Beautiful, white, and shiny teeth not only create a great impression of personality but are also essential for good health. If our diet includes milk, curd, fruits, vegetables, and pulses, etc. but the teeth are not clean, then the food reaches the stomach with many germs even though it is healthy and balanced. Therefore, special care should be taken to clean the teeth.
Both children and adults should take care of their oral hygiene. Tooth decay, gum disease, and bad breath are some of the common dental problems.
A large number of people all over the world face these problems due to a lack of proper oral hygiene.
To avoid various oral problems, it is important to take care of oral hygiene from an early age. So as a parent you should take care of your child's teeth so that they do not face any oral health complications later in life.
In this article, we are telling you some ways that you can protect your little ones from tooth decay.
- MAKE REGULAR DENTAL CHECK-UPS
Regular dental checkups can protect children's teeth from decay. Do not wait for complaints of tooth decay in children, but make regular check-ups. Start taking your child to the dentist as soon as the first teeth appear. Being careful can also avoid complicated problems and waste of money in the future.
- CHOOSING THE RIGHT BRUSH
The first step in the brushing process is choosing the right brush. Hard, moderate, and soft brushes are available in the market. We should choose a brush with soft bristles because brushes with hard bristles damage the outer layer of the teeth. The brush should also be suitable in terms of its size and flexibility so that it can easily reach all parts of the mouth.
The first and most important thing when it comes to cleaning or protecting your teeth is to brush them properly and well. Brushing the teeth "well" does not necessarily mean scrubbing them hard and scrubbing. This should never be done otherwise the outer layer of the teeth (enamel) may be damaged and as a result, the teeth are at risk of feeling cold and hot. Therefore, it is not recommended to brush more than three times a day. Also, using medicated toothpaste for a long time can have harmful effects.
The brush should be replaced every three to four months, because if it is rubbed too much, its fibers become damaged, so the mouth cannot be cleaned properly.
- DAILY ORAL HYGIENE
Brush your child's mouth every day, even if he doesn't have a single tooth. Clean the gums of children after feeding. For this purpose, you can also wrap a wet cloth on your finger and rub it gently on the gums, just be careful not to put too much pressure on the baby's gums.
As soon as the baby's teeth come out, brush their teeth twice a day with a special toothbrush available for infants, and when your baby's 2 teeth start touching each other, start using a special toothpaste available for babies.
- DO NOT FEED WHILE SLEEPING
When it is time for children to sleep, do not give them a feeder full of juice and formula milk. Because they contain sugar that sticks to their teeth and can then cause tooth decay.
You can give your babies a feeder filled with water in bed. Not only this but also avoid breastfeeding your baby. Do not let children get into the habit of using pacifiers, as this may change the shape of the teeth.
- CORRECT BRUSHING TIMES
Generally, we give more importance to cleaning our teeth after waking up in the morning, although the best time to brush is at night. This is the time when there is less saliva in the mouth and dinner is also attached to the teeth. When we go to sleep without brushing, germs get a chance to attack and damage the teeth. In the morning one should not just rinse and have breakfast after which teeth should be brushed so that our mouth remains clean and germ-free till noon.
According to experts, if the teeth cleaning process is repeated 2 to 3 times a day, as a result, the risk of heart muscle stiffness is reduced by 10% and the risk of heart attack by 12%.
Make sure your child is brushing for the full two minutes. The Dental Association recommends that parents use videos and music to entertain their children while brushing. Tell them a short story. Whatever method works best for your child, get them into the habit of brushing twice a day for two minutes each.
- GUMS AND TONGUE CARE
Another important thing is to focus on cleaning the rest of the mouth such as the gums and tongue instead of just cleaning the teeth. Cleanliness of the tongue is particularly important because its upper layer contains fine granules (which give it a rough texture) and taste buds. If it is not cleaned, some Food particles cover this layer, resulting in bacteria that can cause bad breath and affect the sense of taste.
Massage your gums with your finger for a minute after brushing. This improves blood flow to the gums and reduces the chance of infection.
