A recent survey involving a group of Spanish parents found that 46% of affected fathers and mothers believe that it is not necessary to take their children to the dentist because they claim that their children have no oral health problems.
Children’s oral health
The results of the survey showed that only 32% of parents of children between the ages of 2 and 6 had their children undergo a dental visit.
Despite parental resistance to taking children to the dentist, the data showed that, in Spain, 31% of the child population, i.e. children under 6, are affected by dental caries. There are seven million deciduous teeth with a cavity problem, of which 85% have not received the correct root canal treatment.
The importance of deciduous teeth
What is often forgotten is the importance of deciduous teeth. Parents’ excuse for taking children to the dentist is that it is useless to treat teeth that are destined to fall out.
However, milk teeth have fundamental functions for the health and development of children’s health:
- ensure correct chewing and swallowing;
- act as a guide and maintain space for permanent teeth;
- allow correct pronunciation.
When baby teeth go untreated:
- generate infections within the oral cavity;
- can cause tooth loss;
- can lead to malocclusion problems.
When to take children to the dentist?
Children should be taken to the dentist as early as the first year of life to detect early cavities.
There are treatments in pediatric dentistry that guarantee dental treatment in total safety for children.
The dentist applies resin sealants to prevent the spread of bacteria and can apply fluoride varnish to prevent the risk of tooth decay.
Children should be taken to the dentist even when anomalies occur in the eruption of the teeth, a timely intervention could guarantee the effective resolution of the problem.
A check-up before the start of school could be important for the health of the oral cavity of children, to this should however be added healthy eating habits, a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, fish and olive oil, minimizing the consumption of sugars and fats.
For proper oral hygiene we recommend:
- around 6-8 months of age clean the teeth with a pediatric toothbrush, with a minimum quantity of fluoride toothpaste;
- from 3 years of age, brush your teeth twice a day;
- between 4 and 6 years the child will have to learn how to brush his teeth by himself with adult supervision.
