Good Dental Habits
Start Earlier Than You Think
Parents
can set a child's course for healthy teeth in infancy
Taking good care of your
children's teeth should begin before they can even hold a toothbrush.
Pediatric dentists urge
parents to follow simple guidelines early in their babies' lives
to create proper hygiene habits and reduce the risk of tooth decay
later on.
"I like to see babies
no later than six months after the first tooth appears, which is
around 1 year old. And it's not so much to examine the baby as it
is to educate the parents," says Dr. Lawrence Allen Kotlow, a pediatric
dentist in Albany, N.Y.
Among his recommendations:
Never let a baby go to sleep with a bottle in his mouth with anything
in it but water; and, as important, make sure that if you nurse
(breastfeed) him on demand that you not let him sleep with milk
left in his mouth.
Milk dissolves into lactic
acid, and every fruit drink or juice that has sugar turns into acid
in the mouth as well, Kotlow says. Both cause tooth enamel to dissolve.
Fluoride
Key to Building Strong Teeth
Another key to strong
teeth is fluoride, he says, which makes the enamel more resistant
to tooth decay. Many areas in the country have fluoridated water,
which gives you and your family automatic protection. However, if
your water is not fluoridated, you should ask your dentist about
fluoride supplements for your child when they are older than 6 months,
Kotlow says.
"Fluoride can reduce cavities
by 60 percent," he says.
When their teeth start
coming in, children are too young to brush them themselves, the
physicians say, but that does not mean the parents cannot brush
their teeth for them.
"You want to teach the
children that that's what they should do every morning and every
night until it becomes a habit," Lowe says. The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends cleaning
a baby's teeth, even the first and only one, as soon as it appears
by wiping it clean with a damp cloth. When additional teeth come
in, start brushing them twice daily with a soft brush.
Also a help at early ages,
between 3 and 6, are the small electric toothbrushes, although Lowe
says that by the age of 6, most kids can do better jobs on their
teeth using a manual toothbrush.
"But parents should continue
to help them until ages 6 or 7, especially in the back teeth," Lowe
says.
When the parents are doing
the brushing, Kotlow suggests having the child tip his/her head
back toward the parent's body, rather than trying to reach over
the child's head at the sink.
Brushing should be done
from the gums down, Lowe says, and Kotlow recommends holding the
brush at about a 45-degree angle to the teeth.
"Then tell them to jab
and jiggle down and around the gums and teeth," Kotlow says.
The
Importance of Flossing
Flossing is important,
too, Kotlow says, recommending it be introduced once a day as soon
as a child has two teeth that are touching each other so there is
no space between them.
"You can give your child
floss to play with," he says, so they get used to using it at night.
However, Lowe says not
to worry if a child does not floss regularly.
"Often the child doesn't
have the dexterity until his early teens, and if he does it incorrectly
at a younger age it may hurt," Lowe says, making flossing later
on less appealing.
As important as teaching
good dental habits, the physicians say, is encouraging good nutrition.
"You have to make sure
children practice good nutrition and that they eat the right things—fruit,
whole grain breads, and crackers—and stay away from processed
meats and foods," Lowe says.
"Anything that sticks
to glass sticks to teeth, like gummy bears, fruit roll-ups, chewy
candy," Kotlow says. They can be bad for teeth, especially if these
snacks are in lunch boxes and kids do not brush their teeth after
lunch, he adds.
Better to persuade your
child to finish his lunch with a piece of fresh fruit, which will
not harm his teeth, the physicians recommend.
"The fructose in fruit
and some sugar substitutes can be introduced into a child's diet,"
Lowe says.
Always consult your child's
physician for more information.
In Other Children's Health
News:
Fruits
in Childhood Bear Health Fruits Later
Study finds those
children who start early eating fruits lower their cancer risk later
in life
It is important to feed
your children well—with plenty of healthy fruits—and
you may reduce their risk of cancer when they are older.
