kid dentist

Let's Talk Children's Dental Health Month with Cedar Rapids Pediatric Dentistry

February 6th, 2020

February is Pediatric Dental Health Month, and we’re excited to kick things off with some tips on keeping your family’s smiles healthy.

Modeling Behavior

Creating good dental habits for your children should start as soon as they wake up. Before breakfast, you should brush your teeth with your kiddos. When children are learning good habits, modeling the behavior can be beneficial. Let them watch you, and then work with them on their skills.

Brushing and Flossing

Start with a soft bristle toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste. Tooth paste amount is important for their safety and should be put on by a grownup until they are old enough.  One-year-olds should have a smear of toothpaste the size of a grain of rice. Three-year-olds and up can have a pea-sized ball of toothpaste.  Children will need help with brushing until they are about 7 years old or until they are finished with 2nd grade!  Brushing along gumlines is hard – and little wrists may have a hard time reaching everywhere.

Flossing is important because it removes plaque and food that is between teeth. Brushing can only go so far, and flossing does the rest of the job. It’s not only good for your mouth, but helps prevent bad breath, which makes morning cuddles with your kiddos much more enjoyable. Even if your kids’ teeth aren’t touching, you can still work on forming the habit from a young age. Because gums are sensitive, parents should be in charge of flossing until age 6 or 7when kids have better control over fine motor skills.

In addition to brushing and flossing twice a day, you can also take extra steps to protecting your kids’ teeth. The molar teeth are most susceptible to cavities for two reasons. First, their chewing surface have more pits and fissures than the rest of the teeth (they are the wrinkles and grooves on the biting sides!). This can make it more difficult for toothbrush bristles to clean the chewing surface. Second, the majority of chewing is done with your molars, increasing the chances of food and bacteria getting stuck and causing decay.

Preventative Options

To protect your children’s molars, we may recommend an application of sealant when they fully come in.  These grown-up teeth usually start to come in by age-6 for the first set and age-12 for the second set.  They are usually finished growing in about 2-3 years after they poke through, and a protective sealant on their biting surfaces can really minimize the chance of a cavity on these important grown-up teeth!  A report published in July, 2017 by the Cochrane Collaboration, a group that studies and analyzes health information, found that the prevalence of cavities was reduced by 51% in children whose teeth were treated with a sealant.  That’s a lot!  It’s one of the beneficial preventative things we can do to protect them.

Healthy Choices

Brushing, flossing and visiting Cedar Rapids Pediatric Dentistry can help keep yoru teeth and gums healthy.  But it’s important to keep them healthy on the inside too! What you give kiddos for snack and what you put on your family’s dinner table has a big impact on their dental health. Be sure to include colorful fruit and vegetables in your family meals!  Be sure to visit our FaceBook Page HERE for more great snack and meal ideas for your family.

 

Let's Talk Toothpaste! with Cedar Rapids Pediatric Dentistry

January 11th, 2018

Let’s talk toothpaste

with Dr. Terry Geneser of CR Pediatric Dentistry

in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

 

Fun fact; people have been using material to clean their teeth since 500 B.C.. It started with crushed burnt hooves and egg shells. Thankfully, things have improved since then and we now have a wide assortment of toothpastes to choose from.

Ingredients in ‘natural’ and ‘conventional’ toothpastes are very similar. The choice comes down to your kids taste preference, and your preference with how they’re flavored and dyed. For this post we did a super scientific CR Pediatric Dentistry experiment (just kidding, we just went to Target on Blairsferry Road and looked at the labels. Ha!) and compared Colgate’s Strawberry Smash Toothpaste, and Tom’s of Maine Silly Strawberry.

To start with, for the happiest smiles (and happiest kid dentists' in Linn County), make sure there’s fluoride in your toothpaste. In fact, among the many shared ingredients between the two toothpastes we compared, the most important is fluoride. Fluoride helps prevent painful cavities and decay by strengthening the outer surface of your kids' teeth, helping keep a healthy and strong smile. Most kids who have fluoride in their drinking water AND use a toothpaste that contains fluoride are getting a sufficient amount to prevent issues. You can see if it’s in your drinking water here:

https://nccd.cdc.gov/DOH_MWF/Default/Default.aspx

In the past, some have said that fluoride toothpaste should only be used for kids old enough to know how to spit into the sink. However, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommend fluoride toothpaste be used from the start - and we here at Cedar Rapids Pediatric Dentistry agree! The amount recommended varies depending on age.

A tiny smear amount - the size of a grain of rice - should be used for kiddos two and under. This amount is SAFE if ingested. However, you should start encouraging your child to lean forward so they can practice the idea of spitting at an early age.  Once they get to the age of two, it’s easier to tell them to spit their toothpaste out, and they can have a pea sized amount of toothpaste (they may not be perfect spitters until they reach kindergarten!  So no worries if it still gets swallowed - a pea sized ball of toothpaste for children over two years old is still SAFE!)

If your kids have a sensitive mouth, or you notice that they’re resistant to brushing their teeth, try switching things up! It could be that a more conventional brand has an abrasive or detergent that is too harsh for them. It could also be that they prefer one flavor over another. Sometimes it's a texture thing - there are gel-based (smoother) and paste-based (grittier) options out there!  Maybe they need a superhero or animal on the tube?! Take a trip to the store together the next time you’re ready to re-stock! Giving your kiddos say in their toothpaste decision can be empowering, and make them more willing to keep their twice daily tooth brushing schedule.

The toothpaste we use at CR Pediatric Dentistry is Crest Kids' Sparkle Fun. Dr. Geneser and Dr. Swenson both likes it because it is bubble-gum mint flavored (a good mix that most kids like!) with a fun name and fluoride to keep that smile healthy.  You can get samples at your next check-up!

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