Back to School Basics for Healthy Teeth

Summer is approaching, which means it’s time to get ready for the next school year. As the school year rolls around once more, you may find yourself feeling as if you were performing a crazy juggling act just to get everything launched and send your children back to school with bright smiles, the correct school supplies, and (relatively) clean clothes. We get it.

But one ball that can not get dropped in this juggling act is your child’s dental health. As we’ll explore today, poor oral health makes for kids who are distracted and unhappy in school and perform worse than their healthy classmates. Tooth decay is the most chronic disease in children, which should make preventing and fighting it one of our main goals in for their health. As we walk through this back-to-school season, we’d encourage you to take these action steps we outline to ensure that your child is set up for oral health success.

Switch Out Their Toothbrush

The American Dental Association, commonly known as the ADA, recommends switching out your toothbrush every 3-4 months, or more often if the bristles are matted or frayed. This is reasonable. It shouldn’t be too hard…except when was the last time you changed your toothbrush? It’s easy even for adults to forget a date like that and to only change their toothbrush when the dentist hands them a new one every 6 months at their cleanings.

In light of that, the start of the school year is the perfect time to toss out those questionable toothbrushes in your bathroom and your children’s and start fresh. Plus, it pairs perfectly with the buying of school supplies! While they pick out binders and new packs of pens, let them pick out a toothbrush they’d be happy to use, too.

Just make sure to write down the date of when you changed it this time.

Start Experimenting with Healthy Lunches

Once school has started, it’s go time. Lunches will likely be packed on the basis of maximum speed and least complaining, meaning high volumes of things like Gatorade, Lunchables, Nutella Sticks, and Fruit Roll-Ups. While everyone loves a good Fruit Roll-Up, everyone does not include your teeth. That stickiness is harsh! The damage that these and other similar processed, packaged, grab-n-go items do to your teeth is its own post.

So this back-to-school season, consider staging a revolt against the processed, packaged food kingdom! It’s not healthier for your children anyway. If school’s right around the corner, then you can begin this by prepping some replacement snacks ahead of time. For instance, you can chop up fruits and veggies that your child likes (think strawberries, baby carrots, etc.) and place individual serving sizes of them into Ziploc bags. This is an excellent replacement for a Fruit Roll-Up—just don’t tell them about the switch! You can even have your child help you put the fruits and veggies in Ziplocs. Win-win: bonding time with your kid, and a fridge stocked with grab-n-go lunch items that will support their oral health!

Instead of a Lunchable with processed ingredients and sugary drinks, try including water as their drink, and turkey and cheese for the main course. Water washes away unhealthy bacteria without adding any sugars itself. Cheese is high in vitamin K2, which is excellent for strengthening your teeth. Turkey provides the vital protein that teeth—and the rest of a kid’s growing body—needs. It’s also high in phosphorous, which pairs with calcium to create hydroxyapatite, an essential mineral in your child’s bones and tooth enamel.

See an Orthodontist, If Needed

The American Association of Orthodontists, also known as the AAO, recommends that children are evaluated by an orthodontist no later than age 7. They say that, “By that age, a child will have a mix of baby and permanent teeth, and the orthodontist will be able to recognize orthodontic problems [which are known as malocclusions] even in their earliest stages.”

What better time to get this off your to-do list than when you’re getting everything lined up and ready to go for the school year? Instead of letting this linger and pop back into your mind to stress you out at various intervals throughout the school year, why not take care of them now for any of your children it applies to? Schedule them now and schedule them early, and that way you won’t have to worry about it once the school year is in swing. If your child does have a malocclusion, it will be addressed by an orthodontist.

Guard Against School-Year Sports Injuries

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry carried out a study over the course of ten years with some pretty sobering results for the parents of young sports stars: they found that, “almost 32% of injuries to children at an oral and maxillofacial surgery department occurred during sports-related activities.” Sports are no joke, even on a youth’s level!

The good news is, there are preventative measures you can take before you throw your son or daughter into the rough-and-tumble world of elementary, middle, or high school sports. The most relevant one is the mouthguard, an instrument that fits over the teeth to provide a buffer from impact and prevent loss or damage to the teeth. Mouthguards are demonstrated to reduce the amount of dental and facial injuries suffered during sports and are highly recommended, particularly for those who wear braces or implants. There are a variety of options available with varying levels of comfort and cost; speak to your dentist about which would be the best fit for your child. Especially if your child has special circumstances such as braces, we would urge you to consider a mouthguard as a necessary part of sports equipment for your athletic child.

Visit the Dentist!

Last but certainly not least, scheduling dental exams should be perhaps the most important item on the back-to-school checklist for your child’s oral health. In some states, dental screenings may even be required by law. This makes sense—it is crucial to your child’s health and well-being that a dental professional is monitoring and providing treatment to their dental needs.

Remember how we noted at the beginning that children with poor oral health are at a disadvantage in school? It’s true. According to the CDC, “Children who have poor oral health often miss more school and receive lower grades than children who don’t.” Poor oral health may also cause digestive problems, thus impacting your child’s school experience. Because a kid’s digestive system is still developing, it’s especially sensitive to upset. Research notes that, “When teeth and gums aren’t taken care of properly, bacteria can travel from their mouth to other parts of their body.” Furthermore, the pain from cavities and tooth decay will distract them from learning, play, and social interaction.

All of these side effects are just a few reasons why parents should strive to prevent tooth decay before it happens in their child. The first and best way to do this is to teach your child proper oral hygiene and to supervise them closely until they perform it as naturally and habitually as waking up. The second line of defense, however, is visiting the dentist. The perfect time to schedule your appointments is now, before the rush of the school year has overtaken your family and it’s hard to keep all the plates spinning.

We encourage you to make dental health a priority, both for yourself and your children. There’s no time like the present to begin. Call our office today to schedule an appointment.