Friday, May 27, 2011

Mom's Dental Health and Baby's Dental Health

Dental disease, especially cavities, is contagious!  The truth is a vast majority of infants "get" their dental disease from mom.  Sadly, in an attempt to improve dental health for infants and toddlers, recent literature has been admonishing mothers to avoid:

1)      Slobbery face to face nuzzling and kissing of their babies.

2)      Sharing spoons and cups with infants while helping them learn to eat.

3)      Cleaning baby's oral items like pacifiers and teething rings by licking them off yourself.

To me that is a bit like telling moms not to be moms.  Don't do those cuddly face to face things that moms do so well?  Children get their oral bacterial balance from somewhere, so if it is not mom, who will it be?  Spin the roulette wheel and hope?  No.  The focus is to create good oral health for mom.  Then she can pass her healthy balance of bacteria to her child!  Evidence shows that mom’s with a healthy balance of bacteria in their mouths have babies who "get" disease causing bacteria much later as toddlers. Evidence is also clear; toddlers who establish a cavity causing bacteria in their mouths later have fewer cavities for a lifetime.  The next few blogs will explore:

1)  Good oral health helps a healthy pregnancy.

2)  Poor oral health is associated with pre-term delivery and low birth weights.

3)  Dental care during pregnancy is safe.

4)  Improving oral health is in your hands, it is simple, and it is NOT expensive.

5)  Xylitol, toothpaste, mouth rinses and other over-the-counter products can improve your oral health if used correctly.

So until the next week, remember:

Don't floss all your teeth; just the ones you want to keep.
Scott Thompson, DDS
Pediatric Dentistry

2 comments:

  1. Very nice post. Yeah...its true if mother's health is good then her child is healthy. But if not then it affect the child's health. So mother should take care of her health.
    rochester hills dentist

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dental Health Care is one of the best prevention programs to ensure fresh breath, healthy mouth and teeth for life. Dental diseases are not considered to be fatal. Hence very often people neglect the importance of oral hygiene. Nevertheless, the cost of dental disease in pain, suffering, treatment and loss of work is huge. Teeth are meant to last a lifetime. By taking good care of your teeth and gums, you can protect them for many years to come.

    child dental care

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Welcome to Winning With Smiles - Pediatric Dentistry. We are dedicated to cavity free, healthy beautiful smiles. We look forward to the opportunity to share with you what we know about creating optimal oral health for growing children. We understand oral health is closely tied to general health and like to work closely with the family physician. Oral health is also closely tied to family life and lifestyle. That is why we like to have the family involved with dental appointments. What we teach our patients works best if understood and supported by the family and will benefit the family as well. We enjoy working with parent and siblings present. We have been learning from families since 1974. With the family present, open questions lead to family learning. We are dedicated to your oral health.