Educating Parents About Their Children’s Teeth

Survey shows a lack of understanding about keeping children’s teeth healthy.

A recent survey carried out during National Smile Month showed that  parental understanding of children’s oral health issues is often quite poor. Many said that they didn’t think that baby teeth mattered and that cavities were not important. With the wealth of knowledge now available at our fingertips, this is quite surprising.

Although ‘baby teeth’ are temporary, they do still matter, and, contrary to popular belief, these can sometimes still remain in our mouth in early adulthood and do not always fall out when we are very young.

Why baby teeth matter

Aside from not wanting to see your young child in pain with a severe toothache, there are a number of reasons why you should help your child keep their teeth and gums in a healthy condition.

Eating – Once a child’s teeth have come through, they should be eating solid food. If their teeth are painful due to decay, they may revert to eating softer foods, potentially limiting their nutritional intake.

Speech development – Our teeth affect the way that we speak. This is especially important in a young child and could even affect their whole future. If teeth are lost prematurely due to decay, your child could potentially develop a speech impediment.

Facial development – Our teeth affect the way that we look. They offer support to our cheeks, and significant tooth loss can change the way that children’s facial features develop.

Crooked teeth

Our baby teeth may be there for a few years only, but they hold the space for our adult teeth to erupt into. If baby teeth are lost early, this may cause the adult teeth to burst through crooked or misaligned.

What you can do

At Alexandra Dental Care, we always advise our local patients to bring their child to us either once the first tooth erupts, or at one year old, whichever comes sooner. This early start to their oral health care will help to promote healthy teeth development. It is also an excellent opportunity to ask questions and learn about how to care for your young child’s teeth.

In addition to this, home care is very important. Not only should you encourage children to brush their teeth, but supervise them doing so. This is especially important early on and will help them to learn how to do this correctly themselves. You may wish to brush your own teeth at the same time to demonstrate how to do this.

If you have a young child that is not registered at a dental practice and live in the Ashby, Swadlincote or Burton areas, why not arrange for an appointment to see one of our friendly dentists? You can do this by calling Alexandra Dental Care on 01283 216347. We looking forward to meeting you and your family!

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