It’s National Children’s Dental Health Month! Our newsletter this month highlights the importance of dental hygiene and the role of nutrition in dental health. Here are some “warm-up” pointers to keep in mind:

• Remember to book and maintain your child’s dental visits on a regular basis. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) recommends that a child go to a dentist by one year of age, or within six months after the first tooth erupts.
• Talk and encourage conversations about teeth, toothbrushing and general oral health.
  • Use puppets with teeth and clean, unused toothbrushes with little ones to reduce any fears and make toothbrushing fun!
  • Help older children make their own daily schedule chart, and include reminders for brushing and flossing on a twice daily basis.
• Prepare/offer tooth-healthy snacks and meals to increase your child’s knowledge and investment in their own health, oral and otherwise. Please see the article below for suggestions!

The Important Role of Nutrition in Oral/Dental Health: How to Eat Right for Your Teeth

Brush your teeth, twice a day: check. Floss every day (or at least regularly): check. Make regular 6 month visits to your dentist to receive cleanings, recommended treatments and x-rays: check. Despite the above precautions, many find themselves regularly checking off an unwanted box on their dental health checklist: Get fillings for those sneaky cavities that seemed to appear anyway. What gives?

It’s disheartening to feel like you’re doing everything right for your dental hygiene and that of your children, yet continue leaving dental offices with appointments booked for fillings and other dental work that you didn’t expect to have. This isn’t the case for everyone, of course. Some individuals seem to care for their teeth in a haphazard and inconsistent manner, yet have a clean bill of dental health. As in many life situations when habits don’t seem to match up with results, it’s time to take a closer look