Yes that’s right.. oral health can be determined before the first tooth, in fact there are so many influences before ones birth!
Parents can influence their children’s oral health habits directly and indirectly.. some may be obvious while others not so much.
So, let's look at all of the factors' parents and caregivers should know before their babies are even born.
Did you know that you can indirectly affect your child’s oral health through looking after your own? Not many people are aware that babies are born with sterile mouths and only get bacteria from their parents or other caregivers.
No matter if you have a good dental hygiene routine or not, we all have bacteria that colonize our mouths, just like our gut.
By good bacteria, we mean the ones that are good for our mouths and help to keep those dental decay and gum disease, at bay.
We all know those people who don’t visit a dentist regularly, hardly brush or floss, yet never seem to have decay or anything wrong. Well infuriating as it is, chances are these people have mostly good oral bacteria.
Conversely, the people who we know that religiously brush, floss and have routine dental visits that also suffer from numerous fillings, decayed teeth, or bone loss, are likely to have bad oral bacteria colonizing their mouths.
This happens through bacterial transmission, where the bacteria in your mouth is passed on through kissing, sharing utensils, orally cleaning dummies, sharing water bottles. Basically anything where saliva is shared.
People who have high amounts of decay or gum disease have these specific types of bacteria inhibiting their mouth. It is these bacteria that gets transferred on to your children, giving them higher chances of also having these diseases.
We can limit the transmission of bad bacteria by 1… not even having it in the first place by getting on top of our own oral health with regular cleans and check ups.
And 2, by limiting the amount of bacterial transfer.
So avoiding sharing utensils, cleaning a dummy orally or kissing babies around the mouth, as these are all ways to reduce transmission.
Its important to remember the whole 'village' can contribute to this transfer of bacteria... so pass this information on to your partner, older siblings, grandparents, or any other caregivers, to give your child the best chance of developing their own good oral microbiome.
Decay and gum disease are preventable and no it's not your ‘bad genetics’ but rather the bad bacteria and behaviours that are passed on.
Now let's look at ways you, yourself can influence your child’s oral health behaviours by leading by example.
Having good oral hygiene habits yourself is a great start. Brushing twice a day and flossing once a day can be a really useful way of demonstrating to your child the importance of dental hygiene.
By that, we mean model the behaviours you want to see in your child, and that can be in every aspect of life, but is essential for oral health.
One easy way of doing this is by making toothbrushing a family affair. Get the whole household to brush their teeth at the same time and make it FUN! Dance, sing, be silly, be loud, show your child you are having a great time and soon enough they will too.
Another way of modelling behaviour that you may not have thought of is your perception of the dentist. Or grandparents, any influential people in your child's life.
“oh your going to the dentist, they’ll rip your teeth out” Or "You’re going to get an injection”
NOT HELPFUL!!!
Comments like this do not help, and if a child has never been to a dentist before, these comments can aid in forming negative associations with the dentist. It is important to talk positively about the dentist so that children create good associations with them before they even walk through the door.
And speaking of walking through the door, going for regular dental check ups yourself is a great way to model positive associations. Most dental offices are more than happy for you to bring your little ones along to your appointments. We recommend starting dental check ups from as young as 6 months, but before 2 years old, this is mostly for the exposure and experience.
Don't walk, run! To your dental check up.. your child's teeth depend on it!
Teaching Teeth x
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