It’s easy to think that it isn’t very important to be vigilant about your child’s dental health while they still have their baby teeth, since those teeth just fall out, anyway. Is it really such a big deal if they get stained with another blue popsicle? It may seem like a summer of fun is more important than protecting teeth that will be gone soon anyway. But have you ever thought about what all those tiny teeth are doing for your child? As the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia explains, baby teeth play a vital role in a child’s ability to speak and eat properly.
Furthermore, they save space for the adult set coming in. If a baby tooth is damaged or lost too early, it could mean major problems for the incoming tooth. Infected baby teeth mean the adult tooth likely won’t develop properly, which can cause the adult tooth, in turn, to become infected. So as you can see, paying attention to your child’s dental health—even over the summer—is vital! Instead of letting those summer months slip away with lots of popsicles and few floss sticks, we want to encourage you to make dental health a priority for your little one this summer. To that end, here are five tips to implement for dental health success.
Stick to water as the default; save sweet drinks for special occasions.
Drinking an adequate amount of water is one of the most important things a child can do for their dental health, not to mention their overall health—especially in summer, as temperatures climb. This is partially because getting enough fluoride—a mineral responsible for helping to repair decaying teeth and strengthen them against further erosion—is vital for children to maintain positive oral health. Healthline explains, “The earlier children are exposed to fluoride, the less likely they are to develop cavities.
A large study found that children and adolescents who received fluoride treatments for one year were 43 percent less likely to have tooth decay and cavities.” The dentist’s office has fluoride, but it’s also in your kid’s water bottle! In fact, according to the CDC, “75% of a person’s fluoride intake comes from drinking water with added fluoride and from food and beverages (like soft drinks and fruit juices) made with fluoridated water.”
This means that most of your child’s fluoride will come through the liquids they drink. You might think that if juice and soda still provide them with some fluoride, they can just keep drinking that. But while those drinks may contain some amount of fluoride from the water that’s in them, that benefit will likely be largely canceled out by the damage the drinks themselves do. Soda and fruit juice are both high in sugar and acid. Sugar and acid are two things of the main culprits in causing cavities. For the sake of preventing cavities and promoting healthy, strong teeth—not to mention a well-hydrated child—encourage them to keep a water bottle on hand this summer, and save drinks like Gatorade or Sprite for special occasions.
Focus on providing a well-balanced diet.
The ADA is clear that “oral health depends on proper nutrition and healthy eating habits.” In their policies on diet and nutrition, they stand resolved that, for those who want to maintain optimal oral health, “…it is beneficial…to avoid a steady diet of ultra-processed foods—defined as industrial creations reformulated with little if any whole foods, often additives and containing large amounts of added sugar and salt.”
If you want optimal oral health for your child, start by reducing the stock of ultra-processed snacks in the pantry, and replacing them with teeth-friendly choices! Instead of cheesy crackers, offer your child string cheese, which contains real calcium that will strengthen their enamel. Instead of fruit snacks, offer them real fruit, like an apple, which contains fiber that will not only be much better for their teeth but will help them feel full longer. Making simple substitutions like this from ultra-processed to whole foods will go a long way in cultivating your child’s dental (and overall) health.
Encourage positive oral health habits.
Brushing and flossing are the foundations of good oral health for anyone and everyone, no matter their age. We all ought to brush twice a day, for two minutes each time, and floss thoroughly at least once a day. It’s never too early to start teaching your child that. If they’re still too young to brush by themselves, talk to them about the importance of dental health as you brush their teeth for them, showing them the right way to do it.
If your child is ready to take on a little more independence, then monitor them while they brush their own teeth, praising them for doing a thorough job. And remember, as the Pediatric Dentist Specialists explain, “Your child’s mouth serves as a gateway to the rest of their body.” By training them to practice oral hygiene, they will become more accustomed to personal hygiene for their whole body, lowering their risk of disease and improving their overall well-being.
Build up oral hygiene consistency.
Now that you’ve encouraged positive oral health habits with your child, it’s time to build up consistency in them. Over the summer, it can be easy to let ourselves get lax on enforcing the basics of oral health, like brushing and flossing. It probably seemed much easier to stick to a routine during the school year, when their lives revolved around sports or ballet schedules and kindergarten homework. But over the summer, when those routines are a little more flexible, your child might fight you on those routine tasks of brushing and flossing. Or maybe you aren’t enforcing it like you used to—you may find your summer self just not feeling like going upstairs to make sure that your son really did brush his teeth, or simply forgetting altogether.
How can you make sure your child is brushing their teeth properly?
Whether your child is giving you trouble or you’re simply finding it more effort to enforce, know that it’s not abnormal to encounter more difficulty with children and dental hygiene habits over the summer. Don’t let this initial resistance—wherever it’s coming from—disrupt you. The basics of brushing and flossing are the foundation of good oral health, and as we saw earlier, good oral health, even for baby teeth, is worth fighting for.
If you’re struggling to get your child to brush their teeth every single day, twice a day, you may find it beneficial to set up appointed times in the morning and evening. This could be a specific hour, say, 8:00, or a moment in your day, such as before storytime. You may encounter less resistance towards such menial tasks if your child knows exactly when to expect them. Your child may also benefit from the tried-and-true sticker chart. Placing a chart on the bathroom mirror where they get to place a sticker each time they brush and/or floss allows for moments of tangible reward each time they obey, as well as the payoff of some larger treat you’ve both agreed on when they fill up the chart. Whatever method you use, remember that consistency is key.
Schedule their dental appointments
The summer is the perfect time to schedule the appointments that have been crowding the slush pile of your desk during the school year. What better time to get appointments out of the way than when everyone has a little more free time on their hands? If your child’s dental health needs a more intense treatment, summer is the perfect time to do it, because it allows them to recover outside the intense routines of school. So don’t wait! If you would like to schedule an appointment for you or your child, please contact our office today.
We understand dental health might not have been the top of your child’s priority list this summer—and maybe not the top of yours, either. It’s an easy thing to let slip by the wayside. But by taking a summer to instill positive oral health habits in your child, you will set them up for good oral health that lasts a lifetime. Through proactively scheduling and completing their appointments, giving them water as the default, providing well-balanced meals, teaching them oral health basics, and building up their consistency in those skills, you make an investment in their oral health both for this summer and the future.
