Our Blog

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), the authority on children’s oral health, is encouraging parents and caregivers to brushing their children’s teeth for two minutes, twice a day.

The AAPD joined with the Ad Council, as part of the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Health Lives, to launch a historic campaign designed to encourage parents and caregivers to modify their children’s oral health behaviors through low-cost, preventive strategies.  Campaign media partners include Sesame Workshop, DreamWorks, Cartoon Network, My Kazoo! and many others.

According to AAPD President Dr. Joel H. Berg, "This first-of-its-kind campaign unifies dozens of dental organizations around a common message and raises the awareness of children and their parents about the importance of oral health, which is critical, and desperately needs attention on Halloween, and every single day of the year.

AAPD urges parents and caregivers to visit the campaign’s website http://2min2x.org/ for key recommendations and tips on maintaining healthy teeth throughout the year:

• Keep Kids’ Mouths Healthy: Parents and caregivers should help or watch over their kids’ tooth brushing abilities until they’re at least 8-years-old.
• The Right Toothbrush:  Kids should use a soft toothbrush that allows them to reach all areas of their mouth.  Remember to replace toothbrushes every three-four months and even sooner if the bristles are worn out, or if your children have been sick.
  
• Attack Plaque: Plaque is a sticky film of germs that forms on teeth and gums after eating. Plaque that’s not removed by brushing twice a day can lead to cavities.
• Visit a Dentist: It’s important to visit your dentist regularly your whole life, starting no later than age one.  Seeing a dentist regularly is important for good oral health as dentists can detect small problems before they become bigger and more painful problems.
• Floss Your Teeth: Kids should clean between their teeth once a day, every day, with floss or flossers to remove plaque and food where a toothbrush can’t reach. Children’s’ teeth can be flossed as soon as two of their teeth touch each other.
• Use Fluoride: Fluoride is nature’s cavity fighter and occurs naturally in water and some foods.  To help protect teeth from cavities, fluoride is added to dental products like toothpaste. Children two years of age or older should always use a fluoride toothpaste.
• Baby Tooth Decay Is Real: As soon as teeth appear in your baby’s mouth, it’s possible for your baby to develop cavities. It is important to keep your baby’s gums and teeth clean to prevent tooth decay, even in baby teeth.
• Prevent Kids’ Tooth Decay: You can prevent tooth decay for your kids by lowering the risk of your baby getting the bacteria that cause tooth decay. Make sure you take good care of your baby’s teeth – this reduces the number of bacteria in your baby’s mouth.
• Nutrition: A balanced diet helps your children’s teeth and gums to be healthy. A diet high in natural or added sugars may place your child at extra risk for tooth decay.
  • - A sugary or starchy food with sugar is safer for teeth if it is eaten with a meal, not as a snack. Chewing during a meal helps produce saliva which helps wash away sugar and starch.
  • - Sticky food’s, like potato chips, raisins and other dried fruit and candy are not easily washed away from your kid’s teeth by saliva, water or milk, so they have more cavity-causing potential.
  • - Talk to your dentist about serving foods that protect your kid’s dental health.

In fact, AAPD has revised its Policy on Dietary Recommendations for Infants, Children, and Adolescents, which can be located at http://www.aapd.org/media/Policies_Guidelines/P_DietaryRec.pdf.

For more helpful tips to ensure that your family enjoys a fun and healthy Halloween, please visit http://www.aapd.org.

We try to stick to our New Year’s Resolutions, and as you look around, you’ll notice many ads are about fitness and exercise equipment. However, the best place to start is with smart nutrition.

A healthy diet is very important. If we all followed recommended guidelines for the proper daily intake of foods -- foods that include fruits, dairy, vegetables and meat -- we would see a huge decrease in deadly diseases such as heart disease, cancer and high blood pressure. We recommend you to try to add an extra piece of fruit or an extra vegetable to your diet each day until you achieve the correct number of daily servings.

Water is also a vital component to an overall healthy diet.  If you make water your primary drink, you will ensure you are drinking a zero-calorie, no chemical drink instead of a high-calorie or high-chemical alternative like soda. Fruits such as berries are a great source of antioxidants, as well as other chemicals your body uses to repair and prevent some of the damage caused by aging. Like fruit, fish and nuts are healthy as they great sources of Omega 3s and improve your good cholesterol.

If you try to change one thing about your diet each week, you will begin to view these changes as habit over time, and start taking steps to a healthier lifestyle.

Sucking is natural for babies. Whether it’s their thumbs, fingers, pacifiers or other objects, sucking helps babies feel secure and happy. Young children may also suck to soothe themselves. Since thumb sucking is relaxing, it may help them fall asleep..

When Should It Stop?

Usually kids stop thumb sucking between 2 - 4 years old, or by the time the adult front teeth are ready to break through their gums.

After your kid’s permanent adult teeth come in, sucking may cause problems with the proper growth of their mouth and teeth alignment. Vigorous thumb sucking may also cause problems with baby teeth. If you notice changes in your kid’s baby teeth, please talk to your dentist.

Using pacifiers at a later age can be as much of a problem as sucking fingers and thumbs, but it’s usually an easier habit to break.

Tips to Stop Thumb Sucking

• Praise your kids for not sucking their thumbs. Don’t scold them for sucking them.
• Children often suck their thumbs when they feel insecure or need comfort. Focus on why your child is anxious and comfort your child.
• For older kids, involve them in choosing how to stop. Your dentist can offer encouragement to your kids and explain what might happen to their teeth if they don’t stop sucking their thumbs.
• If these tips don’t work, remind your child of their habit by bandaging the thumb or putting a sock on the hand at night.