Oral Health and Your Child

by Sarah Bohdaniec-Haas, RDH 
  

The interrelation between oral health and systemic health is a dynamic one. Through research we have recently begun to understand the effect our oral health can have on our systemic health, such as diabetes, stroke, heart attack and pre-term low birth weight babies.

We all want to keep our children healthy, and here are some oral and nutritional tips for maintaining good oral health from infancy to adulthood.

*Baby teeth are just as important as adult teeth. It is important for any child that has damage to a tooth (teeth) to see a dentist. The baby teeth not only hold the spot so the adult tooth can later erupt into it, but infection of a baby tooth can travel down through it and can affect an adult tooth before it even erupts.

*A child should have their first dental visit by three at the latest. At this time a child will have their teeth checked by a dental hygienist and a dentist to ensure all the baby teeth are present, educate mom and child how to brush their teeth properly, go over good oral nutrition and possibly have their teeth cleaned and fluoridated for the first time.

*In our municipality we have fluoridated water. We are lucky because fluoride helps to protect the teeth against cavities. Have your child drink as much tap water as they would like. For those that drink only bottled water, please read the label as most bottled water has no fluoride in it. Recently we have seen much more tooth decay because people are drinking larger amounts of bottled water that has no fluoride in it.

*Most children have snacks during the day which is important for energy levels, choosing snacks that are nutritious yet do not lower the pH in the mouth and cause oral decay are important. It is best to allow sugary treats with a meal (as dessert) as other foods with the meal can buffer the acidity of the sugar and then it is less likely to cause decay.

Foods that have a higher chance of causing decay when eaten as snacks (between meals)

Dried Fruits (raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries, apricots, mangos, pineapple, etc)
Juice (limit juice to 3 oz/day as it has much less nutritious value that the whole fruit)
Bread
Candy
Cereals, Chips, Cookies, Crackers
Cola
Doughnuts
Jello
Pasta/Rice

Foods that are good to offer as snacks as they do not cause decay (some such as cheese can even help prevent decay)

Fruits
Cheeses (hard cheeses are usually the best such as cheddar, mozzarella, Monterey jack, etc)
Yogurt
Nuts
Raw vegetables
Water

What can a cavity look like?

The start of a cavity on a tooth may look like a chalky white/yellow area which may progress to a dark, brown/black stain on the tooth which may or may not be soft. Sometimes when a tooth is in the very beginning stages of a cavity, it may be arrested/stopped by professional application of fluoride at your dental office. This occurs when the decay is not yet completely through the enamel portion of the tooth. Once the cavity has spread past the enamel, it may infect the dentin or pulp of the tooth and further treatment will be needed.

Prevention of a cavity starts with brushing three times a day, morning, midday and before bed. At this stage parents should be doing the main brushing and allow the children to finish up. In order to remove plaque parents should focus on brushing all surfaces of the teeth including the portions where the teeth meet the gums. 

Using fluoridated toothpaste should only be done when a child is able to spit properly and is not swallowing the toothpaste. A pea-sized amount of toothpaste is sufficient with both non-fluoridate and fluoridated toothpaste.

Signs to head to the dentist

-Sensitive tooth (teeth) to sweets, cold or hot
-Gums that look red, puffy or easily bleed when brushing
-Trauma to the tooth (teeth)/mouth even though it may not hurt
-Sores within the mouth that do not heal within 1-2 weeks
-Tooth (teeth) that are recently starting to discolour
-The child complains that it hurts to eat/chew

A good dental motivator for your child. Purchase a cheap kitchen timer and put it onto the bathroom counter to use when a child is brushing. Set the timer to run while you are brushing your child's teeth. The optimal time for brushing is two minutes to remove all the plaque in the mouth, if you find it hard you can start with one minute and work up to two minutes. Make toothbrushing into something fun for your child, he or she will be more likely to want to do it and hopefully it will become a habit for healthy teeth for a lifetime.

About the author: Sarah Bohdaniec-Haas, RDH is a graduate of Niagara College in Dental Hygiene. She has been a practicing dental hygienist for 8 years in her husband's family dental practice in North York and a clinical instructor at a private dental hygiene college. Sarah is an active member of the CDHO and ODHA. She practices preventative dental hygiene and periodontics, but her passion is pediatric dental hygiene. Sarah is the founder of "Toddler Day at the Dental Hygienist/Dentist," which is a program that allows toddlers to come into her practice and have a positive and fun first experience in order instill a lifetime of good oral hygiene habits. For more information visit, www.drnathanhaas.com or email Sarah at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .