National Children's Dental Health Month

There's a month and a day for everything else, so why not children's teeth.  It is being encouraged that children be brought to the dentist by their first birthday, instead of what most parents do by waiting until three.

I spoke to my dentist about this the other day, and he kind of just snickered.  He did say that most pediatricians will tell you this, and that a family dentist will often take children this early...but really, it isn't that serious.  There are mixed messages from all different sources.  The truth is, every parent is going to make up their own mind, regardless of a national tooth month or not.  Although, I read further into it, and started to get a little scared after reading the statistics. " A 2007 survey of Connecticut schoolchildren found that 31% of children in Head Start aged 2-4 have already experienced tooth decay and that 14% of those children had 5 or more teeth decayed or missing from decay. By Kindergarten, more than one in four children have experienced dental decay, 16% of which have untreated decay."February is Children's Dental Health Month

I am very hesitant to bring my son in because he couldn't even get a hair cut without acting like it was the end of the world.  How is he going to react to someone prying his mouth open and looking at his precious teeth.  He loves using his toothbrush and brushing twice a day...but how well is he really doing?  I heard the other day you are supposed to floss too once your child has two teeth touching each other?!  Yea, ok...how am I supposed to pull this off, he barely lets me brush for him. And I, after 26 years, just learned the truly correct way to floss your teeth. Even my dentist admitted though...he's not really too anxious to meet my little boy in a dental room. 


So, if we aren't ready to bring our children to the dentist what can we do?

• take your child to the dentist regularly
• don't give him/her too many sugary or acidic foods and drinks
• encourage your child to brush his/her teeth twice a day with at least 1,000ppm fluoride toothpaste
• encourage your child to spit out toothpaste and not rinse with water, as this reduces the effect of the fluoride 

What I find interested is that my pediatrician specifically told me not to use flouride toothpaste, this also kind of aggravates me.  I wish they could just get on all one page.  But tomorrow, I am going to go get some fluoride toothpaste and maybe switch up the cleanings.  As for flossing...I just don't know how we can pull this one off with a toddler.  Good luck!

Some information taken from:
http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/child_dental.html