Parents should help their children to have healthy gums and teeth by teaching them proper oral care. There’s no doubt that flossing once daily and brushing twice a day helps reduce the risk of tooth decay and gum disease. However, flossing requires more preparation and demonstration for your kids than toothbrushing. Starting good flossing early for your kids is important, but parents should floss too. This article explains the importance of flossing and why kids need to floss.
Flossing is important to good oral hygiene, and Shasta Kids Dentistry is here to help you grow your child’s smile every step of the way.
Dentists recommend you floss between your teeth daily. Cleaning between your teeth helps in preventing gum disease and cavities. In addition, when your child has a routine of flossing, it helps them minimize plaque which is a cause of tooth decay.
Plaque is a sticky material on the teeth that have bacteria. In addition, plaque feeds off the sugars and foods in your mouth. This releases an acid that eats away the enamel of your teeth, causing tooth decay.
However, together with daily brushing, flossing will help your child have a beautiful smile and improve their oral health.
Brushing helps remove the leftover food on your mouth. However, it may not reach all the food, and flossing can help get the remaining food. Each tooth contains five surfaces that are supposed to be cleaned. Without flossing, at least two of the surfaces are left untouched.
Flossing is the only method to clean and remove food particles from the spaces between the teeth and around the gum line where the toothbrush cannot reach.
Children are unable to floss their teeth thoroughly until the age of 10. But, parents should start flossing their child’s teeth as soon as two teeth start touching. After that, flossing is done routinely, and you should teach your child the importance of flossing and start incorporating it into their daily hygiene routine.
According to our pediatric dentist in Redding, CA, younger children can also use flosser picks to ease the process. Also, if your kid has braces, they can use a floss threader that looks like a plastic sewing needle. This threader helps remove the food that is underneath wires and retainers, and you can easily get them where dental hygiene products are sold.
You may use floss that is dipped in mouthwash if your child is prone to decay between their teeth. This helps get fluoride in between the areas that are hard to reach and clean around the teeth. A water pick also helps reach those areas, especially if your kid has bridges, braces, or crowns. However, a water pick should be used in addition to flossing but not replace flossing.
Keeping baby teeth healthy is important, although they fall out eventually. When your child starts flossing early, it helps them create good dental habits for a lifetime. It would help if your child flossed at least once a day. Also, making flossing a part of their bedtime routine will work best for them.
Also, plaque is unnoticeable and can break down the child’s tooth enamel and lead to gum disease. That is why your kid needs to floss daily even when their teeth appear to have no plaque.
Although it’s hard for little ones to understand why they should floss daily, there’re some reasons why they should do so. The reasons include:
The less your child floss, the more their gums are prone to sensitivity and diseases. When the gums become more sensitive, it’ll be painful for them to brush their teeth. The gums might also begin to bleed, an early sign of gum disease. If you notice these problems, you should take your child to an emergency pediatric dentist near you for an oral check-up.
Smelly breath is an embarrassment for kids. It is caused by plaque build-up and when a bacterium grows in the mouth when the child is not flossing.
Visit our pediatric dentist in 96001 to get more information about flossing and learn which floss is right for your child