Health Update: Wellness Wednesday: Children’s Dental Health – Rapid City, South Dakota | News, Weather and Sports – What Experts Say

RAPID CITY, S.D.— The American Dental Association celebrates National Children’s Dental Health Month every February to promote the benefits of good oral hygiene and health for your children. It starts as simply as choosing the right toothbrush and toothpaste for your kids. Orchard Meadows Family Dental General Dentist Emily Hvezda says, “When it comes to the toothbrush, really, all we want is what they will actually allow you to use. So both can be great, as long as they’re used properly. One of the fun things that you can do is make sure that the kids are picking up their own toothbrush that way they are excited about it. Let them choose the flavor of their toothpaste. We really want to make sure that we have fluoride involved in the toothpaste that’ll help strengthen the teeth and reduce cavities, but really just making sure that the kids are excited about it is key.”

Building good dental habits should start at a young age – becoming second nature by the time the kids are adults. Emily Hvezda says, “Best thing that we can do forming good habits is making sure that we are brushing our teeth at least every single night. So with this one, we’re going to have parents brushing the teeth until they’re about seven or eight, and then from there, we will be encouraging them to do it themselves.”

But of course the biggest issue for young kids with there teeth are still the cavities. Emily Hvezda says, “One of the biggest things we see, we still have a lot of issues with cavities. With that being said, I mean instilling those early habits really the best way to avoid it. However, we also see, you know, pacifier habits, thumb sucking habits, that will change the overall bite and the structure of their mouth, but really just education all around that we can improve with parents, kids, you know, all of us, we’re also working on it every day.”

More then anything – simply getting your child comfortable with going to dentist as young as possible – and teaching them to brush are the best practices to help build positive behavior for kids when it comes to there teeth.

Aaron grew up in Farmington Minnesota, just south of the Twin Cities. He went to college in Orlando Florida at Full Sail University studying sports broadcasting.