Bad habits for children's teeth

 Children should take care of their mouths from a young age. We can help our children by teaching them to abandon bad habits that damage their teeth and to adopt proper hygiene. Our example, as in everything, is fundamental.

Oral care does not begin with the first cavity. It is important to monitor the health of your teeth from the first moment: preventing dental problems is much easier than curing them. To achieve this, we must eradicate bad habits (some shared by parents and children) and encourage our children to adopt basic hygiene routines. What are the most common bad habits for your teeth?

Poor dental hygiene

Not brushing your teeth after each meal or doing so insufficiently is the cause of the dreaded cavities, because it allows sugar to stay in the mouth for too long.

Thumb sucking

The continued pressure of the finger on the roof of the mouth deforms the upper dental arch. If the habit is abandoned soon, it is normal that, with growth, the palate spontaneously recovers its original shape. If the child continues to suck her thumb past the age of four, she is more likely to need orthodontics in the future. With the pacifier, continuous pressure is also exerted on the upper palate with the same results. However, there are anatomical pacifiers that can minimize the effects.

The sucking reflex calms the child. Therefore, when he does not give up the habit spontaneously, you have to ask yourself if he is anxious or having problems. Education and patience are more effective than any horrible-tasting liquid. Methods such as soaking the finger with a bitter liquid or insistently reproaching this habit are ineffective.

Dip the pacifier in sugar

It is becoming less frequent, but there is still the custom of dipping the pacifier in sugar (or honey, which is contraindicated in the first months) to calm the little ones. It is a bad habit that can cause numerous childhood cavities.

Don't do it. We can calm him down by walking him, playing with him...

A diet with excess sugar

Both refined sugars and highly acidic foods (certain fruit juices, for example), endanger the health of your teeth. If we take them, we should brush our teeth immediately afterward.

From the age of three, we can replace the sweets with dried fruits. If we cannot avoid them, we will encourage the child to brush their teeth as soon as possible. We will do the same with sweets, better artisanal than industrial and we will reserve them, like juices, for occasional moments. It is better to give them whole fruit because it has less sugar, more vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and helps self-cleaning the mouth.

Let him fall asleep with the bottle

In addition to deforming the upper arch, it can lead to unrestrictive cavities. This “baby bottle” cavity is recognized because it appears in most of the teeth, and causes the entire mouth to have a blackish color. It is because the contents of the bottle are usually sweet or sugary and stay in the mouth all night. It is difficult to solve so it is essential to prevent it.

Avoid at all costs that the child falls asleep with the bottle.

Grinding teeth at night

Teeth grinding is common in children with baby teeth, although the cause is not known. And, contrary to traditional belief, it's not the worms that are to blame.

You only have to worry if the child continues doing it with his permanent teeth since this habit can wear out his teeth, cause problems in the joints that connect the lower jaw to the skull, and cause headaches.

How to act

If the child has baby teeth, you only have to go to the dentist if the grinding is very exaggerated (when the wear reaches the deepest part of the tooth), to put some type of protective device.

If your child grinds with his permanent teeth, it is important to go to the dentist, as it may be bruxism. The most likely thing in this case is that they will make a relief splint so that they do not wear down their teeth and they will propose relaxation exercises to the child to release jaw tension.

Give them all the food crushed

Biting involves a massage and stimulation for the gums and training for the muscles of the face and tongue. Introducing solids too late is counterproductive to the correct development of the child's mouth.

Start giving him solids from the moment the first tooth appears, so that he can use his chewing muscles and his mouth develops normally.