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In the rush of the last days of summer, it might be tempting to ignore your child’s summer dental exam, but skipping it could mean detention for your child’s mouth.

Back-to-school physical? Scheduled. New clothes and shoes? Bought. But don’t forget about your children’s teeth! It may be tempting while you’re squeezing in every last minute of summer fun to skip their summer dental appointment, but it’s every bit as important as a yearly physical. Plus, most schools require a dentist’s signature verifying your child has a clean bill of dental health.

Scheduling a dental visit before the start of the school year saves time rushing around before or after school, and your child won’t miss any school time. It’s estimated that children miss more than 50 million hours of school each year due to dental visits. Cavities are the most common chronic childhood disease, and early detection is key to simple treatment. By scheduling a dental checkup before school starts, you can beat the rush!

Here Are Some Tips for A Great Checkup (For You and Your Child)

Schedule an Appointment First Thing in the Morning or After a Nap – Schedule appointments when your little one is most cooperative and alert. If your child gets cranky when they’re hungry, try an appointment right after breakfast. If your child has a short attention span, try the first appointment in the morning or right after lunch when there’s less chance of the office running behind schedule.

Keep Your Phobia to Yourself – If you have a dental phobia, try not to let your kids see you sweat. Children are very perceptive, and if they see you cringe the second the instruments come out, they’re going to associate the dentist with being a scary place before they even open their mouths. Smaller children lack the verbal skills to communicate clearly, so they become masters at interpreting visual cues and body language. Try to breathe calmly and avoid language that might scare or intimidate a child. Don’t use the words, shot, drill, or pain or threaten to hold them down if they don’t sit still. Remember that positive experiences as a child are the building blocks for how they will look at the dental visits as they grow up. Keep it light and fun, and they’ll look forward to each visit.

Let an Older Child Lead by Example: If you’ve booked your children’s appointments back-to-back, let the child with the most dental experience go first so they can be a positive role model for the other child/children. Be sure to bring toys or a tablet and headphones to keep your other child occupied when they aren’t in the dental chair.
Don’t Forget Their Oral Appliances: If your child has a sports guard, retainer, or sleep apnea appliance, please bring it with you. Growth spurts and loss of baby teeth alter the way these appliances fit, and now is the perfect time to have them re-evaluated.

Keep the Office Number Handy: Emergencies happen. Make sure to keep your dentist’s number in your phone and remember to take a few business cards with you. Keep one in the car, at work, and tucked in your child’s backpack.

Get into the Groove: As summer winds down and bedtime routines start to get back into the swing, now is the best time to re-establish good at-home hygiene habits. Brushing before school and before bed for two minutes combined with daily flossing can help your child stay healthy between dental visits.

The back-to-school rush can get hectic, and it’s tempting to forgo your child’s cleaning and exam, especially if they don’t complain of pain or show any signs of cavities or other dental problems. But a child’s oral health affects their whole body. Making sure they start the school year with a healthy smile can save time out of school and prevent emergencies that are no day at the beach.

Summer sun brings summer fun. While warm months are perfect for spending time together, summer vacation can also throw off your usual dental routine. Here are three ways to prevent summertime tooth decay:
Stay on a routine

Whether your kids are staying up to catch fireflies or a fireworks show, resist the temptation to skip brushing before a late bedtime—or let it slide when they sleep in the next morning. “Don’t forget about your smile over the summer,”. “It’s important for families to consistently brush and floss, which keeps kids on track for healthy back-to-school dental visits.”

No matter how eventful the upcoming months become, supervise that they are brushing twice a day for 2 minutes with fluoride toothpaste. Simple things like brushing calendars can help everyone stay on track over the summer. Plus, it’s a chance to spend more time together. Brushing alongside your children for 2 minutes, twice a day for the three months of summer gives you 6 extra hours together, so make the most of them!

And don’t forget to clean between those teeth once a day. “Your children should be flossing between any two teeth that touch,”. “However, many kids don’t have motor skills to floss until they are over 10 years old.” If your child needs help, try different types of interdental cleaners or put your hands over theirs to guide them and get the job done at the same time.

Say no to sugary drinks and snacks

As the temperature rises, it’s common for families to sip and snack during sports tournaments, festivals or nearly any community event. “Watch your family’s intake of lemonade, juice and soda,”. “Consider sugary drinks treats to enjoy once in a while, and not often.” Instead, offer water (even better if it has fluoride) to beat the heat, or milk to drink with meals. And, don’t let summertime grazing damage your child’s smile. “Taking a break from snacking is healthy for your teeth,” says Dr. Hayes. “It allows time for saliva to bathe the teeth, wash away leftover food and get stronger.”

If you find yourself spending more time at home, snack smarter, and let your children tell you when they’re hungry instead of offering snacks throughout the day. “They’re not afraid to let you know when they want something to eat!” she says.

When most people think about cosmetic dentistry, they picture a Hollywood smile with brilliant white teeth. While teeth whitening is certainly a popular and effective cosmetic treatment, there’s a lot more to cosmetic dentistry than that. For example, did you know that improving the appearance of your smile often improves its function at the same time? Cosmetic dentistry can even improve your mood and confidence!

Let’s talk about those and many other fascinating but lesser-known facts about cosmetic dentistry.

1. Caring about your smile is human nature

It’s normal to care about the way your smile looks. In fact, people have been invested in the appearance of their teeth since ancient times. Etruscans in northern Italy were making dentures as early as 700 BC!

