What’s the Deal with the Mouth Monsters?
This month is all about raising awareness for children’s dental health. As advocates of oral health, we feel a sense of responsibility to share some (we think shocking!) facts with you. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) provides parents and guardians with great research and insight on children’s oral health. The AAPD is known as the big authority on little teeth and is a “not-for-profit professional membership association representing the specialty of pediatric dentistry.” We would like to pass along some helpful tools from The Mouth Monsters (a branch of the AAPD) and provide some facts and statistics on the state of pediatric oral health.
*The following list is taken in part from the AAPD. For a complete list of statistics, download the attached files.
- Tooth decay affects 42% of children ages 2-11 in the U.S.
- Children with poor oral health are nearly three times more likely to miss school.
- Visiting a pediatric dentist should happen no later than a child’s 1st birthday.
- Parents should supervise tooth-brushing until age 7 or 8.
- One of the best ways to prevent cavities in little teeth is to ensure children receive fluoride.
- Fluoride mainly comes from fluoridated toothpaste and tap water.
So what is fluoride, anyway? Fluoride protects teeth from demineralization (caused by sugary and acidic substances in the mouth), and it remineralizes by strengthening the tooth enamel. This is a good thing. In short, think of fluoride as something that stops really bad things from happening inside your mouth, and encourages really good things to happen inside your mouth. It’s a win-win.
Things to Remember:
- If you’d like to learn more about what the AAPD calls Mouth Monsters, visit the website.
- Dentisse offers the Pro Natural Reflection Toothpaste with Fluoride that will gently clean and polish your teeth, while restoring the enamel.
- Teach your children the benefits of dental health so they can keep the Mouth Monsters away!
Prevent Tooth Decay - Download
