a project of the missouri dental foundation a charitable subsidiary of missouri dental association...
TRANSCRIPT
A PROJECT OF THE
MISSOURI DENTAL FOUNDATION
A CHARITABLE SUBSIDIARY OF MISSOURI DENTAL
ASSOCIATION
PROJECT FUNDED BY THE MISSOURI FOUNDATION FOR HEALTH
start rightPARENTS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
A practical guide to yourbaby’s dental health
Presented by members of theMissouri Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
& Missouri Dental Association
Importance of Baby Teeth
• Help a child to chew and speak
• Hold space for the adult teeth & guide teeth during eruption
• Aid in jaw and face formation
• Influence the child’s overall health
When Teething Starts
• Baby teeth usually start to come in at 6 months
• 20 primary teeth usually present in our jaw bone at birth
• The front four teeth erupt first, followed by the first molars and then the cuspids
• The second molars are the last to erupt, usually by age 2 ½ to 3 years of age
Primary Teeth Eruption Chart
Comforting Your Teething Baby
• Comforting babies who are irritable because of teething – Chew on a cool washcloth or spoon – Chew on a teething ring– Massage gums with a clean finger– Give children’s Tylenol or ibuprophen
an hour before bedtime so sleep isn’t interrupted
Avoid Numbing Medications
• High levels can be toxic
• Babies can injure their numb lips or tongue if rubbed against their teeth
Tips for Preventing Decay What parents can do
• Proper Baby Bottle Usage
• Good Oral Home Care
• Good Nutrition Habits (Eating & Drinking)
• Checking teeth regularly
• Scheduling child’s first dental visit
H2O X X
Tips for Preventing Decay It’s not the bottle, it’s the beverage
Proper Baby Bottle Usage
Tips for Preventing Decay Proper Bottle & Sip Cup Usage
• Don’t allow your baby to fall asleep with a bottle or “sip cup” filled with anything other than water
Tips for Preventing Decay Proper Bottle & Sip Cup Usage
– Milk and other sugary liquids can pool against the back of the top front teeth for the several hours the baby is sleeping
– Because of this, cavities can occur on the backs of the top front teeth, undetectable to parents
– Note: Going to bed with bottle can also cause liquid to pool in ear tubes, causing ear infections
Decay on the back side of top front teeth, caused from improper bottle usage, is not always visible on the front of teeth
Decay on Teeth from Bottle
• Have parents get into the habit of wiping the baby’s gums after feedings, even before teeth have erupted
• As teeth come in, brush them with a finger or child’s toothbrush with water or child-safe (non-fluoride) toothpaste
• Don’t use fluoride toothpaste until child can spit (can be toxic if swallowed)
Tips for Preventing Decay Good Oral Home Care
Tips for Preventing Decay Good Oral Home Care
Tips for Preventing Decay Creating Good Hygiene Habits
• Kids under age 6 need help brushing
• Some kids over age 6 may still need supervision
• Bedtime is the most important time to make sure the teeth are free of plaque
• Flossing should be initiated as soon as teeth begin to touch
Tips for Preventing Decay Toothpaste & Fluoride
• Fluoride is important for fighting cavities• However, if children younger than 6 years
old swallow too much, their permanent teeth may have white spots
• Use only a small amount of toothpaste (about the size of a pea)
• At about age 3, you can teach child to spit out the toothpaste and to rinse well after brushing
Once children reach age 3, a pea-size amount of toothpaste can be used
Tips for Preventing Decay Toothpaste & Fluoride
• Replace worn toothbrushes– Brushes may have bent bristles,
even though “blue” indicator color isn’t gone– Infants/Toddlers
may wear out toothbrushes sooner because of chewing on bristles
Tips for Preventing Decay Good Nutrition Habits
• Food doesn’t cause decay, but rather “eating” food in general
• Children’s dental health depends less on what they eat and more on how often they eat it
Tips for Preventing Decay Good Nutrition Habits
• Anything that breaks down into sugars/carbohydrates can cause cavities– Candy and cookies are NOT
the only bad things for teeth!
– This includes starchy foods like potato chips and crackers
Tips for Preventing Decay Good Nutrition Habits
• Sticky foods, like gummy fruit snacks and raisins can be worse for the teeth –Get stuck in chewing surfaces and
in between teeth
–Don’t wash off the teeth as quickly
Tips for Preventing Decay Good Nutrition Habits
Fruit roll-ups, gummy fruit snacks and raisins
BAD FOR THE TEETH!
