Have you ever seen your child with his or her mouth slightly open when sleeping? You might think it’s no concern, but habitual mouth breathing in children is a sign of an underlying problem that can negatively impact their oral health and development.
We often overlook mouth breathing as a simple habit. Of course, sometimes (due to nasal obstruction), mouth breathing is completely normal for a while. But, did you know? If left untreated, chronic mouth breathing can lead to:
Severe dental issues
Developmental problems
Oral health
Facial development issues
And more health issues. In this article, we will discuss how mouth breathing affects tooth growth, the risks involved, and the importance of early identification and treatment.
What is mouth breathing?
Think of the nose as a built-in humidifier and air cleaner for the body. When a child is breathing through the nose, the air is warmed, dust and allergen-filtered, and humidified before it reaches the lungs. Mouth breathing bypasses this vital process.
Mouth breathing occurs when a child consistently breathes through the mouth instead of the nose. This may be due to many causes:
Nasal obstruction caused by allergies
Inflamed adenoids or tonsils
Other upper airway obstructions
How mouth breathing affects your child’s health
Let’s take a look at the effects of chronic mouth breathing:
Dental and orthodontic issues
One of the most worrying effects of chronic mouth breathing in children is its impact on dental occlusion. This malocclusion is primarily caused by two factors: a disruption of the muscle balance around the mouth and the incorrect resting position of the tongue. When the tongue is not in the right place, dental arch development might be incomplete.
The habit of open mouth posture disrupts the existing muscle balance around the mouth and the position of the tongue, which is essential for dental arch development. This imbalance can cause:
Narrowing of the upper jaw: Also called maxillary constriction, which causes crowding of the teeth.
Rotation of the mandible: Backward or downward rotation of the mandible, resulting in a receding chin and crooked bite.
Malocclusions: Increased incidence of malocclusions.
Mouth-breathing children are much more prone to malocclusions than nasally breathing children. Mouth-breathing orthodontic issues generally require repair treatment.
Impact on facial growth
Mouth breathing, besides affecting teeth, also alters the pattern of facial growth. Nasal airflow obstruction and frequent open-mouth posture can trigger:
Long, thin faces with sunken cheeks.
Hanging eyelids or a tired appearance.
Small or receding chin.
Palate alterations affect speech and the ability to swallow.
All of these features are referred to together as “adenoid facies,” which is typically related to chronic nasal obstruction with mouth breathing in childhood. The earliest treatment of mouth breathing will avoid or even reverse some of them.
Oral health implications of mouth breathing
Mouth breathing also leads to drying of the oral cavity as the air flow out of the mouth evaporates saliva, which otherwise lubricates teeth and gums. Reduced saliva secretion compromises oral defense mechanisms and encourages:
Cavities: Because of an acidic oral environment and plaque accumulation.
Gingivitis and periodontal disease: Because of increased plaque and dry gums.
Halitosis (bad breath): Due to bacterial growth in a dry mouth.
Saliva is also necessary for maintaining a proper balance of oral pH, neutralizing acid that causes cavities. Mouth breathing essentially takes away this protective defense, creating an environment in which aggressive bacteria thrive.
Other connected health issues
In addition to dental and facial consequences, mouth breathing in children is also associated with other health issues, such as:
Sleep-disordered breathing with increased risk of obstructive sleep apnea.
Restless sleep, daytime fatigue, irritability, and poor concentration.
Speech impairment due to an altered oral posture employed for the production of sounds.
Early intervention in mouth breathing can therefore have beneficial effects over broader fields than oral health alone.
What are the causes of mouth breathing in children?
The most frequent reason for chronic mouth breathing in children is upper airway obstruction. Significant causes include:
Enlargement of adenoids and tonsils
Allergic rhinitis, which causes nasal obstruction
Problems in the nose (like a deviated septum, nasal polyps)
Chronic sinusitis
These obstructive forces reduce nasal breathing and result in children acquiring mouth breathing habits that may persist even after correction of the obstruction.
How to detect mouth breathing?
Early detection of mouth breathing is also crucial to prevent long-term dental and developmental problems. Pediatricians, dentists, and orthodontists can screen for the signs during visits. However, parents also need to detect some easy telltale signs and symptoms that indicate a child is a habitual mouth breather. These include:
Habitual open-mouth posture: Frequent open-mouth posture even during wakefulness or rest, since the mouth naturally can remain slightly ajar due to nasal airway blockage or habit.
