Always, always brush at least twice a day.
Instilling good habits in children is vital. They will then go on in life adopted a positive attitude to dental healthy well into adult life. The most important time to brush is just before bedtime and it’s equally important not to have anything to eat or drink (apart from water) after you have brushed your teeth as we produce very little saliva at night meaning that food is not washed away. This will result in a lot higher incidence of tooth decay!
Restrict sugary drinks and food to meal times
Having sugary food/drinks with a meal is not as bad as snacking in between meals as the food will normally neutralize the acids and sugars. Therefore try to limit treats to meal times.
Take your children to the dentist every 6 months.
This will allow your children to adopt a positive attitude to dental health and will allow your dentist to apply a flouride varnish. This has been shown to be an extremely safe and effective method at reducing decay in children and current guidelines suggest that it should be applied at least every 6 months in children.
Get sealants applied to your children’s adult teeth.
Adult teeth have pits and grooves in the biting surfaces of their teeth making it an ideal home for bacteria resulting in a high occurrence of decay. These grooves, call fissures are difficult to clean as they are very deep and shallow. Fissure sealants aim to fill these grooves in teeth making them flat and easily cleansable which reduces the changes of getting tooth decay.
Ask your dentist to seal your children’s adult teeth as soon as they erupt to make the most out of this procedure.
