Maintaining dental health is certainly important, both for parents and for children. The importance of brushing teeth must have been taught since childhood. But, Some habits that seem normal can actually damage a child's teeth.
Cavities, loose teeth, and other dental problems can interfere with children's activities and their health. Therefore, it is important for parents to maintain the health of their children by knowing what habits can damage their children's teeth.
Even though the baby teeth that your child currently has will be replaced with permanent teeth, that doesn't mean you don't need to take care of their dental health and leave your child with bad habits just because you don't want your child to be fussy. Remember, if you have problems with your teeth, your child can become fussy and may affect the shape of your child's teeth as an adult.
Are There Habits of Your Child that Damage Teeth?
The following are some habits that can damage your child's dental health:
- Sucking all day
Don't let your child suck on the habit, especially with juice, milk, or other sweet drinks. This can harm the child's teeth because it makes saliva or saliva unable to clean the sugar stuck in his mouth, thus triggering tooth decay in children.
- Thumb sucking and sucking
There are various habits that children do to make themselves feel comfortable. For example, thumb sucking or sucking. If this habit is done at the age of 4-6 years, it can cause the child's teeth to grow apart. This habit can also cause difficulty chewing.
Breastfeeding until the child is old enough can affect the shape of the jaw and the normal shape of the teeth. If your child has been pacifier since infancy, it is advisable to stop this habit from the age of 1 year. Otherwise, the pacifier habit will become more difficult to break.
- Breastfeeding at night
The child's teeth have been brushed clean, but before going to bed the child asks for milk. Habits like this can unwittingly damage a child's teeth. Breastfeeding at night will leave sugar in your child's mouth and teeth throughout the night. If done continuously, the tooth enamel will be damaged.
If your child is still drinking breast milk, it is advisable to clean his teeth after feeding. Because in breast milk also contains lactose (a type of sugar in milk) which can damage children's teeth.
- Bite stationary
Entering school or preschool, children will begin to use writing tools. The habit of biting writing utensils, such as pencils and pens, can cause bacteria to enter the mouth, and can trigger tooth decay. In fact, if your child falls with the writing utensil still in his mouth, it can cause injury to the child
- Sweet and fizzy drinks
Besides not providing perfect nutrition, soft drinks also contain a lot of sugar. It's the same with other sugary drinks, including fruit juices. Although it sounds healthy, actually the fiber or other nutrients present in the fruit can be lost during the juicing process.
In addition, the smooth shape makes the juice can easily and quickly pass through the digestive tract, so the vitamins in it do not have time to be absorbed properly by the body.
- Swallow toothpaste
Children's toothpaste is available in a variety of attractive flavors and colors. Sometimes, whether intentional or not, toothpaste is swallowed by a child when he brushes his teeth. However, as much as possible avoid this from happening, because fluoride contained in toothpaste, although good for dental health, can cause fluorosis if in excess or ingested. Fluorosis will cause the appearance of brown or white spots on the teeth.
So, before the child can spit and throw away the toothpaste foam, it is recommended to use toothpaste without ingredients fluoride.
If your child has the habit above, immediately help him to stop it or reduce it gradually. For example, by giving a pacifier only when eating, to reduce the intensity of the child sucking.
Also, brush your child's teeth at least twice a day. Provide children with equipment to brush their teeth when they are at school, so that they can brush their teeth after eating at school. Teach children to drink water, especially after they eat or drink sweet things. But keep in mind, giving too much water to babies is also not good.
Children certainly do not really understand what is good and not good for health. Training your child from a young age to adopt healthy habits and have regular dental check-ups can help prevent tooth decay. If your child's teeth look problematic, immediately go to the dentist. Don't wait for him to feel pain.
