Getting young children to brush and floss can be quite a chore, and many parents wonder whether it’s really worth the effort. After all, baby teeth are just going to fall out anyway. So how important is it really for young children to practice proper oral hygiene? “Very,” says Allen Daniels, DDS, of Indiana’s Bright Dental. Here Dr. Daniels talks about the importance of oral hygiene for young children and what could happen to your child later if you skimp on brushing and flossing now.
Taking care of your child’s baby teeth is extremely important. Not only will poor oral hygiene impact his immediate comfort and long-term oral health, it can also impact your bank account! Here’s an overview of what can happen if you don’t take care of your child’s teeth properly.
The primary purpose of brushing and flossing is to remove plaque daily. Not brushing teeth properly allows plaque to stay where it doesn’t belong. Plaque is basically a giant acid factory, composed of billions of bacteria that can completely take the calcium out of the tooth, ruin the outer layer and cause the tooth to decay. These bacteria can also cause gum disease to take hold, even in young children.
When the teeth and gums are weakened in these ways by plaque, the damage is irreversible. Instead, it has to be patched. As a matter of fact, this is why dentistry exists. Thanks to plaque and its ill effects, along with our high-carbohydrate diets, our teeth are under constant attack from the time we’re born until the day we die. Without a way to repair the damage, many of us wouldn’t have the strength we need in our teeth to chew our food properly.
Although it may seem illogical to focus so much attention on preventing decay and damage to teeth that are ultimately going to fall out, taking care of baby teeth is just as important as taking care of permanent teeth. For one thing, children can and do experience discomfort when their baby teeth are weakened or decayed just like adults do. If the baby teeth are not cared for properly, children may experience temperature sensitivity, difficulty chewing or pain. In some cases, these discomforts can even be severe enough to impact a child’s willingness to eat certain foods, interfering with his ability to obtain proper nutrition.
Also, our deciduous teeth (baby teeth) are the natural space maintainers for our mouths. When we lose these space maintainers prematurely — either because the teeth have lost some of their size through decay or been lost entirely — the remaining teeth begin to shift. As these remaining baby teeth shift, the permanent teeth are impacted. Lack of space prevents the permanent teeth from moving into their proper positions, creating misalignment and overcrowding.
In addition to causing problems with chewing function, misalignment of the permanent teeth creates a cosmetic problem that could have a real impact on your child’s self-esteem. In severe cases, alignment problems can even be disfiguring. Unfortunately, these types of problems can only be corrected through orthodontics or surgery, which can be expensive for you and painful for your child. Proper early oral hygiene can go a long way toward helping you and your child avoid these types of expenses and discomforts later in life.
I believe that parents need to be educated early on, before their child even has a first tooth, in how to prevent tooth decay. This includes learning proper oral hygiene techniques as well as what to feed their child to help ensure healthy teeth and gums. Unfortunately, children don’t have the coordination to clean their own teeth properly until about the time they’re able to tie their own shoes. That means there’s a long period of time during which Mom or Dad will have to take the time to make sure the child’s teeth are well cared for. Understanding the serious consequences associated with inadequately caring for a child’s teeth is an important first step in this education.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
