Did you know that school affects your child’s oral health in more ways than you can imagine?
Think about it. How many hours per week does your child spend inside his school? During this time, you are not able to monitor or supervise his eating, which to say the least, is very much influenced by the people around him—his teachers and classmates. So how do you make sure you keep his teeth in tiptop condition while in school? Here are three things you can do:
- Regular Visits to the Dentist. And we mean, the same dentist, because you can’t really monitor his how his teeth are doing if you keep switching doctors. Start with one session before he goes back to school. Make sure to take note where his oral health is at this point—what he needs work with and what are the positive points. The goal is to make sure the good points remain positive, and you are able to address the things he needs work with moving forward so as to reduce chances of getting distracted at school or being absent due to tooth decay, toothache and other oral health-related issues.
- Pack His Lunch. We understand giving him lunch money may be the easy thing to do, but if you really want to work on your child’s health (not just his oral health), then we suggest making his lunch for him as much as possible. Make sure he gets enough serving of grains, vegetables, fruits, lean meat and yoghurt. This is also a great way to train him to choose food benefits his body over sugary treats.
- Require After-School Brushing.You really can’t supervise him while he’s outside of your home, so why not do it when gets back? Always ask your kid to clean himself and brush his teeth upon arriving from school. This way, you create a healthy behavior that he will most likely take with him when he grows up.
It may also be a good idea to consult a specialist about the chances of your child acquiring temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) in the future—just so you’ll be able to prevent it. Most people don’t know this, but unless caused by an accident, a person develops TMJ slowly, and more often than not, the patient is unable to learn that he already has it until it gets to the more advanced stages. So why not take that extra step and take your child to a dentist who also specializes in TMJ management, like Dr. EdwardBeduya?