These snacks look nutritious, but are they?
3 of the Top Ingredients are Sugars!
Tips for Preventing Decay Good Nutrition Habits
• Don’t allow children to "graze" throughout the day on snacks/drinks (except water)
• Encourage balanced meals at “mealtimes”
• Sugary snacks/drinks should be consumed within a short period of time– This will give the mouth a chance to clear
away the sugary foods from the teeth
• Have kids brush after meals
Tips for Preventing Decay Good Nutrition Habits
• Provide better choices– Healthy snacks like
fresh fruit and cheese are better not only for the teeth, but for the overall health of the baby
Tips for Preventing Decay Good Nutrition Habits
• Stop the Pop!
• Soda should never be encouraged
• Diet soda can also cause cavities due to the acid in the carbonation
Tips for Preventing Decay The First Dental Visit
• It is recommended the first dental visit be within 6 months of the first tooth eruption
• This is usually around the child’s first birthday
Tips for Preventing Decay The First Dental Visit
• Pediatric dentists are specially trained and may feel more comfortable examining young children than general dentists
• A child’s pediatrician should be able to assess if a child is at high risk for dental decay
Tips for Preventing Decay The First Dental Visit
• This 3-year-old is at the dentist for the first time
• Unfortunately, one of his teeth is already infected and an abscess is present
About Dental Decay Did you know?
• Dental caries is the most common chronic disease in children, 5 times more common than asthma
• More than 40% of children have tooth decay by the time they reach kindergarten
• More than 51 million school hours (85,000 school days) are lost each year due to dental related illness
About Dental Decay Did you know?
• 80% of dental cavities are found in 20% to 25% of children
• 18% of children between the ages of 2 to 4 have visible cavities
• Infants of low socioeconomic status, whose mothers have a low education level, and who consume sugary foods are 32 times more likely to have caries at age 3 than children in whom those risk factors are not present
About Dental Decay Did you know?
• Tooth decay is a disease that is, by and large, preventable
• The ultimate goal of early assessment is the timely delivery of educational information to prevent decay
Screening for Dental Decay Getting Started
• Following are guidelines only
• Goal is to help parent educators feel comfortable educating parents
• Empower parents to do screenings on their child and know what to look for
Screening for Dental Decay Getting Started
What you need• Dialogue with
parent/consent to do screening
• Good light source to see teeth
Screening for Dental Decay Getting Started
• The knee-to-knee lap exam allows the parent to help hold child’s hands while the examiner is able to look at the teeth
Screening for Dental Decay What do cavities need to start
TEETH
No CariesNo Caries
No Caries
No Caries
DECAY
TIME PLAQUE IS ON TEETH
PLAQUE
(BACTERIA)
REFINED
CARBOHYDRATES
(FOOD)
Screening for Dental Decay What do cavities need to start
What to look for:
• Plaque along the gumlines
• White chalky lines along the gumlines
• Brown spots or discolorations on the fronts of teeth
• Holes in the chewing surfaces of the teeth
Plaque is an invisible film that is noticeable when scraped off the teeth
White or chalky areas can turn into brown spots (cavities)
Lift the lip to see gumlines better
Large cavities can damage the nerves of the teeth, leading to abscesses
Primary molars do not fall out until age 10-12. Cavities in these teeth need
to be treated right away.
Screening for Dental Decay
• Large cavities can be repaired, but it’s expensive and the child is always more cavity prone…
As a Parent Educator What’s your role?
• Educate parents about good early childhood oral hygiene
• Provide parents with tips to make healthy choice and prevent decay in primary teeth
As a Parent Educator What’s your role?
• Conduct screenings to identify children at risk for dental disease
• Help parents learn to know what to look for when checking their child’s teeth for decay
• Direct parents with any concerns to dental health professionals
The Dental CommunityThanks you for your interest
in helping the children of Missouri obtain good oral
hygiene and healthy brushing and eating habits to prevent
early childhood decay
Starting Right Means a Lifetime of Smiles
Contact Information
Missouri Dental Association
• www.modental.org
• 573-634-3436
Program Coordinator
• Melissa Albertson
Start Right: Parents Make the DifferenceA project of the Missouri Dental Foundation
The charitable subsidiary of the Missouri Dental Association
The Start Right project is funded through a grant provided by the Missouri Foundation
for Health. The Missouri Foundation for Health is a philanthropic organization whose vision is to improve the health of the people
in the communities it serves.
All “Start Right” materials and presentation © Missouri Dental Foundation & Missouri Dental Association