How to keep children’s teeth healthy-Tips for parents

Being a parent is not an easy job. Apart from tending to the needs of the child, it is also the responsibility of the parents to ensure the health of the child. A robust and healthy lifestyle for your child will ensure a healthy adult life too.
Frequent health check ups are a must to ensure the proper growth of your child. These health check ups must include overall physical fitness and dental check ups. Believe it or not, clean and hygienic teeth not only ensure oral hygiene but also directly impact speech and eating habits. It is advisable to visit experienced and trusted doctors at one of the best hospitals in Abu Dhabi, Ahalia Hospital Hamdan for your child’s dental and health check ups. Making your child comfortable on his/her dentist visits is the first battle won. Our team of highly experienced doctors will ensure that your child is comfortable and at ease during every visit to the dentist.
During hospital visits, the most common complaint doctors receive from parents is the unhealthy teeth of their children. Parents are heard vouching that their children brush their teeth twice daily, but the problem of unhealthy teeth still persists. Brushing your teeth twice daily is a great habit and helps to reduce bacteria and germs considerably. The question is – is this enough to ensure healthy teeth and gums?
Through this article we have listed out a few more tips on how to keep your child’s teeth healthy.

Choosing the right toothpaste
It’s mommy and daddy who buy the groceries, so it’s mommy and daddy who have to choose the right toothpaste for the family. Although all toothpastes claim to be superior in quality, it is advisable to go in for a toothpaste that contains fluoride. Fluoride helps to prevent tooth decay.

Brush movements
You may be brushing your teeth everyday, but are you doing it the right way? The first lesson to be taught to children is the correct brush movement while cleaning your teeth and gums. Here is a step by step guide on how to brush your teeth.

• Wet your brush and apply a thin strip of toothpaste on the brush
• Start with your rear teeth or your molars. Move your brush in a clockwise direction.
• Rotate the brush in the same direction while you move to the front of your teeth.
• Remember to brush behind the front teeth.
• Change to an up-down movement in the front touching your gums with the bristles too
• Brush your tongue and inner part of your cheeks.
• Rinse your mouth at least 4 times
• Don’t hurry up. Brush for at least 2 minutes, twice a day.
• Change your brush every 3 to 4 months

Flossing
Flossing is another part of oral upkeep that is often ignored. Teach your children to floss their teeth to remove food particles stuck between teeth.

Eat healthy
You may have heard this one a bit too many times. It may seem tough to prevent your kids from all those sugary candies and aerated soft drinks. Sugar coated sweets can create cavities and lead to faster degeneration of the teeth and gums. Delete the items from the menu altogether.

Rinse your mouth after every meal
An integral part of oral hygiene is rinsing your mouth after every meal. This ensures no food particle remains in your mouth for long hours and it also eliminates any bad odour from your mouth.

To each his own
Remember to use your own cups, straws, sippers and spoons. Sharing these items with your kids can lead to a transfer of germs and bacteria from one mouth to another. Well, there’s a tough one for a parent- how do you teach your child that not all things should be shared? Like we said in the beginning-Parenting may be tough, but it’s a wonderful journey.