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children's dental health
Proper dental care begins even before a baby's first tooth appears. Early childhood dental hygiene is a key factor in the development of healthy adult teeth. Child care providers have an important role to play in promoting and implementing good oral health practices.
On this page:
- New
- Getting started with oral health practices
- Guidelines for oral hygiene and prevention of cavities
- Dental Accidents
New May 2011:
The USDA has been receiving reports of methemoglobinemia in young children, brought on from the use of benzocaine as a pain-reliever during teething. This blood condition is rare but the effects are serious and potentially fatal.
The NRC refers to the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for teething: a) offer the child a refrigerated teething ring or b) massaging the child’s gums with a finger rather than using benzocaine liquid or gels to relieve symptoms.
Please see more information at http://www.ada.org/news/5731.aspx and http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm250029.htm.
Getting started with oral health practices
To promote good dental and oral hygiene child care providers should:
- Record on enrolment the name, address and phone number of each child's dentist and have a contact number for an after hours or emergency dentist or
dental clinic. - Report to the family any sign of tooth cavities, any accident, injury or suspected injury to teeth and gums, gum swelling, infection of the mouth, or problems,
pain or discomfort the child has with chewing, eating or swallowing. - Develop policies and strategies in consultation with public health dental therapists, parents and staff.
- Provide appropriate dental and oral health education and health promotion programs (including oral health
literature for children, families and staff in home languages).
Guidelines for oral hygiene and prevention of cavities
To help reduce the incidence of cavities in young children:
- Avoid the use of:
- nursing bottles containing sweetened milk
- fruit juices or soft drinks
- using food as behavioral rewards
- pacifiers dipped in sweet substances (e.g. honey, jam)
- nursing bottles as pacifiers or using a bottle containing anything other than water to help a child fall asleep.
- Offer water to drink in preference to carbonated drinks, flavoured milk and fruit juices.
- Limit the number of times snacks are offered each day. When snacks are offered use a varied selection of nutritious foods such as vegetables, cheese, yogurt, fruit, plain pasta, and bread with spreads such as meat, cheese and vegetable extracts.
- For children who are old enough encourage them to rinse their mouth with water after each meal.
For providers who have the resources for implementing a tooth-brushing program for children while in care:
- Gently clean baby's gums and teeth with a clean damp face cloth or cotton gauze to remove plaque and milk.
- Be aware that some of the children may not brush their teeth at home. The introduction of a toothbrushing program at the service is an opportunity for
children and families to learn about good oral health behavior and develop oral/dental hygiene skills. - Be aware that for a tooth-brushing program, children need to be around 2 years of age. Children need to be able to hold a toothbrush and be able to learn to spit and rinse, and not to swallow the toothpaste or mouth rinse.
- Use soft, small children's toothbrushes, low fluoride toothpaste (half concentration of adult fluoride toothpaste) and ensure children only use a pea-sized
amount of toothpaste on their toothbrush. - Supervise children's tooth brushing, or brush for them until they are able to manage the technique by themselves.
- Avoid cross-contamination from toothbrushes by:
- Each child having their own toothbrush labelled with their name.
- Storing toothbrushes in individual toothbrush holders, or on a rack that has a cover.
- Ensuring children do not share or swap toothbrushes.
- Washing toothbrushes at the end of the day and air drying (or give the family the brush to take home to wash and bring a clean toothbrush the next day).
Note: Young children should only brush their teeth twice a day.
Dental Accidents
Providers can facilitate the prevention and management of dental trauma in children by:
- Using strategies to prevent injuries in consultation
- Facilitating training for carers in dental first aid. The training should include training to be able to identify the difference between deciduous (baby teeth) and
permanent teeth, and to be skilled in dealing with a dental emergency and applying first aid for a dental injury.
First Aid for a knocked out or chipped deciduous (baby) tooth
If a child has a dental injury where the tooth is chipped or the whole tooth is knocked out:
- Manage as an emergency, inform the parents/ family.
- DO NOT reinsert the tooth back into the socket (deciduous (baby) teeth are not usually placed back).
- Gently rinse the tooth or tooth fragments in milk to remove blood and place in a clean container or wrap in cling wrap to give to the parent or dentist.
- Seek dental advice as soon as possible and ensure that the tooth/tooth fragments are taken to the dentist with the child.
- Complete an injury report form.
First Aid for a knocked out or chipped permanent tooth
- Gently rinse the tooth and tooth fragments in milk for a few seconds to remove excess dirt and
blood. - Handle the tooth by its crown (the white enamel top part of the tooth), not its root and be careful not
to rub off the endothelial (tissue) fragments on the
root of the tooth, as these are needed for the tooth to take if replaced by the dentist. - Replace the tooth back in the socket (be certain that the tooth is placed into the socket the correct way round – compare to the teeth next to it, the
front surface usually convex outwards). - Seek dental advice as soon as possible and ensure the family takes the child to the dentist with the tooth/tooth fragments within 30 minutes, as the root
endothelial layer begins to deteriorate after 30 minutes. - If the tooth has been in contact with dirt or soil, advise the family that tetanus prophylaxis may be required and advise them to consult with both their
dentist and doctor.
Good oral health practices are not difficult to achieve in child care services and provide a valuable and ongoing benefit to the children, carers and families. Working
together with the children and their families to increase awareness of oral health issues develops relationships based on caring and self-awareness.
Portions of this page were adapted, with permission, from Healthy Teeth in Child Care by The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne Australia.
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To connect to your local Resource and Referral agency: 888-291-9811 Find us on Minnesota Child Care Resource & Referral Network Email: info@mnchildcare.org © 2012 Minnesota Child Care Resource & Referral Network
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