Gear up kids and parents too: February is National Children's Dental Health Month (NCDHM)!
NCDHM is sponsored by the American Dental Association. According to the ADA.org website:
Each February, the American Dental Association sponsors National Children’s Dental Health Month to raise awareness about the importance of oral health.
Developing good habits at an early age and scheduling regular dental visits helps children get a good start on a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.
I could not agree more with the last part. The key to establishing lifetime oral health for your child is to: (1) get your children into the habit of brushing and flossing their teeth daily; and (2) start to schedule regular dental visits at the age of 1.
According to an article published in USA Today:
Preschoolers today are more likely to have cavities than children did in the early 1990s, possibly because they are drinking more soda and juice drinks and less milk and water with fluoride, according to the most comprehensive government report on oral health in 25 years.
The percentage of children ages 2 to 5 who have had at least one cavity in their baby teeth was 28% in 1999-2004, up from 24% in 1988-1994.
The latest data are from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is considered the gold standard because thousands of participants were interviewed and examined by dentists.
Tooth decay in adults and children had been decreasing since the 1960s, says the report's lead author, Bruce Dye, a dentist and epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. "This is the first time we're seeing a rise, and it's in the baby teeth of young children.
"Baby teeth are just as important as adult teeth," Dye says. "We know from population studies that kids who have cavities in their baby teeth are more likely to have cavities in their adult teeth. And premature loss of baby teeth will more likely create crowding problems for adult teeth."
A similar article was also published by the New York Times.
I would be glad to see your child at Growing Smiles. Please call one of our team members at 785-856-5600 anytime to schedule a visit.
