As a parent, you may be struggling with getting your child to brush their teeth. Kids who simply want to play just don’t see the value and importance of brushing their teeth. Kids Choice Dental offers exceptional pediatric dental care in Denver. Below, we’ll offer up tips for you to help get your child to brush their teeth. Schedule your kid’s dental cleaning today!
Make Brushing Fun
Let’s face it, brushing your teeth is a chore. So how do you turn this chore into fun? By turning it into a game! You can play music while you brush your teeth, see if you can beat the commercial breaks during their favorite TV show, or even make up a story while you are brushing your teeth that continues only when they brush their teeth again.
Brush Your Teeth With Your Child
Children learn by imitation, and if they see you brush their teeth, then they are more likely to do so, too. However, you can take this to the next level by brushing your teeth alongside your child. Odds are, they will love this family bonding time with you.
Offer Rewards & Incentives
Most of us will work harder for rewards, as will kids. Find out what they love receiving, and offer that as incentive to brush their teeth. This could be a sticker, a choice in bedtime stories, or even just a hug and a twirl afterward.
Let Them Personalize Their Toothbrush
When you were a kid, you might have had a cool comic character toothbrush. Now, there is a myriad of fun selections on toothbrushes for kids, from Disney princesses to Transformers. Let your child pick out their favorite character toothbrush and toothpaste to make brushing their teeth fun.
CHOOSE KIDS CHOICE DENTAL TODAY
Kids Choice Dental offers the best kids’ dental care in the Denver metro area. Our team ensures your kids are comfortable and safe while at our dental office. We offer a variety of dental services, including dental cleanings, orthodontics, endodontic care, and more. Schedule a dental cleaning today!
Here at Kids Choice Dental in Denver, we are often asked by parents how to prevent cavities in their children’s teeth. Below, we’ll explore some great tips to do just that, and schedule your child’s dental cleaning today!
Encourage Daily Brushing and Flossing
One of the best ways to prevent cavities in your child’s teeth is to encourage great oral hygiene care. This includes brushing and flossing their teeth at least twice a day — in the morning and at night. You should help your child when they are younger in order to ensure they are properly brushing and flossing.
Limit Some Hard & Sticky Candies
Many hard and sticky candies work to erode the enamel, or the protective covering of teeth, from your child’s teeth. These types of candy, such as gummy candies or hard candies, should be limited. If your child does consume them, have them rinse their mouth or brush their teeth immediately afterward.
Consider Dental Sealants
Dental sealants are thin, plastic coatings that are placed on your child’s molars that help to form a barrier against bacteria. This simple, painless procedure takes a minimal amount of time and can help prevent cavities in the long run.
Get Regular Dental Cleanings
Regular dental checkups and cleanings are essential to help your child stay cavity-free. Your dentist will not only offer a great cleaning, but they can provide a fluoride treatment to help strengthen your child’s teeth and ensure their teeth are coming in properly.
CHOOSE KIDS CHOICE DENTAL TODAY
Kids Choice Dental is a Denver-area pediatric dentist that loves to help kids stay cavity-free. Our staff takes the time to help both you and your child learn about great oral health care and offer tips and tricks to keep your teeth healthy. To get started, call for a dental appointment today!
As a parent, there’s a lot to think about for the care of your child, including their oral health. So how do you know if your child has a cavity? Kids Choice Dental is a Denver-area pediatric dentist with four locations to better serve you. Below, we’ll take a look at four signs your child has cavities. Schedule your dental appointment today!
Tooth Pain
One of the more obvious signs of cavities is tooth pain. This is because cavities are essentially damaged areas of the tooth where decay has settled in, often leaving holes or empty spots. As you can imagine, when your child eats, this empty spot can get food in and reach more sensitive areas of the tooth.
Sensitive to Foods
Sensitivity to certain foods is often because the enamel of the child’s tooth has worn down. This can leave other areas of the tooth, such as the dentin exposed, that then affects the tooth’s nerve. This is what causes tooth pain while eating certain foods, such as hot or cold foods or even sweet foods.
