Every part of your child’s health is vital to their development and their overall health in the future. As a society we take care to vaccinate our children to prevent illnesses and diseases, we encourage them to exercise to prevent obesity, and we take them to visit their GP regularly. However, a vital part of a child’s health is often neglected.
Dental health is a major issue amongst children in England and one that needs to be addressed by parents, dentists and schools. Luckily, Fiveways Dental are keen to tackle this problem by emphasising the importance of children’s dental care.
What is the extent of the problem in England?
Many studies have taken place to measure the extent of oral health problems in children, particularly tooth decay. The North West tends to be the worst region in England for tooth decay in children due to deprivation, and as a dental practice based in the North West we want to help reduce this by offering expert pediatric dental treatment and free advice and guidance.
Studies conducted by Public Health England found that around a quarter of five year olds had experienced tooth decay and that this was the most common reason for admitting a child to hospital.
How important is children’s dental care?
Very. The age between six months and five years old is important in a child’s development and a time when teeth a more susceptible to decay. Milk teeth lay the foundations for adult teeth in terms of alignment, and premature extraction can affect the positioning of adult teeth. Preserving a full set of milk teeth until adult teeth naturally come through will ensure stronger adult teeth and ingrain good oral hygiene habits for the future.
Proper dental care in this critical stage of your child’s development will prevent any unnecessary pain, discomfort and treatment such as surgery which also has its consequences. Tooth decay not only affects a child’s health and dental development, it also affects education development as pain and treatment may require absences from school.
Establishing a good dental care routine early on will protect your child from painful tooth decay and ensure strong, healthy adult teeth.
What can be done to tackle this problem?
As stated earlier a proper dental care routine needs to be followed. Here are some top tips for your child’s dental care routine:
- Brush with a fluoride toothpaste as soon as milk teeth come through
- Help them brush their teeth for two minutes twice a day especially before bed time
- Teach them to brush each tooth ensuring that no part is missed
- Avoid rinsing as this will remove the fluoride toothpaste
- Visit your dentist when milk teeth come through and regularly thereafter to prevent problems occuring
As well as regularly brushing, flossing, and visiting your dentist regularly you should also reduce your child’s intake of sugar. Sugar is one of the main causes of tooth decay and not following good oral hygiene will exacerbate the problem. Replace artificial sugars with natural sugars from whole fruit and vegetables and limit fruit juices to one per day. Reducing sugar intake, eating a well balanced diet, brushing regularly and visiting the dentist all contribute to your child’s oral health.
Visiting Fiveways Dental For Children’s Dental Care Treatment in Liverpool
At Fiveways Dental we help the whole family have happy and healthy smiles, including children. We recommend that you bring your child to visit us from a young age to get them used to their surroundings and we can help to put them at ease and make the trip to the dentist as fun as possible. We can diagnose alignment issues from a young age and provide treatments for tooth decay.
We believe in children’s dentist treatment and work to prevent tooth decay and other problems from occurring in the future. This can only be made possible if your child sticks to a good dental care routine and visits us regularly, so get in touch with our friendly dental experts today to book your child’s consultation by calling us on 0151 837 0800.
