The oral health of children can be associated with the overall health of the body. Therefore, it is important to have a good foundation for healthy oral care. This is essential to make sure that the parent, as well as the child, will have a proper oral hygiene routine that they can adopt early.
To ensure that children will have a good and healthy smile, take a look at some of the common dental problems in kids.
Baby Bottle Tooth Decay
Baby bottle tooth decay develops when the baby usually has sweets. These typically come from sugar from fruit juices, milk, formula, and the like. It can also come from unswallowed milk in the mouth when your little one falls asleep. The sugars from these drinks are being consumed by the bacteria in the mouth that cause tooth decay. In turn, the decay may cause difficulty when the baby eats and chews. The badly decayed teeth could lead to an abscessed tooth, and infect other parts of the mouth.
To prevent baby bottle tooth decay, parents could lessen the sugar or sweets that they give to baby. It is better to give them plain water or a pacifier instead of sugary drinks or milk to calm or comfort them. Another method is by teaching your baby to drink from a sippy cup. These baby cups can lower the exposure of the teeth to sugar.
Thumb Sucking
Sucking a thumb, or any other object, gives children emotional security and comfort. It is normal for infants to suck their thumbs. But once they have permanent teeth, this habit can affect the alignment of the teeth, and create an overbite. This can cause difficulty in speech and pronunciation.
To prevent this, parents can help the child break the habit by giving positive reinforcement. Giving them praise or rewards for the time they avoid the habit helps. Parents can also cover the thumb with a reminder like a Band-Aid.
Tongue Thrusting
This happens when the child seals the mouth for swallowing by thrusting the tongue forwards against his lips. This puts pressure on the front teeth, and pushes them out of the alignment. This may also affect the speech, with the "s" sound being the most affected like with a lisp.
One way to address this is through tongue therapy, an exercise technique that educates the tongue muscles by a trained therapist. The length of said therapy depends on the cooperation of the child.
Early Tooth Loss
The early loss of baby teeth is typically caused by tooth decay or injury. This may cause the nearby teeth to shift, and the newly emerged tooth to be tilted or crooked, resulting to a range of problems.
If a child has a premature loss of a tooth, a dentist may recommend a space maintainer to keep the teeth aligned.