Our Bristol dentist discusses why children’s oral health is so important.

Some recent newspaper reports have indicated that tooth decay is on the rise in the UK (1).

In some ways, this comes as a surprise given the raised awareness of a number of health issues over the years, plus the fact that sugar is now coming in for increased criticism from all sections of the health sector.

Having said that, as parents, we know that children are not aware of these factors, and, even if they were, would probably ignore it in favour of that sweet taste.

Bearing that in mind, we can see the importance of the adult taking responsibility for their child’s teeth.

Prevention

Without a doubt, taking action to prevent tooth decay in children is key to good oral health.

Our dentists at Beau Monde Dental Care take no pleasure from seeing a distressed child with toothache and we are sure that neither do their parents.

The fact is that ensuring your child’s oral health is in good condition is really not that hard and just requires a few simple steps.

Supervision

One of the most important things that parents of children in Bristol can do is to supervise their child when they are brushing their teeth.

Encouraging them to spend at least 2 minutes brushing (a timer is useful here) and ensuring that they brush all their teeth and not just the front ones, will help to ensure that any sugars that have become stuck to the teeth are removed.

Sweets and drinks

It is probably almost impossible to stop a child eating sweet things but these should be restricted as treats as far as possible.

One of the biggest factors that appears to be involved in the increase of child tooth decay is the increased consumption of fruit juice and fruit drinks. Whilst these are ok occasionally, water or very dilute juice is a far better choice for daily rehydration.

To arrange an oral health check for your family member, please call our Bristol family dentist on 0117 330 3495.

1 – http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/half-children-tooth-decay—5366196