Health is the most important factor in deciding your child’s all-round academic and co-curricular growth. Physical and mental health is commonly stressed upon but dental health is usually ignored. However, oral health is equally important for your kid’s overall well being. Strong oral hygiene pre determines a good dental habit and healthy teeth children develop when they grow. Inadequate attention to oral care can only lead to diseases, brittle teeth, cavities, and infections. You don’t have to panic. It’s not too late yet. Just implement the simple steps below to manage your kid’s dental habits.
First things first
The two mandatory dental habits are brushing and flossing. You may assume that your kid will be doing these activities regularly, but if not monitored most children tend to ignore these essential practices. Children usually eat a lot of sugary foods and forget to brush, floss and rinse following the consumption. Avoid providing such snacks to your kids, and when you do ensure they brush after. Enlighten them about the consequences of not brushing such as bad breath, cavities, and yellow teeth. Feeding them a little fear and warning them about these things is the only way to motivate them.
Aligners and braces
Most older kids find the need for braces and aligners to straighten out their teeth and fill out the gaps. Braces do improve dental features, but your kid needs to be extra careful about tending to his/her teeth and gums in such cases. Cleaning teeth through the metal retainers can be hard, so you may have to buy certain tools like small, disposable brushes and specialized threaders.
It is absolutely necessary to cut down on chewy and sugary foods during the braces phase as this will only lead to plaque formation around brackets and patchy enamel. Foods like bubblegum, toffees, whole carrots, corncobs are a strict no-no.
Prevention is better than cure
If you and your kids are a little careful and attentive now, you won’t have to regret later. The notion that you do not need a dentist if you follow all dental care steps at home is entirely incorrect. There are specific issues that are not in your control and you may not be aware of. So regular visits to the dentist at least twice a year will keep all your teeth and gums problems in check. Their professional comprehensive examination will ensure faults are spotted early and corrected on time. They’ll also guide you on the kind of fluoride supplements, mouthwash varieties, the risk of cavities, safety of X-rays and will clear all your other countless doubts.
Cautionary treatments like sealants, protect teeth beforehand to avoid cavities. If your child is into sports then consult a pediatric dentist for a mouth guard for maximum defense against injury.
If your kid requires a surgical procedure there’s nothing to be afraid of due to advanced medical inventions. The earlier feared anesthetic processes are being replaced by easy and efficient IV sedation which is a sedation technique that effectively controls pain and stress with individual doses to suit a particular patient. Certain orthodontists use nasal masks which is a device that delivers a precise amount of nitrous oxide gas to the mouth of the patient, relaxes and sedates them enough and safeguarding staff from exposure to harmful leakage. Your children don’t have to be worried about the risks of surgery anymore with these convenient advancements.
Set a personal example
Children usually follow in the footsteps of their parents and elders. If you promptly live up to all the dental codes, they are likely to be hygienic too. Become your child’s role model. Make brushing and flossing a fun group activity and jazz it up with your child’s favorite song playing in the background. Most kids are phobic about going to the dentist. Show them otherwise by regularly visiting the dentist yourself and come out of the room with a smile and positive responses. Avoid stacking up of sweets in the house and do not indulge in them a lot, so your child won’t feel like either. Make brushing teeth before going to bed a family ritual.
Fun ideas for managing your kid’s dental habits
Allow your children to pick out their own toothbrush of their favorite color or cartoon. Let them choose the toothpaste with their favorite flavor and fragrance too. With these freedoms of choice, they’ll want to brush more frequently and are bound to complain less. Associate brushing to a superhero adventure and role play like your child is a superhero fighting the big bad germs using the toothbrush as a weapon. Set a timer for at least two minutes to keep track of their brushing time. Reward them with healthy reinforcements like gold stars or carrot sticks later. Always plan a fun activity post your dentist’s visit.
Surprise your children into believing dental care can be enjoyable and exciting too. Step the game up with these tips and watch your child’s oral habits every day so that you and your kids can flash your white and bright smiles around.
Author Bio:
Ross is a blogger who loves to write especially in the Health vertical. He has written many informative Blogs. He has also written blogs in other verticals too like personal development, unique gifting blogs.
