Tooth decay is one of the common health issues for people of all ages, kids and toddlers are not an exception. In this article, you learn how to limit the risk of developing childhood tooth decay.
Recent studies show that around 42% of the kids between the age of 2 and 11 have at least one decayed tooth. It shows that today kids are highly prone to cavity or tooth caries.
As the milk teeth eventually fall down before the eruption of permanent teeth, many parents ignore the issue of the cavity in baby teeth. But this is more harmful to put your kid’s dental health at high risk.
If a milk tooth falls down due to decay or other issues before the tooth falls down naturally, it will provide a way for oral bacterial infection which causes toothaches in the adjacent teeth.
Similarly, if a milk tooth does not come out naturally, there will be a complication in the permanent teeth eruption. If the space produced by the missing milk teeth are left unfilled or untreated for a while, it will be closed or lost. It leads to crowded or crooked teeth and leads to the jaw misalignment which results in facial misalignment.
Thus a common and minor issue occurred in the child age will affect your kids even in their adolescent age.
How can we prevent tooth decay in young children?
Children are not aware of things and actions which affect their teeth. It is the responsibility of parents to take care of their kids’ oral health.
Poor oral hygiene due to inadequate oral routine habits and food items feed at inappropriate times are the major reasons that cause tooth caries in your child’s teeth.
Avoid feeding drinks before going to bed
Most parents give a glass of milk to their children before the child going to sleep. Few people provide fruit juices to their kids. This is also a reason for baby tooth decays. This condition is called as baby bottle tooth decay.
The sugar and acidic particles present in the drinks reside in their mouth all the night and starts infecting the teeth.
Hence it is better to avoid such kind of feeding drinks before going to bed, You can give water instead of such drinks.
Shift to cups from bottles
While sipping milk or sweet drinks, the teeth are highly exposed to acidic and sugar particles present in the drinks. Such exposure is less if we consume the drinks quickly.
Hence it is essential for every parent to use cups and tumblers for their children to drink from instead of bottles and sippy-cups once the milk teeth erupt.
Avoid Fluoride-free toothpaste
Fluoride is the powerful ingredient which confronts the bacteria and germs present in our mouth. Nowadays, you can get toothpaste containing fluoride easily in the market. It is helpful for both kids and adults.
We suggest not to brush your kid’s teeth with fluoride toothpaste if your toddler is under 3. Otherwise, use a small amount of fluoride toothpaste to clean your child’s teeth because 1350-1500 ppm fluoride in toothpaste is efficient to clean our teeth but less than 1000 ppm fluoride is enough and safer for kids.
Limit candy intake
Eatables like sweets leave sugars and acids that attack our teeth. Hence it is essential to minimize the sugary food items and chocolates for your little champs.
Advice your kids to brush their teeth after consuming candy and sweet substances.
Conclusion
Oral hygiene routine like brushing twice a day, flossing and others help us to remove the plaque causing agents that reside in our mouth. Hence teach your kids to maintain an efficient dental hygiene to safeguard themselves from certain dental health risks.
If you really care your little prince or princess, take him/her to a pediatric dentist to treat or cure the toddler tooth decay without delay.
References
https://www.colgate.com/en-us/oral-health/life-stages/childrens-oral-care/toddler-tooth-decay-and-how-to-prevent-it-0314
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29426307
https://www.dentalhealth.org/blog/blogdetails/166
https://www.parenting.com/article/how-can-i-prevent-tooth-decay-in-my-child
http://www.mychildrensteeth.org/how_to_prevent_tooth_decay_in_children/
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