Your child’s smile is important, especially because it helps your child eat and talk. Unfortunately, there are things/habits in the world today that can harm your child’s smile and create complications. It’s important to do all you can to help your child avoid those things. To help you, our dentist, Dr. Carey Norton, is happy to talk about the habits and give you the tips you need to help your child.
The first habit is chewing on things that aren’t food—this includes ice! Chewing on things like ice, pens, and pencils can apply unnatural pressure on the teeth and cause small cracks in the enamel. As time goes by, the cracks get bigger and bigger. Eventually, the entire tooth will be broken. So, please encourage your child to chew sugarless gum instead of foreign objects when they are bored at school.
The second habit is snacking throughout the day. This can be harmful to the chompers because constantly eating makes the enamel constantly exposed to harmful substances, like bacteria, sugar, and acid. As your child keeps snacking, the enamel gets worn down. Eventually, it will give into these harmful particles and allow dental issues to develop, like tooth decay and enamel erosion.
The third habit is not wearing a mouthguard. Your child needs to wear a mouthguard if they participate in high-contact sports and activities. This is encouraged because the mouthguard can protect the smile when hard, forceful objects hit it. If your child doesn’t wear a mouthguard, there is a high chance of oral injury.
Call Dacula Family Dentistry today at 770-995-1600 if you have any questions or if you would like to know more about how to save your child’s smile in Dacula, Georgia. We look forward to helping your child have the best smile and oral health possible!