With the seemingly endless things you need to do as a parent during the back-to-school season, the last thing you want to worry about is your child having a dental emergency. After all, most people don’t plan ahead for situations like a chipped or knocked-out tooth. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to prevent dental emergencies if you take the right steps ahead of time. Here are four simple precautions to keep your child’s smile healthy as they begin the new school year!
1. Stop Your Child from Using Their Teeth as Tools
It can be hard to fight the temptation to crack open a bottle or tear off plastic packaging with your teeth, even for adults! Teeth are strong, but they’re not meant to be used for anything besides biting and chewing food. Otherwise, the teeth could crack, chip, or break. If you catch your child using their teeth in these ways, stop them and teach them to grab the right tool instead. Learning this lesson when they’re young will make them less likely to damage their pearly whites as they grow older.
2. Get Them a Mouthguard
Kids can be quite active, whether they’re playing sports or goofing off with friends. So, knocked-out and broken teeth are fairly common children’s dental emergencies. One way to minimize the risk of severe injury is to have your child wear an athletic mouthguard, which reduces the impact to the teeth when they play sports.
3. Establish a Daily Oral Hygiene Routine
Tooth pain from a cavity or oral infection can seriously hinder your child’s ability to focus on their lessons and homework. Not to mention, treating these issues can cause your little one to miss class. So, it’s crucial to ensure they avoid oral health problems by practicing good at-home oral hygiene. Every day, make sure they brush their teeth twice (for two full minutes each time) and floss at least once. This simple routine will greatly reduce the risk of plaque buildup while building excellent habits that can lead to a lifetime of healthy smiles.
4. Take Them to See Their Dentist
The beginning of a new school year is a great time to get your child’s six-month dental checkup and cleaning taken care of. Not only can the hygienist remove built-up plaque, but the dentist can also detect and treat tooth decay in its early stages, preventing it from becoming a full-blown emergency. With this quick and easy visit, you can be sure your little one will start the school year off with a bright, healthy smile.
Naturally, you want your child to stay safe as they enter a new grade, and these tips can go a long way toward preventing dental emergencies. Of course, if you have any questions or need more advice, it never hurts to call your dentist!
About the Practice
At Healthy Smiles Dental Care, our dentists are happy to see smiles of all ages, including the littlest ones in your family. We prioritize keeping kids at-ease in our dental office, and we offer a variety of children’s dentistry services, including pulp therapy to treat severely infected or decayed teeth. Additionally, we work to see patients with dental emergencies and relieve their discomfort as quickly as possible. For more back-to-school tips to keep your child’s smile safe, contact us at 810-720-6433.