Spots on Your Child’s Tooth
Cavities are dark, often black, in appearance, so if you see dark spots in the middle or the sides of your child’s tooth, it may be a cavity. Furthermore, white spots can also appear. These are a sign of mineral loss in the tooth and should be evaluated by your pediatric dentist in Denver.
Hole in Tooth
Another classic sign of cavities in kids is a hole in their tooth. Oftentimes, holes begin as white spots on the tooth and then they eventually worsen, forming a pit or a hole. These holes can also form on the sides of teeth, too.
CHOOSE KIDS CHOICE DENTAL TODAY
Kids Choice Dental is proud to offer the best pediatric dental services to children in the Denver metro area. Our team has years of experience helping to ensure your child’s best oral health. We accept most major dental insurance, and we are accepting new patients. Give us a call to learn more or to schedule your child’s dental appointment today!
Your child needs good dental care. However, the same things that work for adult dental care are not necessarily good for babies. Below are some useful tips to help you care for your baby’s dental health.
How Certain Foods and Beverages Affect Your Child’s Teeth Body
Caring for your child’s teeth and oral health takes a lot of work, and it’s easy to undo all that work with a bad diet. Many foods are detrimental to your child’s teeth, but others may help keep them clean or promote healthy tooth enamel. If you would like to learn more, keep reading. Sugary Foods and Beverages Sugary foods and beverages include candies, cookies, soda, juice, and much more. They pose a direct threat to teeth because the sugar in the foods combines with the natural bacteria in your child’s mouth. This quickly leads to a sticky film on teeth and gums: plaque. If left on teeth, plaque can wear down enamel and eventually turn into hard tartar. As the enamel wears, your child’s teeth are exposed to sensitivity and decay. One study in Finland found that consuming only one or two sugary drinks a day might increase your chances of tooth decay by 31 percent. In addition, many sugar foods are sticky, like chewy candies. The sticky nature of the food causes it to stick to teeth better, so your child’s natural saliva cannot remove it quickly. The longer the tooth is in contact with the sticky, sugary food, the higher the risk of decay. Carbohydrates The oral bacteria in your child’s mouth love carbohydrates, and it even causes them to create an acid byproduct, which can harm your child’s tooth enamel just like acidic food and beverages. In turn, if your child eats a lot of carbohydrates like white bread, pastries, chips, etc., it is just as bad as eating sugary foods for your child’s oral health. Acidic Foods and Beverages With some foods, it is not just sugar that is the problem. Many food and beverages are acidic, such as soda, citric juices, and citrus fruits. The acid can soften enamel with it meets teeth, which leads to an increased risk of tooth decay and sensitivity as the enamel erodes. The acid is so good at softening enamel that teeth may be too soft for brushing right after your child drinks soda. Brushing could remove some enamel, so your child should wait about an hour before the enamel re-hardens. Fruits and vegetables are great because they do not contain high levels of sugar, and most do not contain high levels of acid. However, they can help your child’s teeth in other ways. First, fruits and vegetables hold a lot of water. This water helps stimulate saliva production, which helps keep the mouth clean naturally. Second, some fruits and vegetables are hard, like apples and carrots. These can actually help remove bits of sugar and plaque when you eat them by scraping against the teeth. Calcium-Rich Foods and Beverages Calcium is crucial to build and keep teeth and enamel healthy. Therefore, calcium-rich foods are a great choice for your child. Naturally, dairy products are one of the easiest ways to get calcium in your child’s diet, and some types of cheese may even clean teeth just like hard fruits and vegetables. However, there are other ways to incorporate calcium, such as canned fish, leafy greens, beans, and broccoli. Plus, you can fortify foods and beverages with calcium by adding supplements if you fear your child isn’t getting enough. Understanding the dangers of some foods and beverages is imperative to keep your child’s teeth and gums healthy. While sugar and carbohydrates may be okay in moderation, a diet heavy in them can ruin your child’s teeth, leading to pain and expensive procedures. If you would like to learn more, or if you want to schedule an appointment, contact us at Kids Choice Dental today.
