Dental hygiene and prevention are essential even for children. Taking them to the dentist before problems arise will make them less reluctant or frightened when something needs to be done.
Dental hygiene is crucial to prevent cavities and other oral diseases also in children. Baby teeth and gums must be cleaned of plaque and food residues that stagnate after feedings.
An absolutely incorrect habit (fortunately less common today than in the past) is sweetening pacifiers with foods like sugar or honey and then leaving them in the child’s mouth to soothe or occupy them. Incorrect use of pacifiers and baby bottles often causes cavities or malocclusions that predispose the child to significant cavities when permanent teeth appear.
It is good practice that nutrition, from weaning onwards, includes foods rich in vitamins C and D like citrus fruits, tomatoes, dairy products, and eggs, to promote proper tooth mineralization, among other things.
Oral prevention in children should start during pregnancy: therefore, a proper intake of fluoride is very useful for both the pregnant mother and the child after birth. The scientific community now recognizes the effectiveness of fluoride during enamel formation, making it more resistant to acids. Fluoride intake during odontogenesis allows its deposition in the deeper layers of the developing enamel, forming fluoro-hydroxyapatite crystals instead of hydroxyapatite, which are more resistant to external attacks, especially from acids.
It is also very important that parents play an educational role with their children. While it is right to teach them to brush their teeth on their own, as if it were a game, it is equally crucial to supervise them to ensure the teeth are properly cleaned. Regular check-ups with plaque-revealing tablets will be an excellent tool to encourage children to clean better the areas that are harder to reach.
Additionally, parents must not pass on their own fear of the dentist to their children. If the dentist is portrayed as a punishment or someone who will hurt them if they don’t clean their teeth well, all our educational efforts will be in vain! This is why it is essential for children to visit the dental office around the ages of 5-6, especially if they have no problems. This way, they can familiarize themselves with the environment and the dentist, understand that there is nothing to fear, and thus acquire the confidence needed when any operative procedures are necessary.
Children should also have professional oral hygiene sessions, albeit less extensive than adults: the so-called deplaquing. These sessions will help them get used to the office and its procedures and will intercept any early carious lesions.
Finally, a very useful procedure is sealing the first permanent molars, which often have very deep grooves and are therefore difficult to manage in daily oral hygiene.
A slow-release fluoride resin is applied to protect the enamel from future cavities. It is an extremely useful form of active and mechanical prevention against the risk of dental cavities.
