Even before a baby is born, those tiny baby teeth are already forming. Expectant mothers can help ensure that their children’s baby teeth will be strong and healthy by getting the recommended amounts of proteins, vitamins, and minerals in their prenatal diets.
But a mother can’t “eat for two” to make sure her child’s adult teeth are healthy—children’s permanent teeth begin real growth and development only after birth. What can we do to encourage strong permanent teeth as our children grow and develop? Here are four important building blocks parents can use to lay a healthy foundation for their children’s grown-up smiles.
Serve a Tooth-Healthy Diet
The same vitamins and minerals that help create baby teeth are essential for creating healthy adult teeth. Tooth enamel, the hardest substance in the body, is almost completely made up of calcium phosphate minerals. A diet which provides the recommended amounts of calcium and phosphorus helps your child’s body grow strong enamel. And don’t forget vitamin D, which our bodies need to absorb calcium and phosphorus.
A tooth-healthy diet should include several servings of foods which provide calcium, such as dairy products (milk, yogurt, cheese), dark leafy vegetables, and fortified juices, cereals and tofu. Phosphorus can be found in proteins like meat, fish, and poultry, as well as beans, nuts, dairy, and whole grains. Egg yolks and fatty fish are natural sources of vitamin D, and it’s easily available in fortified foods such as cow’s milk, soy milk, cereals, and orange juice.
Use the Right Amount of Fluoride
Fluoride is called “Nature’s cavity fighter” for a reason. Fluoride reduces the risk of cavities and helps strengthen tooth enamel. Dr. LaLande can offer invaluable advice on when to start and how to use fluoride toothpaste to protect your child’s baby teeth and developing adult teeth.
Can there be too much of this good thing? While fluoride is a safe and effective way to protect teeth in normal, recommended amounts, too much fluoride can lead to fluorosis. This condition can cause cosmetic changes in the enamel of permanent teeth, from almost invisible lighter spots to darker spots and streaking.
How to make sure your child gets the right amount of fluoride?
For children under the age of three, use a dab of toothpaste no larger than a grain of rice. Ask Dr. LaLande if fluoride toothpaste is recommended.
Young children can’t always understand the idea of spitting and rinsing after brushing, so children between the ages of three and six should use only a pea-sized dab of fluoride toothpaste, and need you there to make sure they spit and rinse afterward.
Ask us about local water fluoride levels if you have any concerns about using tap water for drinking or for mixing formula, keep fluoride toothpastes and other products out of the reach of children, monitor your children while they brush, and always check with us before giving your child a fluoride rinse or supplement.
Help Your Child Retire Harmful Thumb Sucking and Pacifier Habits
Your child might self-comfort with the help of a pacifier or thumb sucking, which can be a valuable soothing habit. But it’s important to talk to Dr. LaLande to see just how long this soothing habit should last. Around the age of four, aggressive thumb or pacifier sucking can lead to problems for permanent teeth.
Vigorous sucking can cause protruding upper front teeth. Aggressive sucking can lead to changes in the shape of your child’s palate and jaw. Open bite malocclusions, where the upper and lower teeth are unable to meet, and overbites, where the upper teeth overlap the lower teeth more than they should, can also be the result of lengthy and forceful thumb sucking.
Take Care of Baby Teeth
Baby teeth are important! They bite and chew food, and they work with the tongue to help your child learn to pronounce words properly. And there’s one more important reason to make sure primary teeth stay healthy: they serve as the place holders which guide permanent teeth into their proper spots.
When a baby tooth is lost too early, due to decay or injury, the teeth on either side can drift into the empty space, preventing a permanent tooth from erupting where it needs to. Any misalignment or crowding which results may require orthodontic treatment in the future.
Call our Las Vegas, NV office if your child unexpectedly loses a baby tooth. There may be no cause for concern, or, if there’s a potential problem, an appliance called a “space maintainer,” which keeps the baby teeth from shifting out of place, can be fabricated especially for your child.
Your child’s adult teeth are being formed now. Work with us to make sure the building blocks of present and future dental health are in place. You’re giving your child the foundation for a lifetime of beautiful, grown-up smiles!
