Why good dental hygiene habits should be encouraged in children?

Encouraging children to care well for their teeth is an advice that your dentist in Paschim Vihar will give you. Because the habits which are imbibed into children during their early life is something which they will carry forward for the rest of their lives. And when they are encouraged at an early age to start caring for their teeth, this will serve them well during adulthood as well. Because as parents you always want your child to not have to face any problems in the future, and ensuring that they have learnt the proper manner in which they can maintain healthy teeth is something that you have to bring into practice.

Most parents have the wrong notion that it is not very important to teach their children how to care for their teeth at an early age, because they believe that their primary teeth are anyway going to fall off and therefore don’t have to be cared for that well. But this is not true, because it is important for parents to understand that development of healthy gums and teeth in children during early life is vital for them to maintain it throughout their life during all ages.

The importance of primary teeth:

Primary teeth or milk teeth as people generally know it are an important aspect of healthcare in children. They include 20 teeth, all which usually have completely developed by the age of 3 years. And we should show adequate levels of concern and care for these teeth, even though children will lose of them because they play an important role in the development of a child, including:

• They act as the placement holders for the development of permanent teeth, therefore when you have properly aligned primary teeth, you will have a good chance of developing permanent teeth also in the same manner.
• They aid development of speech in children. Even as adults our teeth play a role in helping us pronounce our words appropriately, but in children the role of teeth with speech is even more pronounced because this is the age when they are learning to speak and therefore it is vital that they learn it in the correct way.
• They help children understand and learn how they need to start chewing their food.
• A set of healthy primary teeth means you can promote periodontal health in children.

Steps to set up your child’s dental hygiene routine:

When you teach your child at an early age how they should set up their routine so that they can care well for their teeth, it is a good investment you are making for their future as well. Because when it comes to child dentistry in Paschim Vihar, it has been understood that children who have had poor dental hygiene practices are at an increased risk of developing problems such as dental cavities, gum bleeding and discoloration of teeth in the future.

The ways in which you can encourage proper dental care in your children include:

• Setting up a routine – regularity of healthy habits is an important aspect of ensuring that they are imbibed in children. You cannot expect that children will learn good habits by practicing them once in a while. They should be encouraged to practice regular brushing and flossing which is recommended to be done at least twice daily, once early morning and once before going to bed. Parents also should understand that their healthy habits and good behavior have to be reinforced in order to encourage the child to maintain them.
• Become a role model  – if you want your child to understand the importance of good oral hygiene habits, then you should act as the role model for your child, because children naturally look up to adults for all aspects of their behavior. So make sure that you show them how well you care for your teeth, to get them to do the same.
• Pay attention to the amount of sugar in your child’s diet – sugar present in the food we eat, is the main source of harm to our dentition. Because these sugars act as food for the bacteria present in our mouth, which is then broken down to produce acid. This acid is responsible for destruction of the enamel and formation of cavities. Therefore as parents you need to keep tabs on how much sugar your child consumes and limit this amount.