dentistry – Summerville Pediatric Dentistry

Finish the Job by Flossing

Brushing your teeth three or more times a day is certainly a major step toward making your incisors, canines, bicuspids, and molars as healthy, durable and useful as they can possibly be. But as functional as a toothbrush is, it needs help to complete this vital task.

That important assistance comes from regular flossing, finishing the job of cleaning your teeth by running string floss in between them and removing the food particles, plaque, and bacteria that threaten the health of your entire mouth and maybe other parts of your body as well.

“Brushing alone doesn’t clean every surface of each tooth,” says Rory Nathanson, a dental hygienist with Summerville Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics. “Each tooth has five surfaces; if you don’t floss, you’re leaving two surfaces unclean.”

She says if you ignore the benefits of flossing, plaque and bacteria will accumulate in those hard-to-reach-with-a-toothbrush areas of your mouth. Plaque can build up in as soon as 24 to 36 hours, causing cavities and contributing to the possibility of gingivitis – inflammation of the gums.

Nathanson says some of her patients avoid flossing because they say it makes their gums bleed. However, she points out that it’s the plaque that causes this problem and that “if you routinely clean these areas, your gums should stop bleeding.” She adds that cavities, another result of poor brushing and flossing habits, are considered to be the most chronic childhood disease, five times more common than asthma.

But why should young children go to the trouble of taking care of their teeth? After all, before too long, those baby teeth will fall out and be replaced by their permanent pearly whites.

“Kids need to develop good habits. The earlier you floss, the better it will be long-term for your teeth and for your overall health,” Nathanson says. “The mouth is the opening to the rest of the body. More and more studies show that other health problems are associated with bacteria in the mouth.”

At what age should children start flossing? According to Nathanson, kids should get into the habit of taking good care of their teeth as soon as they start to emerge. Of course, at that age, they’ll most likely need help from their parents.

“As long as they have teeth, they should floss,” Nathanson says. “At a young age, it’s more to get used to the idea of flossing so it won’t be totally foreign when they are 10 years old and have their adult teeth. It’s more about getting into the habit.”

She adds that by the time children are able to tie their own shoes, they should be responsible enough to floss without help from their mom or dad.

Nathanson says traditional string floss and floss picks – plastic toothpicks that include a small piece of floss – are both good options, adding that a pick is probably a little easier for parents to use on their children’s teeth. She adds that the best way to ensure the health of your kids’ teeth is to visit the dentist on a regular basis.

“Coming to the dentist every six months for a good cleaning is always the best option,” she concludes.

Train Your Child to FLOSS like a NINJA

BEING A GOOD NINJA isn’t just about mastering the nunchaku and learning to move about completely undetected; it’s also about keeping one’s teeth and gums healthy and strong. One of our greatest weapons against gum disease and tooth decay is a good flossing habit.

The Importance Of Flossing To The Path Of The Ninja

You might wonder why it’s so important for a young ninja-in-training to floss. If baby teeth are only temporary, then why does it matter to keep them healthy, and does flossing really make a difference? While it is true that baby teeth will soon be replaced by adult teeth, it is still critical to keep them healthy and strong so that the adult teeth can come in where they should. A toothbrush isn’t enough to keep them clean, which is where flossing comes in.

When To Begin Flossing Training

It takes time for all shinobi to develop good dexterity and hand-eye coordination, so we recommend that you start flossing for them around age two and a half. If you make it into a daily habit, they will be ready to learn how to floss on their own by about age five. The most important thing is consistency. They will be much more likely to maintain a good flossing habit on their own if they are already used to it being a part of their day.

The Way Of The Flossing Master

Here are a few tips to help parents pass on the noble technique of flossing to children who are ready to learn, because what is second-nature to an adult may not be so easy for a child:

Explain the importance of flossing. If they understand why it matters, they will be more motivated to do it.
Emphasize that flossing is a Big Kid skill. Like learning to tie their shoes and ride a bike without training wheels, they’ll be eager to prove how grown up they are by flossing their own teeth.
Use flossers or floss picks if traditional floss is too tricky.
If you’re sticking with traditional floss, show them how to pull out the right amount (a foot and a half) and loosely wrap it around their middle fingers, leaving just an inch or two to slide between the teeth.
Show them how to effectively clean by using a back-and-forth motion without snapping their gums. Curve the floss around each tooth in a C-shape to make it more gentle.
Teach them how to move down the strand so they use clean floss on each tooth. We want to get rid of the plaque, not move it around!

Seek Wisdom From Your Dentist

Teaching your child good dental hygiene habits is as much about giving them the right perspective as it is about the proper technique. Ideally, they’ll see tasks like brushing and flossing as quick and easy ways to keep their teeth feeling great, rather than unpleasant chores. If you need help or advice on how to convince your young ninja that dental hygiene matters, we are always happy to provide a demonstration at our practice!

Keep up the great work training a new generation of flossing ninjas!

