What Parents Must Know

Important things to know about your child’s teeth – life long health habits are established in childhood:

Health habits are established by age three. Read these tips to ensure your child's lifelong dental health.

1. Never put a child to bed with a bottle of juice or milk. Water is OK if a child needs a bottle to fall asleep, but it is better to avoid the habit of taking a bottle to bed.

2. Thumb and finger sucking does no permanent damage until the permanent teeth come in, usually from ages 5-7. The need to suck is very strong in some children, however, most children will begin to stop on their own as they develop social relationships. Positive reinforcement when children don't suck their thumb or fingers is more effective than negative punishment when they do. If thumb or finger sucking is a problem, please talk to us. We can suggest techniques that have been effective with other children.

3. Children in our area need chewable fluoride tablets until the ages of 12-16. Spokane's water supply has no fluoride. Cheney and Fairchild Air Force Base add fluoride to their water supplies. Fluoride supplements taken by mouth work into the bones and developing teeth. Fluoride can be applied to the tooth surface, and chewable fluoride tablets can be prescribed. Never leave out more than a week's supply of chewable fluoride tablets because they are toxic in large amounts.

4. Children cannot brush and floss effectively until their eye-hand coordination is sufficiently developed, usually when they can print neatly on a line or write in cursive. Children need to begin brushing and flossing as soon as they can hold a toothbrush to develop the habit, but parents need to check and help with brushing and flossing until children have the necessary coordination. Don't let children swallow fluoride toothpaste.

5. Teeth that touch need to be flossed. Along with brushing, floss children's teeth from a very early age so they come to regard it as routine as brushing or washing the hair, hands and face.

6. Sugarless gum can cause cavities, just as much as sugar. The bacteria that cause decay combines with the alcohols in sugar substitutes to easily make decay-causing acids.

7. Constant gum-chewing can dislodge sealants (used to prevent cavities) off the biting surfaces of the teeth and may cause future jaw joint problems.

8. The baby teeth, even though not permanent, are important to help speech develop properly and hold the space for the permanent teeth. Baby teeth are not just for looks.

9. If a tongue is pierced (at any age) the tissue never heals all the way through the tongue, so there is always a risk of infection, and a greater risk of breaking teeth from the jewelry.

10. Children need to visit the dentist at least twice a year and wear mouth guards when participating in sports.