Hata kabla ya mtoto kuzaliwa, meno hayo madogo ya mtoto yanaanza kuonekana. Mama wajawazito wanaweza kusaidia kuhakikisha kwamba meno ya watoto wao yatakuwa na nguvu na afya kwa kupata kiasi kinachopendekezwa cha protini, vitamini, na madini katika mlo wao wa kabla ya kuzaliwa. Lakini mama hawezi "kula kwa ajili ya wawili" ili kuhakikisha meno ya mtoto wake ya watu wazima ni afya meno ya kudumu ya watoto kuanza ukuaji wa kweli na maendeleo tu baada ya kuzaliwa. Ni nini kinachotusaidia kuwa na meno ya kudumu wakati watoto wetu wanapokua? Hapa kuna mambo manne muhimu ambayo wazazi wanaweza kutumia ili kuweka msingi mzuri kwa tabasamu za watoto wao. Vitamini na madini yaleyale ambayo husaidia kutengeneza meno ya mtoto ni muhimu kwa kutengeneza meno ya mtu mzima yenye afya. Enamel ya meno ni sehemu ngumu zaidi ya mwili na ina kiasi kikubwa cha madini ya calcium phosphate. Chakula kinachotoa kiasi kinachopendekezwa cha kalsiamu na fosforasi husaidia mwili wa mtoto wako kukua enamel yenye nguvu. Na usisahau vitamini D, ambayo miili yetu inahitaji ili kunyonya kalsiamu na fosforasi. Chakula chenye afya ya meno kinapaswa kujumuisha vipande kadhaa vya vyakula vinavyotoa kalsiamu, kama vile bidhaa za maziwa (maziwa, yoghurt, jibini), mboga zenye majani meusi, na juisi zilizojengwa, nafaka na tofu. Phosphorus hupatikana katika protini kama vile nyama, samaki, na kuku, na pia katika maharagwe, karanga, maziwa, na nafaka nzima. Njano za mayai na samaki wenye mafuta ni vyanzo vya asili vya vitamini D, na inapatikana kwa urahisi katika vyakula vilivyoimarishwa kama vile maziwa ya ng'ombe, maziwa ya soya, nafaka, na maji ya machungwa. Tumia Kiasi Sawa cha Fluoridi Fluoridi inaitwa "Mapigano ya Mimea ya Asili" kwa sababu. Fluoridi hupunguza hatari ya kuharibika kwa meno na kusaidia kuimarisha enamel ya meno. Dr. LaLonde anaweza kutoa ushauri muhimu kuhusu wakati wa kuanza na jinsi ya kutumia fluoride toothpaste kulinda meno ya mtoto wako ya maziwa na maendeleo ya meno ya watu wazima. Je, kunaweza kuwa na mambo mengi sana mazuri kama hayo? Ingawa fluoride ni njia salama na yenye matokeo ya kulinda meno katika kiasi cha kawaida, fluoride nyingi kupita kiasi inaweza kusababisha fluorosis. Hali hii inaweza kusababisha mabadiliko ya upendeleo katika enamel ya meno ya kudumu, kutoka sehemu nyepesi zisizoonekana hadi sehemu nyeusi na mistari. Jinsi ya kuhakikisha mtoto wako anapata kiasi sahihi cha fluoride Kwa watoto walio chini ya umri wa miaka mitatu, tumia dawa ya meno ambayo haipaswi kuwa kubwa kuliko chembe ya mchele. Uliza Dakt. LaLande ikiwa dawa ya meno yenye fluoridi inapendekezwa. Watoto wadogo hawawezi kuelewa wazo la kutema mate na kuosha baada ya kupiga mswaki, kwa hivyo watoto wenye umri wa miaka mitatu hadi sita wanapaswa kutumia tu dutu ya meno ya fluoride ya ukubwa wa maharagwe, na wanahitaji wewe kuwapo ili kuhakikisha wanatema mate na kuosha baada ya hapo. "Tafadhali uliza kuhusu viwango vya fluoride vya maji ya ndani kama una wasiwasi wowote juu ya kutumia maji ya bomba kwa kunywa au kwa kuchanganya formula, kuweka fluoride toothpastes na bidhaa nyingine nje ya kufikia watoto, kuangalia watoto wako wakati wao brush, na daima kuangalia na sisi kabla ya kutoa mtoto wako ""kuosha"" au ""kiongeza.""" Msaada wa mtoto wako kuondoa tabia mbaya ya kunyonya kidole gumba na kunyonya kidole gumba Mtoto wako anaweza kujiridhisha kwa kutumia kidole gumba au kunyonya kidole gumba, ambayo inaweza kuwa tabia muhimu ya kutuliza. Lakini ni muhimu kuzungumza na Dakt. LaLande ili kuona ni kwa muda gani zoea hili la kutuliza linapaswa kudumu. Katika umri wa miaka minne, kunyonya kwa nguvu kwa kidole au kwa mti wa matiti kunaweza kusababisha matatizo ya meno ya kudumu. Kunyonya kwa nguvu kwaweza kusababisha meno ya mbele ya juu yaonekane. Kunyonya kwa nguvu kunaweza kusababisha mabadiliko katika umbo la mdomo na taya ya mtoto wako. Matatizo ya kuumwa kwa muda mrefu, ambapo meno ya juu na ya chini hayawezi kukutana, na overbite, ambapo meno ya juu yanafunika meno ya chini zaidi kuliko inavyopaswa, pia yanaweza kuwa matokeo ya kunyonya kidole kirefu na kwa nguvu. Tunahitaji meno ya mtoto, lakini meno ya mtoto ni muhimu! Wao huuma na kutafuna chakula, na kwa kutumia ulimi wao, wanasaidia mtoto wako kujifunza matamshi sahihi. Na kuna sababu moja zaidi muhimu ya kuhakikisha meno ya msingi kubaki afya: wao kutumika kama mahali wamiliki ambayo kuongoza meno ya kudumu katika maeneo yao sahihi. Wakati meno ya maziwa yanapotea mapema sana, kwa sababu ya kuoza au jeraha, meno ya pande zote mbili yanaweza kuhamia kwenye nafasi tupu, na kuzuia jino la kudumu kutokea mahali linapohitaji. Utaratibu wowote usiofaa au msongamano ambao hutokea unaweza kuhitaji matibabu ya orthodontic katika siku zijazo. Piga simu ofisi yetu ya Las Vegas, NV ikiwa mtoto wako kwa ghafula hupoteza jino la maziwa. Huenda usiwe na sababu ya kuwa na wasiwasi, au, ikiwa kuna tatizo linalowezekana, kifaa kinachoitwa "msimamizi wa nafasi", ambacho huzuia meno ya maziwa yasiondoke mahali pake, kinaweza kutengenezwa hasa kwa ajili ya mtoto wako. Meno ya mtoto wako ya watu wazima yanaanza kuonekana. Fanya kazi na sisi kuhakikisha kuwa vitalu vya ujenzi wa afya ya meno ya sasa na ya baadaye viko mahali pake. Unampa mtoto wako msingi wa tabasamu nzuri za watu wazima kwa maisha yake yote!