Be careful, Mother, this habit can damage the teeth of children

Maintaining dental health is certainly important, both in parents and in children. The importance of brushing your teeth must of course be taught from childhood. But, some habits that look normal can actually damage a child's teeth. Cavities, tooth decay, and other dental problems can interfere with children's activities and health. Therefore, it is important for parents to take care of children's health by knowing what habits can damage a child's teeth. Although baby teeth that are currently owned by children will be replaced with permanent teeth, it does not mean you do not need to maintain healthy teeth and let children with bad habits just because they do not want children to fuss. Remember, if your teeth have problems, your child may become more fussy and may affect the shape of a child's teeth as an adult.

Are there any habits of your child that damage teeth?

The following are some habits that can damage your child's dental health:

• Suck all day long

Don't let your child suck, especially with juices, milk or other sweet drinks. This can harm a child's teeth because it makes saliva or saliva unable to clean the sugar that sticks in his mouth, thus triggering tooth decay in children.

• Sucking thumbs and pacifiers

There are various habits that children do to make themselves feel comfortable. For example, just sucking the thumb or pacifier. If this habit is carried out at the age of 4-6 years, can cause children's teeth to grow messy. This habit can also cause difficulty chewing. Pacifier until the age of the child is quite large can affect the shape of the jaw and the normal shape of the teeth. If your child has been pacifying since infancy, it is recommended to stop this habit from the age of 1 year. If not, the pacifying habit will become more difficult to let go of.

• Feed at night

Children's teeth have been brushed clean, but before bed the child instead asks for milk. This habit can unwittingly damage a child's teeth. Feeding at night will leave sugar in the mouth and teeth of the child throughout the night. If done continuously, tooth enamel will be damaged.

If your child is still drinking milk, it is recommended to clean his teeth after breastfeeding. Because breast milk also contains lactose (a type of sugar in milk) which can damage a child's teeth.

• Biting stationery

Entering school or preschool, children will start using stationery. The habit of biting stationery, such as pencils and pens, can cause bacteria to enter the mouth, and can trigger tooth fractures. In fact, if your child falls with a stationery that is still in his mouth, can cause injury to

• Sweet and fizzy drinks

Besides not providing nutrition perfectly, soft drinks also contain a lot of sugar. Same is the case with other sweet drinks, including fruit juice. Although it sounds healthy, actually the fiber or other nutrients present in the fruit can be lost during the juice-making process.

In addition, its smooth form makes the juice can easily and quickly pass through the digestive tract, so that the vitamins in it cannot get absorbed properly by the body.

• Swallowing toothpaste

Children's toothpaste is available in a variety of interesting colors and colors. Sometimes, intentionally or not, toothpaste is swallowed by the child when he brushes his teeth. However, as much as possible to avoid this happening, because the fluoride contained in toothpaste, although good for dental health, can cause fluorosis if excessive or swallowed. Fluorosis will cause the appearance of brown or white spots on the teeth.

So, before children can spit and throw away toothpaste foam, it is recommended to use toothpaste without fluoride content. If your child has the habit above, immediately help him to stop it or reduce it gradually. For example, by giving a pacifier only when eating, to reduce the intensity of the child suctioning. In addition, brush your child's teeth at least twice a day. Provide children with equipment to brush their teeth when they are in school, so they can brush their teeth after eating at school. Teach children to drink water, especially after they eat or drink sweet things. But keep in mind, giving too much water to the baby is also not good. Children certainly do not really understand what is good and not good for health. Training a child from childhood to do healthy habits and undergo regular dental examinations, can help him avoid tooth decay. If your child's teeth look problematic, see your dentist immediately. Don't wait until he feels pain.