Taking Care of Children’s Smiles

A beautiful smile equals good oral and overall health. From May 20th and up until June 20th, the British Dental Health Foundation runs the National Smile Month.

Parents are encouraged to pay more attention to their children’s oral health, especially while several studies show that in every primary class in school there are at least 8 or 9 children with dental decay. The numbers are alarming — about 3.3 million children aged 0 to 14 years are struggling with untreated tooth decay.

Experts say that children under the age of 7 should be closely monitored by their parents, to make sure the little ones are respecting a proper dental hygiene regimen.

Dentists recommend that the toothpaste of children up to three years old should contain 1,000 ppm fluoride levels, while the toothpaste of older children should contain the same amount of fluoride as that of the grown ups (around 1,500 ppm).

Then, it is extremely important to reduce the intake of foods and drinks with high sugar concentrations. Sugar is the number one enemy of the tooth, and since children are the greatest consumers of such sugary foods, they are also the ones mostly exposed to developing dental decay and other complications.

A recent study has also revealed that some fruity drinks available on the shelves of the supermarket do actually contain acidic levels equal to those of vinegar. Acid attacks the natural enamel of the tooth and will ultimately destroy the natural tooth structure very quickly.

Avoid giving children such sugary foods and drinks, and focus more on healthy snacks, which have a neutral Ph. Such healthy snacks include breadsticks, cheese, nuts/different seeds and if possible offer children only natural home made fruit/vegetable juices.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that dental treatment offered by the NHS is free for all the children up until they are 18 years old. Therefore, parents should make sure to respect those annual/bi-annual dental visits with their little ones, in order to prevent any complication.

Even though most of the people try not to give huge importance to milk teeth, because they will eventually fall out anyway- dentists raise the awareness again. The baby teeth basically hold the place for the permanent teeth. If the baby teeth are crowded and problematic, there is a huge chance that the adult/permanent teeth will not be healthy either.