Top 5 Oral Health Problems in Children

Top 5 Oral Health Problems in Children

Even though your child’s baby teeth will be replaced with permanent teeth, keeping the baby teeth healthy is very important to your child’s overall health and well-being. Here we have mentioned the 5 main problems that may affect the oral health of your children.

Tongue Thrusting

Tongue thrusting puts extra pressure against the front teeth, which could ultimately push them out of alignment causing improper speech development, eating problems, and an overbite.

You can contact a dentist in Blacktown to help correct the problem – the earlier, the better.  They will develop a treatment plan that helps your child to increase the strength of their chewing muscles and to develop a new swallowing pattern.

Thumb Sucking

Generally, this habit isn’t anything to be alarmed about, unless it continues until a later age.  When your baby’s permanent teeth begin to come in, sucking on an object or thumb can push their teeth out of alignment, causing them to protrude or create an overbite.  Beyond the aesthetic consequences of sucking, it can also cause speech problems or teach children to eat incorrectly.

Once the first tooth starts to emerge, parents should offer positive reinforcement to encourage your child to stop sucking. For children who didn’t stop this habit for a long, it’s important to figure out exactly why your child is still doing it.

 

Lip Sucking

Lip sucking involves repeatedly holding the lower lip beneath the upper front teeth, which results in the same overbite, speech impediment, and eating habits caused by tongue thrusting and thumb sucking.

Like thumb sucking, lip sucking is best stopped with the use of positive reinforcement or you can also have a visit to the dental clinic in Blacktown.

Early Tooth Loss

If your child loses a baby tooth before the permanent teeth is ready to move in, it’s generally because of injury, lack of jaw space or tooth decay.  If left untreated, the remaining teeth could crowd into the space intended for the permanent tooth.

If your child’s tooth falls out early, the dentist in Blacktown will most likely recommend a space maintainer, a plastic or metal device that holds open the space left by the missing tooth.  Once the permanent tooth erupts, the device will be removed

Baby Bottle Tooth Decay

Baby Bottle Tooth Decay is a result of a baby’s teeth coming in frequent, prolonged contact with sugary drinks, such as milk, formula, fruit juices, and sugar water. As with all foods, the sugar is broken down by bacteria in their mouth, producing a byproduct of acid.  The acid then attacks your baby’s teeth and strips away the minerals found in their enamel, causing tooth decay.

You can prevent this habit by keeping your baby’s bottle or pacifier as clean and sugar-free as possible. Don’t add unnecessary sugar to your child’s food. Also, don’t put your baby down for bed or a nap with a bottle.  If they absolutely have to have a bottle, make sure you fill it only with water.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

Recent Posts