Almighty Dad | A stay at home dad blog

We had a rocky start with our older son’s dental care.  Tooth care was off my radar as a new parent, and I just didn’t do a good enough job keeping up on it.  The result was that two years ago the boy had to have a tooth removed because of decay.  I’m not a terrible parent, but I was definitely derelict in my duties when it came to his teeth.  We have since rectified the situation, and we’re quite careful about both the boys’ teeth.  We make regular visits to the dentist, floss and brush regularly.  It’s still not something I spend too much time thinking about, but it nevertheless requires at least a constant awareness so as to avoid pitfalls.  I’m a pretty good listener and these are the things the dentist told me.

Brushing: Obviously the most important part of dental hygiene is actually brushing your teeth.  We have a Sonicare toothbrush for which we’ve purchased small brush heads for the boys and normal ones for us.  The Sonicare is light years ahead of standard tooth brushes.  Just using a regular tooth brush these days feels dirty by comparison.  I have a routine when brushing the boys’ teeth.  It goes, inside bottom back to front to back, inside top back to front to back and repeated for the front of the teeth.  The Sonicare even times the brushing to tell you when enough is enough.  It comes with a vibrating function and a low intensity setting for sensitive teeth.

Flossing: Your dentist always tells you to floss your teeth but not many of us take it seriously.  Even fewer of us take it seriously for our kids.  I suspect that this detail may have been partially to blame for Neil’s tooth issues.  The dentist recommended to buy the floss that is pre-strung on a little stick.  They come in funny kid friendly animal shapes and colors too.  That way the kids enjoy doing it themselves and you don’t have to worry about getting your fingers bitten off (that’s something I actually worry about).  The dentist says to floss at least once a day.  I’ve found it’s actually easier to get them to floss than it is to get them to brush.  Child psychology is weird.

Tooth Paste: Kids don’t usually have problems with canker sores and such, but if they do then Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate are two detergents to avoid.  They are both quite mild as detergents go, but they strip the inside of the mouth of an important protective mucus layer which I’ve forgotten the name of but which a dentist in Texas told me about when I went and asked about canker sores.  He recommended trying different tooth pastes that either have less of those ingredients or don’t have them at all.  I’ve been using Jason toothpaste and haven’t had a canker sore in years.  Colgate is really bad for me and I’ll get one within a week of starting to use it. Crest Night Care is another one that works well for me.

Internal Review: Don’t leave it up to the kids to monitor their own dental hygiene.  If they are just learning to brush by themselves it’s a good idea to supervise for a while until you’re sure they’ve got the routine down pat.  Even if they are independent brushers it’s good to do inspections every night to make sure they aren’t cheating.  I cheated all the time when I was a kid. I’m sure a lot of you did too.  Our kids are no different.

Fluoride: The argument for fluoridated public water is that low levels of fluoride have been shown to protect tooth enamel and decay (My dentist is an advocate of fluoride).  However, opponents say that it is nothing more than forced medication.  They say we’re being over fluoridated, and too much of it can lead to weakened bones and cracked teeth (which has, in fact been proven).  Fluoride, they say, doesn’t need to be ingested to be effective.  Simply applying it to teeth has the same effect.  I don’t know.  We have water without fluoride in Boulder, but when we lived in Texas it was a naturally occurring substance (wasn’t added) in our public water supply.  Do some research and find out for yourselves.  I’m not a scientist, and I don’t pretend to be one.

Sugar: Apart from making us into fat slobs sugar is also a killer for the teeth. Breast feeding is, hands down, the best way to feed a baby.  That being said though, it is important to be vigilant with the baby’s teeth while breastfeeding.  Breast milk is sugary, and mothers should be careful that the milk does not pool in the baby’s mouth while he’s sleeping.  Tooth decay happens quicker during sleep because of reduced saliva production.  As for older kids and other beverages, they need not drink any soda or juice at all (see my article on the 4 best drinks for you and your kids).  If they do, they should be extra careful to brush afterwards.  Don’t go to sleep, and don’t let your kids go to sleep, with sugar on the teeth.

Thumb Sucking: Crooked teeth is what happens when kids suck their thumb.  It’s normal for little kids to do it, but when they get a little older the thumb sucking should stopped.  When the front teeth start to come in is that problems start.  Sucking the thumb causes a constant pulling outward of the top front teeth.  So, unless you want a snaggle toothed kid you’ll keep an eye on it.  We thought we were clear of this little annoyance but, sadly no; our older boy inexplicably started sucking his fingers a few months ago.  The solution?  When my dad was a boy his mother put tape on all his fingers as a reminder for when a finger went in.  It worked. I haven’t gotten there yet.

Our youngest boy has had no teeth problems at all, but Neil is another story.  I am sad to say that his problems were probably a direct result of my lax attitude about his teeth in his earlier years.  However, I still count myself lucky that we saw a dentist early enough that we all became more educated on the subject of dental hygiene.  I can’t say we’re necessarily as perfect as the dentist would like us to be, but we’re much better than before, and that’s a good thing.

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