Step-By-Step Checklist To Boost Children’s Dental Health

Good dental health is a basic healthy habit that we need to incur as a child. A routine oral hygiene prevents a lot of problems that may arise as an adult. Here, parents and guardians play a very important role in the healthy positive behavior building of a child.

There can be many pitfalls & challenges while trying to maintain the oral hygiene of children for parents. Oral health hurdles affect all ages of childhood from infants, toddlers to school-aged children and teenagers.
Here are some concerns and ways to reinforce good habits for good dental health in children

– Brushing early

Starting to brush from a very early age is a good practice and helps them to take up the habit faster. There are many soft-bristled toothbrushes available for infants and even before your children have teeth, you can always wipe their gums with a wet washcloth to remove any kind of food deposits.

– Fluoride-free toothpaste

Children have a habit of swallowing and eating anything, so naturally, they are bent towards swallowing toothpaste as well, therefore getting fluoride-free toothpaste is important. Getting toothpaste into their early regime is a necessity as well since their oral healthcare can help them fight early tooth decay or other problems.

– Regular dentist appointments

You should visit the dentist first when they start developing teeth and then keep a track of their dental health. See for any signs of decay or keep track of proper growth of the teeth.

– Preventing thumb-sucking habits

For babies and young children alike, sucking on a pacifier or their thumb is a self-soothing technique, which they mostly get over. But you need to make sure that your child doesn’t suck his thumb after the age of three, or it could impair its teeth alignment. A dentist appointment is recommended in such a case.

– Avoiding sugary foods

It is incredibly essential for children to have a well-balanced diet with healthy fruits and vegetables and avoiding sugary foods which mean avoiding cavities from a young age, by keeping them on a low sugar diet you can ensure healthy & maintained teeth for years to come.

– Taking out the bottle from the crib

Even baby formula or juices are sugary drinks that can lead to cavities in young children, logically the amount of sugary liquid that a child drinks is not as much as the sitting time of the liquids on the teeth which is the main cause of cavities. Therefore, leaving milk or formula in the crib overnight is a bad idea. You can consider replacing that with water.

Footnote

Children need to learn good oral hygiene from the very beginning to be able to take good care of their teeth throughout adulthood.