That finding emerges from
a study involving nearly 5,000 English and Scottish persons
who provided details of their diet between 1937 and 1939. Researchers
have been able to follow nearly 90 percent of them ever since. The
youngsters who ate the most fresh fruits had the lowest risk of
dying of cancer in the decades that followed, says a report in a
recent issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community
Health.
No similar association
was found for vegetables in the diet, researchers at the University
of Bristol and the British Medical Research Council say. One possibility
is that the custom then was to boil them for up to a half hour,
which removed healthy micronutrients, the researchers say. Today's
cookbooks say most vegetables should be cooked for no more than
20 minutes, with 5 to 10 minutes in the pot advised for most. However,
the researchers note that one previous British study found vegetable
intake was not as closely associated with reduced cancer risk as
fruit intake.
It is "quite a remarkable
study," says Dr. Michael Thun, head of epidemiological research
for the American Cancer Society, who is impressed
by the researchers' ability to follow the participants for more
than six decades. But with an epidemiologist's eye, he can pick
out some of its weaknesses.
It is not definitive because
it does not have information about risk factors other than diet,
Thun says. It did not look at individual diets, and it is "a relatively
small study."
Nevertheless, Thun says,
the report fits right in with the American Cancer Society's
dietary guidelines, which say that people should eat "a variety
of healthy foods with an emphasis on those from plant sources."
At least five servings a day of fruits and vegetables are recommended.
The study did find that
people who had a high calorie intake as children had a higher risk
of cancer later in life, but that does not establish obesity as
a risk factor, says Dr. Maria Maynard of the British Medical Research
Council, a leader of the trial. "We did not look at the association
between body size and cancer risk in this study," she says. While
there was no association between intake of specific nutrients such
as vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene and cancer risk, Maynard
says, "our research does not support or refute the effect of supplements."
The mechanism by which
good eating protects against cancer is not clear, Maynard says.
However, she points to the conclusion of the journal report: "This
study provides some support for dietary guidelines focusing on fruit
consumption rather than on the intake of particular micronutrients."
And, she adds, "we found no reason to reject the public health message
that a diet rich in vegetables has a number of health benefits."
Always consult your child's
physician for more information.
|
March 2003
Parents
Can Set a Child's Course For Healthy Teeth in Infancy
Fluoride
Key to Building Strong Teeth
The
Importance of Flossing
Dental
Health For Your Child
Fruits
in Childhood Bear Health Fruits Later
Dental
Health For Your Child
Most pediatric dentists
will agree that regular dental care should begin by one year of
age, with a dental check-up at least twice each consecutive year
for most children. Some children may need more frequent evaluations
and care. In accordance with this recommendation, the American
Academy of Pediatric Dentistry has provided the following
dental checklist for infants and toddlers:
Birth to 6 months
of age:
-
Clean the infant's mouth with
damp cloth after feedings and at bedtime.
-
Consult your child's pediatrician
regarding fluoride supplements.
-
Regulate feeding habits (bottle-feeding
and breastfeeding).
Six to 12 months
of age:
-
During this time, the first tooth
should appear. Consult a pediatric dentist for an examination.
-
Brush teeth after each feeding
and at bedtime with a small, soft-bristled brush.
-
As the child begins to walk,
stay alert for potential dental and/or facial injuries.
Twelve to 24 months
of age:
-
Follow the schedule of dental
examinations and cleanings, as recommended by your child's
pediatric dentist. Generally, dental examinations and cleanings
are recommended every 6 months for children and adults.
-
As your child learns to rinse
his/her mouth, and as most primary (baby) teeth have erupted
by this age, brushing with a pea-sized portion of fluoridated
toothpaste becomes appropriate, in most cases. However, it
is advised to consult your child's pediatric dentist regarding
the appropriate time for your toddler to begin using toothpaste.
Always consult your child's
physician for more information.
Online
Resources
(Our Organization is not
responsible for the content of Internet sites.)
American
Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
American
Cancer Society
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Journal
of Epidemiology and Community Health
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