What To Do In A Dental Emergency

WHEN WE THINK OF an emergency, we probably don’t imagine it could have something to do with our teeth. However, any chip, crack, or toothache should be treated as a priority, because even if they seem like minor issues, they can lead to much worse (and more expensive) problems down the line.

Know Where To Go

Before an emergency happens, there are steps you can take to prepare yourself and your family. The first is to find a dental practice that is right for you. This way, you’ll know where to turn when something goes wrong unexpectedly, and you won’t have to waste precious time looking up dental practices. You want a dentist who is within easy driving distance, has a good reputation, is within your price range, and who makes you and your family feel comfortable.

Common Dental Emergencies

In addition to knowing where to turn when an emergency happens, you can also prepare for dental emergencies by becoming educated on what you can do on the way to the dentist. Here are the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry’s recommendations for three common dental emergencies:

A Knocked Out Baby Tooth

If a baby tooth is knocked out, contact your dentist immediately. Most likely, even if the tooth was not loose, they will not replant it because it could compromise the developing permanent tooth underneath.

Fracture Of A Tooth

If a tooth is cracked, chipped, or broken, contact your dentist right away because this will need treatment as soon as possible. Rinse out your mouth with water and find any broken fragments of tooth, then place them in cold milk to preserve them and bring them with you to the dentist. Do not ignore a crack or chip! If the dental pulp is exposed, it is in danger of infection unless treated quickly!

Watch this video to learn about bonding, one way a dentist may repair a chipped tooth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyPxbrnkLMk

A Knocked Out Permanent Tooth

If a permanent tooth is knocked out, head straight to the dentist. In most cases, a knocked out tooth can be saved if the dentist sees you within an hour of the accident. Before you get there, you can help preserve the tooth by replacing it in the socket and holding it in place with clean gauze or a washcloth. If it won’t go back in, store it in cold milk.

A few things you should NOT do if a permanent tooth gets knocked out are letting it dry out, handling it by the root, scrubbing it clean, or using soap, alcohol, or peroxide on it. Doing any of these things will damage the root of the tooth, reducing the chances the dentist will be able to successfully replant it.

We are Ready To Help!

Even if your tooth shows no external damage, a toothache is a sign that something could be wrong on the inside, and that should be seen by a dentist as soon as possible. Now, hopefully you will never have to put any of this preparation to the test, but if you do, you now know where to go! If you have any questions about what else you can do to prepare for a dental emergency, don’t hesitate to ask us.

Your dental health is our top priority!

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please feel free to contact us with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

Karate Kick Those Sugar Bugs!

BRUSHING OUR TEETH is something we can get so used to doing that we don’t really think about it, but are we doing it the right way? It can be easy to get into some bad tooth-brushing habits, and the result can be that your teeth aren’t getting cleaned properly and you could be doing damage to your gums. So let’s take a moment to go over good brushing technique.

What To Avoid When Brushing Your Teeth
A few of the things we should avoid when we brush our teeth are brushing too hard, only brushing up and down or side-to-side, and always starting in the same place. Brushing too hard can damage our enamel and our gum tissue, which is why we should also avoid hard-bristled brushes.
When we only brush up and down or side-to-side, we tend to miss the spaces between teeth, which allows plaque to build up and leads to tooth decay. Because brushing our teeth is such a routine thing to do, it can be very easy to do it the same way every time, but when we always start brushing in the same place, we tend to pay unequal attention to the first teeth we brush compared to the last. Try mixing things up so that your whole mouth can get the same level of attention!

Brushing Your Teeth The Right Way
The first rule of good brushing is one you’ve likely heard all your life: brush twice a day every day for at least two minutes. Do whatever you need to do to make brushing your teeth an unskippable part of your morning and evening routines. You could even play music so you know how long to keep brushing!
However, brushing isn’t just about quantity; it’s also about quality. Make sure to LOOK with your eyes to make sure all of the food and plaque from the day has been brushed away!! For the best cleaning action, hold your toothbrush at a 45 degree angle and focus on the gum line. Use gentle circular motions to brush the outsides, insides, and chewing surfaces of every tooth. And don’t forget to brush or scrape your tongue before you’re done! Like daily flossing, tongue-scraping is another crucial step for getting rid of harmful bacteria (and it will help keep your breath fresh!).

Timing is also important. Our teeth often feel unpleasant after a meal, but as much as you want to clean them, make sure you wait at least half an hour after eating before you brush. The acids in our food and produced by oral bacteria soften our enamel right after we eat, and it takes about half an hour for our saliva to restore a neutral pH. If we brush too soon, we can actually brush away some of our enamel!

Check out these videos with tips and tricks straight from our doctors!

Your Dentist Is Your Greatest Resource
If you’d like more tips on tooth brushing techniques, just ask us! We can make sure your oral health routine is on track for keeping your teeth healthy for life. And don’t forget that an essential component of having healthy teeth is scheduling regular dental appointments!

Now set that timer and slay those sugar bugs!