Your children might be ready for back to school, but is their oral health?

Your kids might be ready for back to school, but is their oral health?

With the summer holidays over for yet another year, parents up and down the country are preparing to get their children ready for back to school. All the hassle of school uniforms, shoes, sports kits, school bags, stationary and many more essentials can be overwhelming for many, so much so that one of the really important measures could easily get overlooked.

Leading oral health charity the British Dental Health Foundation, is reminding parents not to let their children become bottom of the class, when it comes to cleaning their teeth.

In the morning school rush, children might not spend enough time brushing their teeth. And there’s evidence to suggest children are all too eager to skip on keeping up a good oral health routine. But shocking statistics show that over three in every ten (31 per cent) children starting school have tooth decay, while a third of all children (33 per cent) aged 12 have visible dental decay.

The good news is that dental decay is completely preventable, and educating children at an early age about dental health will help to keep their teeth top of the class. Dental Helpline Advisor at the British Dental Health Foundation Karen Coates offers the following advice to make sure parents send their child off to school smiling.

Teaching your children good habits early on will help them throughout their childhood and into their adult years. Get it right and you could save hundreds of pounds on unnecessary dental treatment in the future.

Let your child choose their own toothbrush. Make sure it is a small to medium-sized brush with soft to medium bristles, don't forget to replace it when the bristles are worn and splayed. Dentists suggest changing your brush at least every three months.

Make sure they brush their teeth for two minutes twice a day with fluoride toothpaste. It is a good idea to monitor them until you are confident they can be trusted to brush for the full two minutes unsupervised, usually until the age of around 7.

Children are often particular about flavours of food that they eat, and the flavour of toothpaste is no different. Find one they like and stick to it, they will be less likely to oppose brushing. Make sure it has the right level of fluoride in it. All children up to 3 years old, should use a toothpaste with a fluoride level of at least 1000ppm (parts per million). After three years old, they should use toothpaste that contains 1350ppm-1500ppm.

Pack a nutritious lunch and snacks for school. Breadsticks, vegetables, and cheese are great choices as they are good for teeth because they help neutralise acids. Try to stay clear of fruit juices and fizzy drinks because they are very acidic and erode tooth enamel.

Get them to use a straw when drinking as this helps the any acid in the drink to go to the back of the child's mouth and reduces the number of acid attacks on their teeth.

It's unlikely that children can brush their teeth after lunch. But a quick trip to the water fountain to rinse their mouths is almost as good. Teenagers can also chew sugar-free gum after eating to help make more saliva and neutralise the acids which form in their mouth after eating.

In addition to the advice, Karen added: “The final point to make here, and one of the most important, is to ensure that a dental check-up for your child is on the horizon. Regular visits to the dentist, as often as they recommend, will help to identify and treat any oral health problems before they cause lasting damage.”