10 things to keep your child’s teeth healthy

The theme of this year’s World Oral Health Day was: Be Proud of Your Mouth. The focus was the need for paying attention to one’s oral condition and work on preventing oral diseases. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, World Health Organization Director for South-East Asia in a statement urged the countries of South-East Asia Region to accelerate implementation of the Region’s new Action Plan for Oral Health 2022–2030, which aims to ensure that everyone, everywhere in the Region can enjoy the highest attainable state of oral health.

Globally, oral diseases affect an estimated 3.5 billion people worldwide. Between 1990 and 2019, estimated case numbers of oral diseases increased by more than 1 billion, which translates to a 50 per cent increase, higher than the population increase of about 45 per cent in the same period.

Khetrapal pointed out that this Region has several priorities and one of them is expanding oral health promotion in schools. According to Dr Mandakini Shukla, whose three children study at Apeejay School, Faridabad in Sector 15 and has practice at Expert Dental Clinic in Faridabad, very few people realise and understand that mouth is part of your digestive system and therefore, it is necessary to keep it healthy.

“Very few people know that a person’s oral hygiene is directly linked to the overall health of the person. The mouth is a part of the digestive system. And just like the blood goes to all parts of the body, it goes to the mouth as well. In case, a person has any lifestyle disease diabetes and or hypertension, it will affect the mouth as well,” Dr Shukla explained.

But in most cases, whenever there is talk of lifestyle diseases, it revolves around the heart, kidneys, liver and other organs of the body, Dr Shukla said; seldom do we think of the impact it is having on the mouth – teeth and tongue.

“When it comes to type I diabetes (children), the chances of infection increase which in turn can affect the mouth. Take an example. If the child has a dental cavity, it can lead to infection which in turn can spread rapidly and lead to complications in other parts of the body,” Dr Shukla said and gives advise on how to brush.

When it comes to children, parents need to be extra careful when it comes to oral hygiene. “This is because the eating habits of children have drastically changed in the last decade or so. Special care has to be taken of toddlers and their milk teeth as well. Even though they will eventually fall, they are in the mouth of a good seven-eight years. Hence, dental hygiene must be followed from childhood to inculcate a habit that continues into adulthood,” Dr Shukla said and suggests some dos and don’ts.

Here is a list of dos and don’t

1.       Do not use a medicated toothpaste unless suggested by the dentist.

2.       Change your brush every two months or till the bristles flower.

3.       Change your brush if you have had a viral infection. The virus tends to stay on the brush.

4.       It is important to brush twice daily.

5.       Ensure that your kids rinse their mouth properly after each meal.

6.       Teenagers must be encouraged to floss daily.

7.       Clean your tongue; either with a tongue cleaner or with the back on the toothbrush which has ridges made for this purpose.

8.       Visit the dentist every six months.

9.       Watch what your child is eating; less of junk food and more of home-cooked food.

10.   Drink water at regular intervals. Water is a great mouth cleaner as it washes away leftover food and residue that cavity-causing bacteria love to eat.

Very few people know that a person’s oral hygiene is directly linked to the overall health of the person. Just like the blood goes to all parts of the body, it goes to the mouth as well. In case, a person has any lifestyle diseases , it will affect the mouth as well

-Dr Mandakini Shukla, who’s three children study at Apeejay School, Faridabad in Sector 15 and has practice at Expert Dental Clinic