I love being a Dentist and I super love being a Mom and my worlds often collide. February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, and helping kids and parents take care of their smiles is a great honor and privilege. In fact, we like to start seeing kids around age 1 to help make the dentist a happy place that is fun to visit, and to talk to parents about oral care-everything from diet to proper brushing.
Juliette got to come see the dentist early (age 6 months, left) mostly just to visit Mom and see a cool dental mirror that she could keep! Official 1st Happy Visit with Dr. Grandpa (age 14 months, right) she got to sit on Daddy’s lap while Dr. Grandpa counted her teeth! Doesn’t she look like a perfect little angel patient? I must do an awesome job with her and brushing her teeth is the easiest thing in the world!! Right. Totally Correct. Rainbows and kittens.
Yup, it goes just like these pictures. She gets to look in my mouth and then we easily brush her teeth perfectly with an extra-soft toothbrush with just a tiny grain sized smear of fluoride toothpaste. Then I get a super sweet baby kiss. And this happens just this way at least 2 times a day!
Or it goes more like this…
Here is Juliette at 18 months. Here is a very stressed mom, who cannot even get her child to open her mouth. We sing songs, we practice with our lovie friend’s teeth, we take breaks. We push through, even though it can be a miserable seemingly thankless job, every day, at least two times, we go through this. Of course, I keep trying to make this a more fun and enjoyable thing for Juliette because perservering is so important. Tooth decay is still the most common chronic disease in children and prevention is key (even though it is the #1 chronic disease in children, the rate is falling! Check out more info below for how to help prevent tooth decay)¹. Yes, even for me brushing my toddler’s teeth is a challenge, you aren’t alone! But keep up the good work!
More Information on Preventing Childhood Tooth Decay in an Infographic
And visit MouthHealthy.org for tons of great information.
Citations:
- Dye BA, Thornton-Evans G, Li X, Iafolla TJ. Dental caries and sealant prevalence in children and adolescents in the United States, 2011–2012. NCHS data brief, no 191. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2015.
Two Docs and a Blog 