Help your kids stay healthy with these back to school dental health tips from Crookes & Jenkins Dental
Dental education begins at home. Teaching your child the benefits of good dental habits will help them maintain good dental habits for life. Because baby teeth fall out, some people develop an attitude towards the health of these teeth.
However, baby teeth are important because:
- They act as placeholders for adult teeth: Early loss of baby teeth can lead to crowded adult teeth.
- They help with speech development.
- They help with chewing (which is necessary for proper digestion).
If baby teeth aren’t looked after they can cause problems for the development of adult teeth. Decay or infection of a baby tooth can negatively affect how an adult tooth erupts—and whether or not it erupts as a healthy tooth or not.
4 back to school dental health tips
Crookes & Jenkins Dental have put together this brief list of things you can do before and during school to help your child maintain good dental habits.
1. Regular dental visits
Because baby teeth are more susceptible to decay than adult teeth we recommend bringing your child to the dentist every six months. It will also allow your dentist to ensure your child’s teeth are developing normally.
2. Establish a dental routine
Brushing teeth twice a day and flossing once a day is something everyone should do. To establish a routine with your child some tips are:
- Brush your teeth at the same time so your child can see it’s a normal grown-up thing to do.
- Let them choose a toothbrush with their favourite colour or their favourite cartoon character.
- Play their favourite song to give them a sense of how long they should brush their teeth for.
Brushing and flossing daily helps to prevent gum disease and decay.
3. How to keep their teeth clean at school
Ideally, children should brush their teeth at school. However, for the most part, this is impractical. What your child can do at school to keep their teeth clean is rinse their mouth with water after eating. This will help to dislodge some of the food particles and so reduce the impact of plaque build-up.
4. Keep teeth safe with a custom-made mouthguard
A custom-made mouthguard not only keeps teeth, gums and jaws safe, it also can mitigate some of the damage of concussion. The benefit of a custom-made mouthguard compared to an over-the-counter one is that the custom-made one is a much more precise fit.
This means it’s designed to suit your child’s teeth and gums which is more likely to offer better protection and be more comfortable than a one size fits all.
Let Crookes & Jenkins Dental help you and your child receive the best dental care
We are a family-focused dental practice who has been operating since 2002 to provide patients in Brisbane with the best available dental care. Whether your child needs a mouthguard or a check-up and clean, Crookes & Jenkins Dental can help you get the dental care you and your family needs.
For more information, or to book an appointment, contact us today.