“I pulled 100 teeth from eight children – in a day” a quote from Claire Stevens a consultant pediatric dentist. More of her commentary can be found here. The number of young children with rotten teeth are increasing almost daily. Today, the average American has an incredible sweet tooth. Something that is passed on to their children by genes and more so habit. Parents feed their kids snacks and meals that appear healthy on the surface, but are chock full of sugar additives to make certain foods more palatable. Due these snacks continuously being fed to their kids, many of them begin to complain about severe toothaches.

What’s even scarier is that tooth decay begins as early as breastfeeding. More so than not, when a baby starts to cry at night mothers will resort to breastfeeding. Milk is soothing to baby because of the sugar that is inside of it, specifically lactose. Now during the day this is not normally an issue. However, at night, when the body does not produce saliva to break down those sugars it becomes a problem.

More teeth brushing, right? Have you ever tried getting a second or third grader to wake up and brush their teeth diligently? It’s one thing to tell them to go brush and a whole other story getting them to brush correctly. Let’s do some math. Five-year-old plus tooth brush plus T (time=2mins) multiplied by twice a day equals what? One stressed out parent. Children younger than eight do not have finesse to cater to all of the teeth in their mouth.

What can be done? First and foremost, an increased awareness of the situation. Being in the know is imperative. Most importantly is being there with your child and ensuring they are brushing correctly everyday twice for two minutes. Even though it is dreaded by adults, getting children to floss at an early age can lead to years of healthy teeth and strong dental skills when they are older.

Need some expert advice for your kids’ teeth? Visit this Burwood Dental Centre website to learn more.