Children’s mouths are characterized by rapid growth and deserve special attention. Aesthetic appearance is important, but what really matters is that the teeth are healthy and that chewing function takes place properly, without, for example, areas of abnormal contact, overloading, or malocclusion. But how to address the issue of proper oral hygiene in children? How to brush teeth?
Oral hygiene in children
Children are easily infected by the enthusiasm of play and the driving force of the example of adults.
Ministry of Health’s suggestions.
The first good rule for parents is therefore to avoid making oral hygiene an imposition: every gesture and invitation should occur as naturally as possible, like any ritual associated with a particular time of day. After all, even we adults, if we get used to always having a clean mouth, do not mind brushing our teeth; on the contrary, it becomes an indispensable requirement. First oral hygiene should begin by passing gauze over the dental arches to remove milk clots. As the first teeth erupt, they recommend twice-daily brushing with a small soft-bristled toothbrush and parental supervision until the child becomes sufficiently familiar.
Also the guidelines point out that the use of an electric toothbrush with a rotary-oscillating motion further increases the effectiveness of manual brushing and is indicated to improve the performance of oral hygiene tasks and in children with poor manual dexterity. In addition, the pleasure of using such a device, designed specifically to strike the imagination, can also become an excuse that entices the child to pay attention to oral hygiene and, above all, to devote the right amount of time to it (an average of 30 seconds per hemiarch, 2 minutes in total). The availability of different heads and appliances in various cost ranges, among other things, allows each parent to choose the solution he or she feels is best, with the understanding that an electric toothbrush is a small investment that pays for itself in a short time in terms of convenience and effectiveness.
Toothpaste, mouthwash, and dental floss are essential garrisons to be introduced as the child learns to use them properly. Periodic visits to the dentist, beginning in preschool and repeated 1-2 times a year, are of course an indispensable adjunct, with the aim of tracking mouth development and dental health.
