Keeping your child's teeth healthy is important. Even if the child does not have any permanent teeth yet, the primary teeth serve as placeholders for the adult teeth. In addition, dental infections that occur in primary teeth can spread to permanent teeth that have not yet erupted.

Here are a few things that you can do to promote good dental health for your child:

Exchange candy for gum.

Most children love the taste of candy. However, sugary sweets can often be exchanged with sugarless gum without much protest from a child.

Candy is usually sweetened with sucrose, which is a simple carbohydrate that is easily ingested by oral bacteria. As bacteria feed on the sweets, acid is excreted. This acid causes tooth decay that can result in dental caries. If the candy has a hard consistency, it can even cause your child's teeth to become cracked or chipped.

Sugarless gum is available in many different flavors that most children enjoy. As your child chews, the gum helps remove particles of leftover food and plaque from the surface of his or her teeth. In addition, the gum helps encourage the salivary glands to produce copious amounts of saliva, which can wash away decay-causing debris from your child's mouth.

Take along a bottle of water.

You can take along a bottle of water so that your child can rinse following meals and snacks even when you are away from the house. The water can help dilute demineralizing acid that may be present in your child's mouth. In addition, fluoridated tap water can help expose your child's teeth too enough fluoride to help repair damaged areas of the tooth enamel and to help prevent additional decay.

Fluoride attracts elements, such as calcium and phosphorus, back to the surface of the tooth enamel to form a new tooth material that is more acid-resistant than your child's original enamel.

Brush with your child.

One of the most important elements of a child's oral hygiene regimen is the proper brushing of his or her teeth. Although you may be advising your child to brush each morning and each night, he or she may not be observing proper technique. By choosing to share the brushing sessions with your child, you can observe how he or she is brushing and correct any deficiencies in the technique. In addition, you can make brushing more fun for your child, so he or she is less likely to resist this helpful habit.

To learn more things that you can do to protect your little one's oral health, schedule a consultation with a pediatric dentist in your area. Also, visit http://www.desmoines-dentalassociates.com for more information.   

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