- TIPS TO MAKE THE TOOTHBRUSHING PROCESS FUN
Try these tips to make brushing fun in toddlers to instill the habit of brushing from childhood.
- LET THE CHILD CHOOSE
Take your child with you to pick up a toothbrush and toothpaste. Having a favorite character or color on their toothbrush can help keep them interested. Today, you can find products with your child's favorite characters, such as Disney princesses, SpongeBob, and Spider-Man, among others. Find delicious flavors of fluoride toothpaste. Whatever the children decide, make them a part of the process.
- MAKE BRUSHING YOUR TEETH REWARDING
It can be good to make a fun chart to keep the morning and nighttime brushing routines. Offer a sticker every time your child brushes. Consider using small rewards initially to encourage young children. That is, make a deal with them that if they brush twice a day for the whole week, they will get a reward. Choose a healthy reward such as a trip to the zoo or a date or outing with a friend.
- TEACH BY EXAMPLE
For many young children, brushing their teeth seems like a chore. Show your child that brushing is important, but brushing can also be fun. Because most young children like to imitate their parents' behavior. Your child learns by copying you. Show your child how you brush and make it something you do together
- MAKING SURE TO STICK TO ROUTINE
Don't let your family take a day off from brushing. Your baby will enjoy brushing and flossing as much as you will enjoy brushing and flossing. Siblings of all ages can also join. Brushing as a family can also help improve family relationships.
- THE RIGHT WAY TO BRUSH
From childhood, we are taught to brush our teeth twice a day and every parent teaches their child how to brush their teeth, but now a British doctor has debunked this popular practice. According to the expert, “Usually, people just rub the brush on the teeth and then immediately rinse the mouth with water. This method of brushing teeth is wrong. We should brush the teeth as well as the gums and tongue thoroughly, which is very important for overall oral health, and then not rinse the mouth with water immediately after brushing."
Immediately after brushing, the beneficial ingredients in toothpaste, including fluoride, are lost. We should leave the paste on the teeth, gums, and tongue for a few minutes. Most of us ignore the tongue while brushing, even though the tongue is a breeding ground for bacteria that attack and damage the white enamel of the teeth. So, one should never forget the tongue while brushing. Also, people usually keep the toothbrush in the bathroom, which is also a serious mistake.
Brush the teeth from top to bottom. So that the food stuck between the teeth is cleaned well. Also, clean your back teeth thoroughly. Often the front teeth are brushed but the back teeth are neglected.
Bathrooms harbor dangerous bacteria. If the brush is kept there, these bacteria get attached to the brush and enter our mouth through it. We should always keep the brush away from the bathroom.
- MOUTHWASHES
The use of mouthwash is also very harmful to the health of our mouths. All types of mouthwashes contain alcohol, which dries our mouths, and this dryness of the mouth causes the growth of bacteria. Therefore, mouthwashes do the exact opposite of good oral health because they cause the bacteria to multiply rather than eliminate them."
A thorough cleaning of the teeth can also be done with the help of tried and tested home remedies to make the teeth brighter, and whiter.
○Hydrogen peroxide is easily available at any medical store, hydrogen peroxide has been used for centuries for bleaching purposes, it can also be used as a mouthwash.
○Take some sesame seeds, chew them for a few minutes and spit them out. This method gently removes the plaque accumulated on the teeth. After spitting out the sesame seeds, clean them with a dry brush.
○Take two teaspoons of vinegar, one teaspoon of salt, and 4 ounces of water and mix these three, now gargle with this mixture, and repeat this process for several days, and the whiteness of teeth will return.
- CROOKED TEETH IN CHILDREN
Many parents believe that crooked teeth can be treated at an early age, although this is not true and can be done later. However, it is better to bring them to the doctor for a check-up at the age of seven. This is because at this age, various dental problems such as crooked teeth, milk teeth not falling out on time, etc. They come forward. Braces are placed at the age of 11 or 12 when the permanent teeth come in. Similarly, the benefit of dental screening at the age of 10 is that if their canine teeth are crooked, the milk tooth next to them is removed. After that, 80 to 90 percent of the children's teeth that come out in the wrong direction grow in the right direction.