Nature or Nurture?
Helping children to develop into fit healthy young adults is no mean feat!
Instilling good oral hygiene habits together with a healthy diet from a very early age will set children off on the right path for taking a healthy, happy smile into adulthood.
We recommend children from an early age, are brought along with parents when they attend for their examination appointments with the reassurance of a pleasant dental introduction.
Massaging the gums of babies, with a clean finger prior to teeth erupting will prepare a child for the sensation of brushing when a toothbrush is introduced. Children’s brushing needs to be undertaken/supervised by a parent until the age of seven when manual dexterity is generally fully developed.
Brushing twice daily with a small headed toothbrush, using small circular motions, before breakfast and last thing before bed.
Using a pea sized blob of fluoride toothpaste is sufficient.
Encourage spitting NOT rinsing away the paste allowing the fluoride to have full benefit of helping to strengthen the enamel.
Visiting your dentist every 6 months for a full examination to check for signs of early changes in the tooth structure. Also regular appointments with an Oral Health Educator to reinforce good brushing techniques and dietary habits.
Fissure sealants may be considered if the pits and fissures are deep eliminating a stagnation area.
The main cause of tooth decay is not necessarily the amount of sugar or acid in the diet, but how often it is consumed. The more often your child has sugary or acidic foods or drinks, the more likely they are to have decay. It is therefore important to keep sugary and acidic foods to mealtimes only. If you want to give your child a snack, try to stick to cheese, vegetables and fruit, but not dried fruit. It is also worth remembering that some processed baby foods and some foods marketed as healthy options can contain quite a lot of sugar. Check the list of ingredients: the higher up the list sugar is, the more there is in the product. Sometimes, these are shown as fructose, glucose, lactose or sucrose, generally ingredients ending with the letters 'ose.
Helping children to develop into fit healthy young adults is no mean feat!
Instilling good oral hygiene habits together with a healthy diet from a very early age will set children off on the right path for taking a healthy, happy smile into adulthood.
We recommend children from an early age, are brought along with parents when they attend for their examination appointments with the reassurance of a pleasant dental introduction.
Massaging the gums of babies, with a clean finger prior to teeth erupting will prepare a child for the sensation of brushing when a toothbrush is introduced. Children’s brushing needs to be undertaken/supervised by a parent until the age of seven when manual dexterity is generally fully developed.
Brushing twice daily with a small headed toothbrush, using small circular motions, before breakfast and last thing before bed.
Using a pea sized blob of fluoride toothpaste is sufficient.
Encourage spitting NOT rinsing away the paste allowing the fluoride to have full benefit of helping to strengthen the enamel.
Visiting your dentist every 6 months for a full examination to check for signs of early changes in the tooth structure. Also regular appointments with an Oral Health Educator to reinforce good brushing techniques and dietary habits.
Fissure sealants may be considered if the pits and fissures are deep eliminating a stagnation area.
The main cause of tooth decay is not necessarily the amount of sugar or acid in the diet, but how often it is consumed. The more often your child has sugary or acidic foods or drinks, the more likely they are to have decay. It is therefore important to keep sugary and acidic foods to mealtimes only. If you want to give your child a snack, try to stick to cheese, vegetables and fruit, but not dried fruit. It is also worth remembering that some processed baby foods and some foods marketed as healthy options can contain quite a lot of sugar. Check the list of ingredients: the higher up the list sugar is, the more there is in the product. Sometimes, these are shown as fructose, glucose, lactose or sucrose, generally ingredients ending with the letters 'ose.
Written by Denise Bingham OHE RDN
No comments:
Post a Comment