Children dental problems

Children dental problems. The oral hygiene involves teeth brushing and using dental floss on a regular basis, visits at the dentist for check-ups, dental cleaning and good food for the health of your mouth. This kind of food includes food with cereals, fruits, vegetables and milk product.

There are several problems which affects the oral health of children.

One of the most common problems that can be encountered since an early age is baby bottle tooth decay. This can appear on the front teeth, at the incisors, especially at the upper incisors. It’s called “baby bottle” because appears in the cases when the baby falls asleep or stays a long period with the bottle in his mouth, filled with sweetened liquids, milk with sugar, juice, etc.  In such cases, the front teeth will stay in contact with sugar and will appear partial or complete destruction of the upper incisors called bottle decay. If left untreated, decayed teeth can cause pain and makes eating and chewing to be difficult. To prevent baby bottle caries we must teach the child to drink from a small cup or to keep the bottle in his mouth as short time possible. This advice is given also for a correct forming of the arch. If we can’t manage to make him to give up the bottle, we should at least give him unsweetened liquids and to keep a proper dental hygiene after each meal.

When to start the dental treatment for children

Oral care in the case of children should start around the age of 6 months, when you should receive a basic evaluation from your dentist. This could include a dental check-up of the mother because the oral health of the mother could help predicting the dental health of the baby. If the dentist will consider that the child will have dental problems, it is recommended to have a check-up before the age of 1 year or at 6 months from the first tooth appearance. The second visit at the dentist should be at 6 months after the appearance of the first tooth, and then at every 6 months or more often, depending on your dentist’s opinion. Child’s dental health is determined by the health of the mother. Because baby teeth are forming even before birth, it is necessary for the pregnant women to have a balanced diet with an optimal input of vitamins and minerals. Also is very important for the future mother to have treated all dental problems because she can make an infection during pregnancy that could affect the baby. The experts recommend that the first visit at the dentist should be made before the age of 12 months, and in case of dental problems you should find a pediatrician dentist for your child.

How to teach your child to brush his teeth correctly?

Right from the moment he got his first teeth, start brushing his teeth. Before the teeth are starting to emerge, in order to maintain a proper oral hygiene, wrap a sterile compress on your finger (you can find it in pharmacy), add some water and gently wipe the child’s gums after each meal.

When the first teeth appear, buy your child a toothbrush adapted to his age (between 6 and 24 months, between 2 and 4 years, etc.), or even an electric toothbrush specially designed for children. (Electric toothbrush helps brushing the little ones’ teeth and provides a better cleaning because small children won’t be able to coordinate their movements and to create a proper brushing.)

Toothpaste is good to be used starting with the age of 2-3 years, when the child learns to spit. Be aware of what you choose, it depends on the amount of fluoride it contains! If the child takes fluoride supplements is preferable to use toothpaste without fluoride.

Brushing the teeth correctly will be more difficult at the beginning, so you need to keep your child under watch. Here are some tips:

The correct brushing represents a system of movements, in which the most important is the vertical movement, to remove the food between teeth from the gum toward the edge of the tooth. It should be made both on inside and on the outside of the teeth. Another recommended movement is the circular one on the outer side of the teeth and the horizontal one, of back and forth on the surface of the teeth.

All these movements must be repeated several times, because the child will start to coordinate his movements around the age of 6-7 years, until then his movements are uncertain.

It is preferable that when he changes the brushing area to return with the brush over the area cleaned just before. Brushing should last about 2-3 minutes. You can make this as fun, singing a song or using an hourglass. The child should brush their teeth at least twice a day, morning and evening, and night compulsory, no matter what would happen.

Just remember that by starting early with the teeth brushing you will help your child to have a nice smile and healthy teeth.