early loss of baby teeth can lead to the permanent teeth growing in crooked – and no one should discount how psychologically important an attractive smile is to a growing child. Therefore, baby teeth are essential for your child’s general health and wellbeing.
One child in four now has at least one cavity in their baby teeth
Growing strong teeth
Research suggests a link between tooth decay and what our children are eating – a recent study found that tooth decay is more likely in children who skip breakfast and top up on sugary snack foods throughout the day. Kids who don’t get the recommended five daily servings of fruit and vegetables are also at higher risk… perhaps because they’re eating those sugary snack foods as well.
Growing strong teeth that will resist decay depends on your child’s diet,so it’s up to you to make sure she gets enough of the vitamins and minerals that will ensure the strength of later teeth, as well as protecting those she already has.
- Calcium is key Find it in milk, cheese and yogurt. If your child isn’t keen on milk, try giving her sardines with the soft bones mashed up.
- Vitamin D enables the body to use calcium for laying down bones and teeth – you’ll find this in milk, sardines and eggs.
- Fluoride This strengthens tooth enamel and is one of the best preventive mechanisms when it comes to decay. If you have piped drinking water it may have been added to your supply (your county health department can advise you). Bottled and well water don’t usually contain fluoride, so if you drink it ask your dentist if it might be a good precaution to give your child a fluoride supplement.
Curbing cavities
The very best thing you can do to protect your child’s teeth is to avoid drifting into dentally challenging habits. In short, that means steering clear of candy, but don’t focus on that alone – all sources of refined sugar are hazardous to your child’s teeth.
Of course, where young children are concerned, avoiding candy and sugary foods is easier said than done – but every time your child eats it, her teeth are at risk. The bacteria in her mouth reacts with the sugar to form an acid that attacks the teeth. The more sugar is eaten and the longer it remains in the mouth, the more likely your child’s teeth are to develop patches of decay.
Chewy candy and lollipops that last a lifetime are among the worst culprits, sticking to your child’s teeth and staying there until you brush them. But even apparently healthy foods, such as raisins, cling to the teeth. And if your child is constantly sipping on sugary soda or snacking on cookies, this will do as much harm as candy. Every week I see 1-3 year olds with tooth decay whose parents say, ‘but she never eats candy!’ On further questioning, the parent usually lets slip that their child has been going to bed with a bottle of milk or juice, or spends every car journey drinking from a sippy cup of juice or sugary soda. Adopt a sensible approach to all sweet foods – there’s no point in banning candy but letting your child eat lots of other sugary things.
The occasional sweet treat won’t do any harm, but choose carefully. A piece of chocolate that dissolves quickly in the mouth is better than a lollipop, and you should encourage her to eat candy in one short session
rather than grazing on it throughout the day. Get her to have a drink of water or a piece of cheese to neutralize the acid after she’s eaten anything sweet, and make sure the next toothbrushing session is thorough. If your child won’t give up juice, dilute it and give it in a beaker, not a bottle, so she’s not sucking on it throughout the day.
Children miss more than 51 million school hours per year because of dental problems or related conditions
Toothbrush tantrums…
Many parents don’t brush their children’s teeth properly because it causes tantrums. But caring for those tiny teeth is important if you want your child’s permanent teeth to grow through properly. When she starts to lose her baby teeth, adult teeth will grow through into those spaces – if any of her baby teeth need to be removed due to decay, her remaining teeth will move around and there’s a risk that her adult teeth will grow in crooked.
The best way to avoid battles with your older child over brushing her teeth is to start a cleaning routine even before her first tooth appears, using a moistened gauze pad to clean her gums as she sits on your lap with her head cradled in the crook of your arm. When her first tooth begins to cut through, start using a soft baby toothbrush with a tiny smear of children’s low-fluoride toothpaste. Gently brush her teeth (or tooth!) with a circular motion, not side-to-side, and don’t brush too hard or you could damage the gums. When she’s very little she’ll probably chew the brush and want to play with it, but be as thorough as you can. As more teeth start to grow in, use a flosser to dislodge any food that might be trapped between them.
Aim to brush your child’s teeth for her up until she’s around 5. It’s fine to let your independent-minded preschooler have a go at doing it herself – but always check her teeth afterwards and tell her you’re going to do the ones she’s missed to get them really clean. Carefully supervise older children up until the age of around 10 to make sure they’re brushing and flossing properly.
Visiting the dentist
Prevention is better than cure when it comes to teeth, so don’t wait until you notice that little brown spot on a tooth or your child complains of toothache. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that children see a dentist by their first birthday, so register your baby with a pediatric dentist or your family dentist as soon as her first teeth cut through her gums. Your child’s dentist is a vital source of advice when it comes to teaching you how your child’s teeth develop and how to anticipate and prevent tooth decay.
An older, more aware child can become nervous about visiting the dentist so make a point of taking your child with you when you have your dental check-ups so she can see what happens. Use simple terms to explain what happens at the dentist – tell her all about the big chair that tips backwards and how the dentist shines a light in our mouths so he can count our teeth and make sure they’re clean. Pediatric dentists are used to dealing with young children and have all sorts of props and stickers to put them at their ease. But if a child knows what’s going to happen and visiting the dentist is a positive experience it will help her relax.