3 Mistakes Parents Make That Hurt A Child's Dental Health
As a parent, you hope that everything that you're doing is putting your kid on the right track to a healthy and happy future. Unfortunately, some of the choices that parents make don't help when it comes to oral health and hygiene. Here, you'll find a few of the most common mistakes that parents make when it comes to promoting healthy teeth and gums in kids.
Waiting Too Long
Even babies without any teeth need to have their gums cleaned a couple of times each day, so if your kid has teeth, they should be brushed at least twice each day.
When they're just babies, you can get away with using a gum cleaning brush that slides on the tip of your finger with a bit of water to get all of the sugars off of their gums. As kids get older, they will need to start using toothpaste of some kind. It's recommended that little ones use fluoride-free toothpaste until they are trained to spit the toothpaste into the sink. Too much fluoride can cause fluorosis of the teeth and cause more problems than it cures.
Using too much Toothpaste
Your kid doesn't need a toothbrush loaded with toothpaste to get their teeth clean. The truth of the matter is, they don't need any more than a dollop the size of a pea. Again, too much toothpaste could result in too much fluoride.
As your training your little one, look for a kid-friendly toothpaste. This kind of toothpaste typically doesn't include fluoride and is safe to swallow.
Tip: You may need to buy several flavors before you find a flavor that your little one enjoys enough to keep up with the tooth brushing regimen.
Skip the Juice
You might think that the juice that you're giving your little one is providing him or her with a serving of fruits, but it's really just contributing to sugars on the teeth. Instead of giving your little one juice in the sippy cup to drink all day, give them water.
The water is healthier for him or her and will help to continually wash the teeth as your little one sips on it.
Talk with your kids' dentist to learn more about what you can do to promote healthy oral hygiene. If you do it right now, you won't have as much of a battle as your kids grow into more responsible small people.
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