Your child may have great dental care habits for most of the year. Then Halloween happens, unleashing a torrent of sugary sweet goodies that lasts at least until early January. The bad bacteria that cause cavities, gum problems and bad breath feed on all that sugar, challenging even the best oral health habits. But is there a lot of extra brushing and flossing going on, too? Probably not.
Here are six smart ways you can boost your child’s dental and oral health during cavity season. Some are great reminders and others are new and different — including the surprising role oral-care probiotics from ProBriora Health can play. Read on to learn more.
Recognize what sugar does in your child’s mouth
It’s easy to downplay the harm a little sugar can do, but sugar plays a proven role in creating oral disease in children. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), the main culprit is plaque, a sticky film of bacteria constantly forming on our teeth.
“When you eat or drink foods containing sugars, the bacteria in plaque produce acids that attack tooth enamel. The stickiness of the plaque keeps these acids in contact with your teeth and, over time, the enamel can break down. This is when cavities can form. A cavity is a little hole in your tooth,” explains the website.
Add back in good bacteria to fight Streptococcus mutans…and other bad bacteria!
You may already be familiar with the concept of digestive probiotics to help re-balance the gut biome to improve overall gut health. Oral-care probiotics are similar and just as important — but they’re designed specifically to “balance the oral biome,” according to probiorahealth.com.
There are good and bad bacteria in the mouths of adults and children. It’s the bad bacteria that lead to gum disease, cavities, bad breath and other negative conditions in the mouth. But ProBioraKids, an oral-care probiotic specially formulated for kids, helps the mouth have far more good bacteria than bad, crowding out the bad, disease-causing bacteria and restoring the mouth’s oral health.
Like eating the right foods, regularly brushing and flossing, and getting professional dental care, keeping your child’s mouth balanced is part of the entire picture of their good oral health. And for children, adding ProBioraKids to your child’s daily oral-care routine does just that! It’s the easiest step to support your child’s oral and total body health. Simply chew or dissolve one ProBioraKids after brushing and flossing.
Prioritize brushing and flossing especially during ‘cavity season’
Toothbrushing should be introduced in kids as soon as teeth come through the gums, according to the ADA. Parents should be the ones to do the brushing until kids are old enough to do it themselves. But even then, for a time, brushing should be supervised to make sure it’s being done adequately (and at all!).
It’s recommended that teeth be brushed for two minutes, twice a day, including at bedtime so kids go to bed with a clean mouth. (If you’re using an oral-care probiotic, use it at bedtime for maximum effectiveness.)
To help brushing last two minutes, some sources have created fun playlists for kids. And some electric toothbrushes buzz at the two-minute mark to help kids know how long they should be brushing.
Make brushing in the morning and brushing and flossing at night parts of the routine of beginning and ending each day to help institute consistent healthy habits. As the American Academy of Pediatrics puts it, “A toothbrush should be the last thing to touch your child’s teeth every night.”
Schedule regular dental checkups
Whether you go to a pediatric dentist or one who treats the whole family, dental visits should begin no later than age 1 and continue every six months. Even if your kids are practicing good brushing and flossing throughout the year, having professional cleanings, fluoride treatments and x-rays are critical to keep good oral health in check.
Know your role in your child’s oral care
Parents are a child’s first and best role model in everything, including healthy oral care. From providing healthy food and drink to regular, professional dental care, to consistent dental cleaning every day at home, parents are the first line of defense in building healthy habits in their kids.
Let your kids see that you brush your teeth twice a day, floss at least once, and take an oral-care probiotic daily so that it’s “the norm” in your household and not just something you’re asking them to do that you don’t do yourself. This really makes a difference.
Be mindful of what your child eats and drinks
As much as possible, be aware of what your child is consuming. While you can’t be with them all the time (like when they trade the apple you put in their lunch for a friend’s cookies), you can provide healthy food and drink at home.
And you can help them avoid things that can damage their oral health like sugary drinks (including fruit juices), foods that stick in their teeth and turn to sugars like some crackers and chips, lots of sweets and candy, and other surprising contributors to poor dental health.
Content sponsored by ProBiora Health, maker of ProBioraKids. Learn more about keeping your child’s mouth healthy. Visit probiorahealth.com.
