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As we continue to steam-roll through this year, spring has suddenly sprung and with it comes a bevy of activities for your children to partake in. After school sports are a great way to keep your little ones active and healthy. Though the risk for various injuries may increase, almost all parents would agree that the risk is worth taking.

Parents often ask us about mouth guards and best practices involving them, to help protect their children’s smile. So today, we are going to dive deep into the facts and best practices when using mouth guards for children!

A mouth guard is a piece of soft plastic that is shaped to fit inside the mouth, protecting the lips, cheeks, tongue, teeth and jaw when they are hit.

Types of mouth guards:

Stock: The least expensive, stock guards are extremely cheap and generally come in sizes such as “small” “medium” and “large”. If you’re on a budget, it’s better than nothing, but it is an advisable expense to go the extra mile for better fitting solutions. Failing to do so could lead to more costly procedures if an injury occurs.

Boil & Bite: A semi-custom fit can be made using a “boil and bite” model. The hot water softens the plastic and then is bitten to mold around your child’s teeth. Typically sold from $5 to $15 depending on the brand, they offer very good protection.

Custom fit: A dentist or orthodontist makes the best fitting mouth guards in a dental office. While clearly the more expensive option, potentially ranging from $40 to $70, custom fits provide the best protection and will be the best option at preventing more costly injuries.

Custom-fitted guards should generally continue to fit for as long as needed after your child has reached the age of 14 or 15 years old.

Best practices

Mouth guards prevent dental injuries, but can increase the number and severity of abrasions if used improperly. These abrasions can easily lead to infections, given how much bacteria resides in our mouths! To help fight off these risks we always recommend sanitizing them daily (or after every use). If a guard develops sharp of jagged edges, do not use it and replace it.

It’s important to note that guards help shield the different facets of your mouth from injuries due to impact, but they will not help prevent concussions.

Replace a mouth guard whenever your child develops any type of oral lesion or has respiratory distress, and stick to regular oral exams before and after use.

Braces. The word either inspires hope in a child that their teenage years are upon them, or fear because they believe it’s the end of their budding social career.

For parents, the decision is always a tough one. Braces can be an expensive solution so making the call to get them is one wrought with hand-wringing. For today’s blog entry we are going to discuss the warning signs and timeline for answering the question, does my kid need braces?

When?

During your childs dental visit, a pediatric dentist will evaluate your child for orthodontic treatment and let you know when a good idea to visit an orthodontist would be. There are times when early intervention is necessary and the child should be sent by the age of 7 years. Some orthodontist’s will recommend a course of treatment while the primary teeth are still in place in order to shorten the length dental braces are needed to align the adult teeth.

However, many times the child can wait until most of their permanent teeth have erupted, and the majority of their adult teeth have grown in. This can be anywhere between the ages of 8 and 14.

The answer varies, so consulting closely with your pediatric dentist is paramount in this situation.

Why?

There can be a number of reasons why a child may need braces. Malocclusion, where there is a difference in size between the top and bottom jaw, is a common reason. This is the reason you see overbite (when the upper jaw is bigger) and underbite (when the lower jaw is bigger).

Other problems can arise due to tooth decay, losing primary teeth too early, or thumbsucking. More often though these types of issues are inherited, so if you or someone in your family needed braces, it’s very likely they will too.

Braces come in all types, and aren’t limited to the metal type you’re used to seeing. In the last ten to fifteen years, we’ve seen clear and ceramic braces become more prominent due to their more discrete appearance. There are even braces that go behind teeth, called lingual braces.

The average length of time needed for braces to have their desired effect is around two years. Afterward, a retainer is commonly needed to help keep teeth in their new position.

While wearing them, it is incredibly important to be diligent with brushing and flossing. After every meal, both should become standard procedure to avoid permanent staining and cavity formation.

Just mentioning the term “wisdom teeth” in any setting can often illicit a tragic story of pain and suffering from a group of people. And yet, with all that experience it is hard to come up with a defined answer to an old question: “When should I have my wisdom teeth removed?”

The facts of the answer are not all cut and dry, but today we intend to shed some light on it for you.

Let’s start off with a fun fact. The term “wisdom teeth” was derived from the fact that they grow in around the ages of 17 to 21, right when a person is old enough to have grown up a bit.

It is important to note that not all wisdom teeth need to be removed, only those that cause problems. What constitutes a problem? Things like:

• Crowding of other teeth
• Teeth growing in at an awkward angle
• Impacted teeth
• Any pain or irritation in the teeth or the gum tissue surrounding the teeth

However, it is not uncommon to have a dentist say you should have them removed anyway, even though you are currently not experiencing pain. Why is that?

As teeth grow in, so do their roots. These roots grow down into the jaw to help hold teeth in place. If the root grows too close to the nerves in your jaw, it can wreak havoc and cause severe pain as the root deepens. Often, dentists are acting proactively in these situations.

Dentists are far more prone to have younger patients take on this surgery because they are more capable of recovering from it than an older person.

So, “When should I have my wisdom teeth removed,” has only one real answer: “When your dentist says to.”

Trusting your dentist is crucial to understanding proper dental hygiene, and the truth is that finding the right dentist can be a chore. We here at Dentistry for Children & Adolescents pride ourselves on being approachable and communicative with our patients and their parents. We work to build relationships with them and ensure that they are educated on the facts of every procedure we engage in.

In the meantime, feel free to download our FREE guide to dental emergencies for parents! It covers a wide arrangement of injuries and how you should treat them.

Here at Dentistry for Children & Adolescents, it’s not uncommon for us to have families visit us that do not use a municipal water source in their home. Well water use is very common, and generally proven safe if the source is tested properly.

However, well water does not contain fluoride. Thus, when parents come in for a check up with their children, the question is often asked: “Should we be using fluoride supplements?”

That answer is a yes, but precautions should be taken.

Fluoride is introduced into community water for a reason— it works! It is proven to reduce tooth decay among communities by 20 to 40%. So it’s definitely helpful, and if you’re not using a municipal water source then you and your children’s dental health is at risk. Using fluoridated toothpaste is a common and effective topical solution to this problem.

Precautions should be taken if your child is prone to swallowing toothpaste or using too much (no more than a pea-sized dollop of toothpaste is required for a single use). Using too much fluoride can cause permanent white staining on teeth. Very rarely, fluoride toxicity can occur when large amounts of fluoride are ingested during a short period of time. Kids under the age of six account for more than 80% of reports of suspected overuse. Although outcomes are generally not serious, fluoride toxicity sends several hundred children to emergency rooms each year.

Symptoms of fluoride toxicity may include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, increased salivation, or increased thirst. Symptoms begin 30 minutes after ingestion and can last up to 24 hours. If you suspect your child may have eaten a substantial amount of a fluoridated product or supplement, call the poison control center or 911.

Families that drink a lot of bottled water may want to investigate the use of supplemental fluoride as well. The amount of fluoride in most bottled water is less than 0.3 parts per million, but some contain fluoride in the optimum range of 0.7 – 1.2 ppm. Current FDA regulations require that fluoride be listed on the label only if the bottler adds fluoride during processing.

So, for families with well water, how much fluoride do your children need per day?

For any child under the age of six months, none.

For a child between the ages of six months and three-years old, 0.25 milligrams per day is effective.

If your child is between three and six years old, 0.50 milligrams per day is advisable, and if they are between the ages of six and 16 years, aim for 1 milligram per day.

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to become a part of your family’s plan for keeping your smiles bright and future’s brighter! For now, feel free to download our FREE eBook on beverages to watch out for and dental care. It will help educate you and your family on the perils of what may be hiding in your own home.