By Cortney Downs, Kentucky Youth Advocates intern
February is National Children’s Dental Health Month! What started as a one-day event in Cleveland, Ohio in 1941 has evolved into a month-long celebration! This year’s slogan is “Brush your teeth with fluoride toothpaste and clean between your teeth for a healthy smile.”
Did you know that not flossing causes you to miss cleaning 40% of your tooth surfaces? Or that poor dental health can negatively impact children’s speech, growth, social development, and lead to more missed days in school? In 2016, Delta Dental of Kentucky conducted the Making Smiles Happen statewide dental health study of children between grades three and six across Kentucky. The findings showed an increased need for early and urgent dental care, especially among children in the Eastern region of the state. Additionally, the study found that children who receive free or reduced lunch were more likely to experience poor dental health: toothaches; more infrequent dentist visits, if at all; and untreated tooth decay.
National Children’s Dental Health Month is an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of developing healthy dental habits early, and to advocate for those in greatest need.
To help you get started, the American Dental Association came up with seven ways to make brushing more fun for kids! Activities include playing one of your child’s favorite songs for two minutes while they’re brushing twice a day, or letting them shop for their own toothbrush and toothpaste. They’ve also created fun activity sheets, including crossword puzzles and calendars to help kids keep track of their brushing habits, available in both English and Spanish.
If you’re interested in advocacy-based information and resources, the Kentucky Oral Health Coalition has a comprehensive list on their website, as well as a calendar of local dental health events for you to attend. The American Dental Association also shares free online tools and resources for consumers and advocates looking to promote the importance of good dental health, not just during National Children’s Dental Health Month, but all year long.
my 8 year old kid teeth are in bad condition because he always neglected brushing, i tried taking him to a dentist once but he’s always scared and often times throwing a tantrums so im always forced to take him back home, i will give it a go and try those fun activities, hope it will work on my kid. thanks
It’s very critical to teach children the importance of good oral health. Thank you for sharing!
Kids need dental care the most because they eat lots of chocolates and sweets, apart from that they just have got their new teeth and it needs to be clean and cavity free. I suggest visiting the dental house twice a year for kids or for adults.
It is very important for children they know about a healthy life because its so important for them. In this age which we think only about playing and other activity which gives them happiness and joy but they can learn also many things.Your blog will help us very much for teach them about their oral hygiene. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank for this great post it is so good and helpful for oral children dental care which is very necessary than other health. I am so glad you shared this article here which has these good useful tips and information about children dentistry. Thank you so much for sharing.Please keep us update.
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A good dentistry is very important for a everyone specially for our child’s health. In this age they most like to play and eat junk foods which can effect on their oral health.It is not good for them. Thank you so much for this post, by this post people will aware about their child’s oral health.
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Good oral health is important to a child’s social, physical and mental development. Even though tooth decay can be prevented, Regular dental visits are important as they help you keep your gums and teeth healthy. All of us should have a regular dental visit every six months. Typically, a dental visit consists of check-up and cleaning.Thanks for sharing.
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Playing music while brushing is the best idea for my little girl because she doesn’t like to do brushing but when I read your article I tried this trick on my daughter and now she likes to brush every day. Thanks for helping me!
What a best Explain About the Dental health. i will try to my son with playing music while brushing his teeth. thanks a lot for given that idea.
Really a very helpful article thanks for sharing and keep on sharing!
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Awesome blog !! thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for this wonderful post and I share your blog with others.
Great share! This post is very useful.