Being a parent or guardian of a child is a lot of hard work, and there are plenty of unexpected hurdles. It’s no secret that kids and healthy teeth don’t often go together and to avoid expensive trips to the dentist, you have to foster good dental care in your kids. This can be notoriously difficult, as kids don’t really care about taking care of their teeth either!
If you’re an exhausted parent or guardian looking out for your kids’ dental health but don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place! Here are 7 of the top dental tips for kids to make sure their pearly whites stay strong and healthy. Follow this guide and keep your kids’ teeth in mint condition like a pro!
Reader's Roadmap
1. Start early
The best way to get your kids on board with taking care of their teeth is to start early. Starting early with dental care starts with teaching them how to brush their teeth every day and making sure they do it. You can move on to more complicated things like flossing and mouthwash down the line.
There are plenty of ways to motivate your kids to take care of their teeth or to make it fun for them. Whether you’re making brushing teeth before bed a game or rewarding them with more screen time, get creative and start on time! Teaching them the importance of good dental care early on will protect their teeth and make things easier for everyone down the line.
2. Find the right clinic
Once you’ve instilled a good foundation for dental health in your kids, it’s time to bring in the reinforcements! Whether your child has excellent dental hygiene or not, there will come a time when they’ll need to visit a dentist. The trick to making sure your kids’ teeth are in good hands is to find the best dental clinic for your kids. A great dentist will be able to take care of your kid’s dental health and spot problems on time. Find someone qualified who knows how to deal with frightened kids. You can rest assured knowing your kid’s teeth are taken care of. Do your research, have a look around, and find the perfect dentist for your kids!
3. Work on their diet
A great way to improve your kid’s dental health from the inside out is through their diet. What you eat affects the strength, durability, and look of your teeth, and the same goes for your kids. If you want your children to have strong, healthy teeth, you need to help them eat a diet that fosters good dental health.
For starters, make sure they are eating foods with plenty of calcium and potassium like bananas and dairy products. If you can, try to limit their exposure to sugary sweets, foods, and drinks as the sugar can eat away at their enamel. Let them treat themselves with something sweet, but don’t go overboard!
4. Introduce vitamins and minerals
If working on their diet is not enough to strengthen their teeth, your next step is to introduce some nutrients! Aside from calcium and potassium, there are many other important minerals that your kids’ growing teeth need. They need Vitamins A, D, K, and B, as well as things like phosphorus.
Introducing tooth-healthy vitamins and minerals is easiest through food but sometimes, your kids will need something more. Whether they have a deficiency or an allergy to a certain tooth-friendly food group, supplements are a great way to go. Talk to your doctor or dentist, get some recommendations, and enrich your kid’s diet and dental health with supplements!
5. Introduce fluoride water
Another great way to add some extra teeth-friendly nutrients to your kid’s diet is through their water! Whether tap, spring, or bottled, water is a host to many nutrients and minerals that can help keep teeth strong and healthy. While you may find some of the nutrients you need for your teeth in most waters, you’ll need to use fluoride water to get the full effect.
Fluoride water is exactly what it sounds like and it helps strengthen the enamel on teeth. It can also help ward off plaque and tartar and is easier to get your kids to take than supplements! While fluoride water is good for your kids, don’t go overboard, as having too much of it can wind up damaging your teeth!
6. Protect their teeth during sports
When it comes to dental health, cavities, and gum diseases aren’t the only things you should be worried about! Children are feisty and have a lot of energy, which means that they can often hurt themselves and their teeth. Whether they’re playing a sport at school or playing with friends in your backyard, you need to make sure their teeth are safe from physical damage.
Kids break their teeth all the time, whether it’s on the seesaw at the playground or during a baseball game. There are plenty of ways to teach your kids about tooth safety starting with wearing mouthguards. Pop one of these into your kid’s mouth and keep those pearly whites safe from harm!
7. Teach proper tooth removal
Last but not least, to finish educating your kids on dental safety and health, you need to teach them about proper tooth removal. Just like how accidents can happen on the field or in your yard, wrong tooth removal can damage your kids’ teeth and gums. You don’t always have to go to the dentist to remove a milk tooth, but that doesn’t mean that you can do it any which way!
Be sure to teach your kids the basics of good tooth removal and to teach them to always ask for help instead of doing it themselves. You don’t want to have an expensive dental bill just because your kid was too excited to get money from the tooth fairy!
So there you have it! With these 7 points in mind, you’re ready to tackle your children’s dental health like a pro! Start by teaching your kids about dental safety early on and find the right dentist. Bolster their teeth through a good diet packed with vitamins and minerals and don’t be afraid to use extra or fluoride water. Last, but not least, teach them to protect their teeth both during football games and while removing them!