Caring for an Elderly Parent With Special Dental Needs
Keep Your Child's Teeth Healthy From the Start: What You Should Know
Joe Lawrence
Your child's teeth are very important, even though they are just baby teeth now, those teeth will eventually fall out and your child will have their adult teeth. There are many ways to help your children understand and benefit from positive oral health habits. Read on for a few things you should know about keeping your child's teeth healthy from the start.
1. Stop Bottle Feeding at Bedtime
If you are giving your baby a bottle at bedtime and this is how you are putting your baby to bed every night, that milk or formula sitting on your baby's gums is going to eventually rot the teeth that are below the gum line or any other teeth that have already emerged. Putting your baby to bed with a bottle every night can also end up causing your baby's teeth to move and shift out of alignment leaving your baby with crooked teeth that may not have occurred if not for the bottle.
2. Start a Tooth Cleaning Routine Right Away
You should start a tooth cleaning routine with your baby early on. Cleaning your baby's gums at the infant stage, then using a training toothbrush and toothpaste during the toddler years, and finally showing your child how to brush their own teeth during the toddler years and beyond. You need to start early on with your child so they know how to do these things on their own, and understand the importance of taking care of their teeth and their oral health.
3. Set a Positive Example
Children learn early on to mimic your example, so set a good example of oral health for your child. You should be brushing with your child so they see you taking good care of your teeth and will do the same as well. Also, be sure you are going to the dentist in addition to taking your child to the dentist, so your child sees you taking care of your teeth by going to the dentist each year as well.
You should do what you can to take care of your child's teeth early on to ensure their adult teeth are healthy as well. Talk to your child's dentist about other things you should be doing to protect their teeth and to instill good oral habits from the beginning. Contact a local children's dentist office to set up an appointment for your child.
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Caring for an elderly parent tends to be tough enough without the added stress of dealing with dental implants or dentures. But, the prospect is not the end of the world—there are many things you can do to ensure that your parent's dental health is not compromised without having to spend a lot of personal time doing the care yourself. Between working with the right dentist, hiring a service provider for part time work, and giving your parent the tools he or she needs to care for his or her own dental health at home, you'll find that dental health for your loved one isn't so tough or time consuming after all. Hopefully you are able to get the support and information you need right here.