Tooth Decay - Poor School Performance

Recent studies indicate that children who experience oral health problems such as tooth decay are more likely to have poor academic performance, in part because of an increase in the number of absences they experience.

Studies have shown that those missed hours can have a significant effect on overall school performance. Researchers found that children with oral health problems were three times as likely to miss school as their peers with good oral health. They also found that children who suffer infection and discomfort due to oral health problems had lower grades compared with children who had routine dental care—even if that routine care resulted in absences from school.

Beyond the issues of poor grades and missed school days, research has shown that children with poor oral health are more likely to have tooth and mouth problems as adults, which can wind up affecting their job performance.

Parents who want to maximize their child’s chances of success now and in the future need to make sure their child’s oral health is a priority. Regular examinations and preventive treatments are the first lines of defense in preventing decay, gum disease and other problems that can plague both children and adults.

If your child has missed school due to tooth or mouth pain, don’t delay: Call Dental Works 4 Kids today and schedule an appointment so your child can get the care needed to feel better and do better—academically, socially and in every area of life.

Your Baby’s Gap-toothed Smile: Should You Worry?

Your baby’s front teeth have begun to grow in, and there’s a gap between them. Should you be worried? In a word: No. A gap is a favorable occurrence because it gives adult teeth more space to grow in. Children whose teeth are closer together are more likely to suffer from a phenomenon called “crowding” that enhances the chance that the adult teeth will grow in too close to each other and become misaligned.

Believe it or not, your baby is born with his or her baby teeth already developed, hiding just below the gum line. The spacing between them has more to do with their role as placeholders for adult teeth than for their function as primary teeth. Frequently, as your child grows older and other teeth, especially the canines and molars, start to grow in, the front teeth will slowly grow together and the gaps will decrease until the teeth are aligned properly.

There are circumstances where gaps between baby teeth can be a problem. Sometimes, a gap persists because primary teeth simply refuse to grow in. This can lead to permanent teeth growing in improperly because their way has not been “paved” the way they would be if the baby tooth had grown in as expected.

As for a gap between your child’s adult front teeth? That’s usually just a cosmetic issue and probably nothing to worry about. In fact, the eruption of molars farther back in the jaw will often help crowd the gapped front teeth together. If your child is self-conscious about a gap between his or her front teeth, a veneer slightly wider than the tooth can be bonded to each tooth’s surface. Other options involve a removable appliance, such as a retainer and a fixed appliance composed of brackets and rubber bands that apply pressure to pull the teeth together.

Despite our reassurances, you should not hesitate to bring up this issue with us. Your child will one day lose his or her baby teeth, but that doesn’t mean they don’t serve an important role. Tooth problems don’t always occur all at once, and issues you or your child might not notice can be obvious to a trained eye. Bring your child to our office; we can fill in the gaps in your dental health care knowledge.

Varnished Teeth Have Fewer Cavities

More than 10% of all children suffer from early childhood caries (tooth decay in the primary teeth). Although this condition used to be called “baby bottle tooth decay,” based on the idea that it was caused by frequent consumption of drinks such as juice and soft drinks containing sugar from a baby bottle, dentists now recognize that early childhood caries is caused by multiple factors, including the presence of bacteria that cause caries.

Teeth both lose and gain enamel constantly. One way to encourage tooth remineralization is through the use of fluoride products. We may apply a fluoride varnish to your child’s teeth semiannually or annually during well-care visits.

A recent study reconfirmed that fluoride varnish can help reduce caries in young children. The children received fluoride varnish on all surfaces of their primary teeth at six well-child visits. When the children were 4½ years old, their teeth were checked on all surfaces for evidence of caries. The results were compared to a similar group of children who had not received fluoride varnish.

·         Children who received no fluoride varnish treatments averaged more than 23 tooth surfaces with evidence of early childhood caries.

·         Children who received 1, 2 or 3 treatments had results similar to the children who did not receive any treatments.

·         Children who received 4, 5 or 6 treatments had approximately 35% fewer tooth surfaces with caries

·         These results were consistent regardless of the child’s sex or age when the treatments began.

Compared with the cost of dental work, fluoride varnish is an inexpensive preventive measure. Although it cannot eliminate tooth decay by itself, fluoride varnish can help protect the primary teeth by reducing the amount of early childhood caries. Talk to us about this dental treatment at your child’s next visit.

Dental Checklist: Check Your Child’s Teeth

A lifetime of good dental health starts at birth. In fact, regular dental care should begin by your child’s first birthday, followed by a dental check-up at least twice each consecutive year. This checklist can help you know the whats, whens and hows of your child’s dental health.

Birth to 6 months old

Even though your baby has a gummy smile, you still need to think about his or her teeth. Clean your infant’s mouth by wiping the gums with a soft piece of gauze after every feeding and at every bedtime. Ask your pediatrician about the need for fluoride supplements. As your baby starts to get on a more regular schedule, implement better feeding habits (i.e., avoid nursing or bottle-feeding throughout the night, and make sure to wipe your baby’s gums after the last feeding of the evening).

6 months old to 2 years old

During this period, your baby will begin teething. Now is a good time to start a dental health routine, brushing after meals and at bedtime with a soft-bristled toothbrush and bringing your child to see us when the first teeth erupt. Because children begin toddling around during the same time these first teeth appear, you also need to be on the lookout for chipped or damaged teeth after your toddler stumbles and falls.

2 years old to 5 and 6 years old

Most children will have their complete first set of teeth by the age of 3 and will begin to lose them to make way for the permanent adult teeth between 5 or 6 years old. Baby (or “deciduous”) teeth play an important role in ensuring future dental health: They hold space for future permanent teeth. Infected baby teeth can cause problems long into adulthood. To keep your child’s smile healthy, see us every six months or as directed, and instill good dental habits in your child. Children this age usually may start using fluoride toothpaste (under a parent’s supervision) and should begin flossing.

Around the age of 12, your child will have his or her full adult smile (aside from wisdom teeth, which come in later). Encourage healthy eating and regular brushing, and see us regularly, so that we—and your child—can keep those teeth pearly white for years to come.