Although many people aren’t happy with the look of their smile, a survey by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry found that 82% of respondents said it’s the dentist who initiates a dialogue about cosmetic dentistry. (Only 26% said that patients start the conversation.) Patients often don’t ask about cosmetic options because they:

• Feel nervous or uncomfortable to bring it up
• Don’t realize it’s an option
• Believe it will be too expensive

At DDS, all questions about cosmetic dentistry (and other types of dentistry) are welcome. We focus on eliminating barriers to high-quality cosmetic dentistry by creating a compassionate, judgement-free environment and offering affordable payment plans.

2. Cosmetic dentistry can improve the health and function of your teeth

Functional dental issues can become cosmetic concerns if they’re left untreated. For example, tooth decay that isn’t addressed can eventually lead to lost teeth. If you have a cavity, tooth-colored fillings can prevent further complications, like tooth loss. Living with missing teeth long term, can lead to other health issues, such as:

• TMJ pain
• Facial bone loss (which causes the face to look sunken)
• Gum disease
• Difficulty chewing

If you already have missing teeth, treatments like implants, crowns, bridges, and dental bonding will improve your smile’s appearance and restore function at the same time.

3. Porcelain veneers don’t stain like normal teeth do

Stained teeth aren’t necessarily unhealthy teeth, but you may not like the look of them. The truth is that if you drink several cups of coffee or tea throughout the day, it can be hard to keep your natural teeth white, even with good dental hygiene practices.

A professional whitening can work wonders for mild-to-moderate stains, but if you have more advanced staining or your teeth are worn down, porcelain dental veneers may be a better and more permanent solution. Not only do they brighten your smile, they also beautifully hide cracks, chips, and gaps. Although porcelain veneers look just like real teeth, they’re actually much more resistant to staining than regular teeth, which makes them a long-lasting solution to persistent tooth stains.

4. You can practice preventive cosmetic dentistry in daily life

Although many cosmetic dental issues require professional intervention to fix, there’s a lot you can do on your own to help keep your teeth healthy and beautiful.

• Avoid soda and sugary drinks — they’re one of the main causes of tooth stains, discoloration, and decay
• Drink plenty of water to flush away food remnants and bacteria
• Rinse with water after consuming sugary foods and drinks, as well as tooth-staining beverages like coffee, tea, and wine
• Floss daily and brush morning and night to keep your teeth clean, healthy, and white

5. Some people wear down their teeth at night without knowing it

Bruxism is a condition that involves grinding, clenching, or gnashing your teeth. It’s possible to do this while awake or asleep, but people with sleep bruxism are less likely to be aware that it’s happening. The underlying causes of bruxism are complex, but stress and improper tooth alignment are common contributing factors.

If bruxism is severe enough, it can have serious consequences for the health and look of your teeth. In the worst cases, it eventually wears down the enamel on your teeth, which changes their shape and appearance, making them look short and flat.

If you’re experiencing headaches, facial pain, worn or chipped teeth, tight/painful jaw muscles, or you find yourself constantly waking up during the night, it’s worth talking to your dentist. A dentist can identify signs of tooth grinding, so you can address the problem and prevent both the cosmetic and functional consequences of bruxism.

The simplest and most common solution is to wear a night guard while you sleep, but other treatments can also be helpful, especially if they address the root cause of the grinding. Depending on your situation, your dentist might recommend treatments like:

• Practicing proper jaw and tongue positioning
• Orthodontic treatment to align crooked teeth
• Stress management

6. Cosmetic dentistry isn’t “one size fits all”

Many people worry that they’ll lose everything unique and personal about their smile if they get cosmetic treatments. Luckily that isn’t the case!

Do you love the unique shape of your teeth? Like the look of your prominent canines? Don’t want to lose the gap between your front teeth? It’s generally easy to preserve certain elements of your smile but change others.

At DDS, our goal is to help you achieve a smile that you love, and our treatment plans are customized to your needs. We’ll talk to you about how you want your teeth to look, and if there are any specific features you want to preserve or change. It’s all up to you!

Healthcare professionals: use Protect Tiny Teeth, a free set of resources, to talk to pregnant women and new moms about the importance of oral health.

One way to prevent cavities in young children is to improve pregnant women’s oral health. Pregnancy may make women more prone to periodontal (gum) disease and cavities. Oral health may be considered an important part of prenatal care, given that poor oral health during pregnancy can lead to poor health outcomes for the mother and baby. Protect Tiny Teethexternal icon includes a mix of attention-grabbing materials to spark awareness that oral health should be part of prenatal care, and tips on how pregnant women and new moms can protect their oral health and the oral health of their infants.

Pregnancy and Periodontal Disease

Nearly 60 to 75% of pregnant women have gingivitis, an early stage of periodontal disease that occurs when the gums become red and swollen from inflammation that may be aggravated by changing hormones during pregnancy.1 If gingivitis is not treated, the bone that supports the teeth can be lost, and the gums can become infected. Teeth with little bone support can become loose and may eventually have to be extracted. Periodontitis has also been associated with poor pregnancy outcomes, including preterm birth and low birth weight.2 However, how periodontitis may lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes is not yet fully understood.

Pregnancy and Dental Cavities

Pregnant women may also be at risk for cavities due to changes in behaviors, such as eating habits.3 Women who have a lot of cavity-causing bacteria during pregnancy and after delivery could transmit these bacteria from their mouth to the mouth of their baby.4 Early contact with these bacteria and to other sugars, such as from frequent snacking or taking a bottle to bed, can lead to early childhood cavities and the need for extensive dental care at a young age.

• 1 in 4 women of childbearing age have untreated cavities.
• Children of mothers who have high levels of untreated cavities or tooth loss are more than 3 times more likely to have cavities as a child.
• Children with poor oral health status are nearly 3 times more likely to miss school because of dental pain.

 
www.cdc.gov credits