Snoring or noisy breathing during sleep: Snoring or noisy breathing could indicate nasal obstruction or sleep-disordered breathing.
Dry mouth: Dry lips or mouth upon waking, since mouth breathing dries oral tissues by reducing salivary output.
Perpetual halitosis: Repeated bad breath due to dry mouth and bacterial buildup.
Crowding, open bites, or malaligned teeth: Crowded teeth, turned teeth, open bites, or visible shifts in teeth position can occur.
Appearance of face after altered growth: Alterations in facial appearance, also referred to as “adenoid face,” with a slender, long face, sagging eyelids, or diminished chin due to altered facial growth.
Behavioral symptoms: Some behavioral symptoms, such as drowsiness during the daytime, inattentiveness, irritability, or hyperactivity, may suggest mouth breathing (though these may or may not be related to it).
If you notice these signs in your child, you can have a pediatrician, pediatric dentist, or specialist investigate. You can also observe your kids at play and at rest for repetitive habits of using the mouth rather than the nose.
Early intervention
Interventions are determined by cause but often include:
Medical treatment of nasal infection or allergy.
Surgical removal of adenoids or tonsils if necessary.
Myofunctional therapy (a series of exercises to retrain the proper tongue, lip, and jaw muscle position).
Early intervention to direct proper jaw and tooth development.
Successful treatment can improve breathing, restore oral function, and promote normal facial growth.
The bottom line: Mouth breathing needs intervention
Mouth breathing in children is more than a simple habit; it is a serious problem that has ramifications for dental health, facial development, and general health.
Habitual mouth breathing disrupts the normal oral environment and craniofacial development, leading to malocclusions, increased risk for cavities, dry mouth issues, and facial developmental changes. These reasons are why early intervention by a multidisciplinary team is critical to avoid the consequences and foster normal growth patterns.
Don’t wait. If you notice any of these signs in your child, schedule an appointment with a pediatric dentist or a pediatrician. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent a lifetime of dental, facial, and overall health issues. Take action today to protect your child’s smile and health.
Are you a parent wondering how to cope with brushing your kid’s teeth?
Maintaining healthy teeth and gums is crucial for children’s overall health and confidence. As parents, knowing how often your child should brush their teeth can help prevent some problems, like:
Cavities
Gum disease
Infections
Diverse oral health problems that might stem from cavities, such as impaired eating and speaking
In this article, we will explore more about the best brushing practices for kids, such as how many times children need to brush their teeth daily, the differences between brushing once, twice, or three times a day, and practical tips to encourage good dental habits for life.
Why should children brush their teeth?
When you brush your children’s teeth, you remove plaque. Plaque includes a sticky, bacteria-filled film and food particles that accumulate throughout the day. If plaque is not removed daily, it causes tooth decay (also known as cavities), gum inflammation, and bad breath.
Children are especially prone to cavities because they snack frequently and consume sugary drinks. An early brushing routine protects teeth as they grow and develop.
How often should children brush? The professional recommendation
Main dental organizations recommend that children brush their teeth twice daily: once in the morning, and once before bedtime.
But why? Let’s find out the difference between brushing once, twice, and three times a day.
What about brushing once a day?
Brushing once a day is definitely better than no brushing at all. However, it’s not enough if you want to provide optimum oral hygiene for your kids. One daily brushing session can leave plaque on teeth for too long, potentially resulting in cavities and gum problems. As a parent, you can assist your children in brushing twice daily to most effectively prevent these problems.
Is brushing three times a day better?
Three daily brushings (after meals) are routinely recommended for children with a higher need. Higher dental needs include children with:
Dental restorations, such as fillings or crowns
Braces
History of cavities
Three daily brushings can also reduce tooth decay risk and improve overall oral health, especially in teenagers and children at high risk for dental problems.
However, if your kid needs to brush three times a day, you’ll want to do it with care to avoid damaging the tooth enamel. For example, after having acidic foods and drinks, you need to wait for about 30 minutes after the meal to brush. In this case, brushing immediately after eating wears away enamel.
Consider using a soft-bristle toothbrush and brushing gently to protect your kid’s enamel and teeth.
Is two the perfect number for brushing?
For most children, twice daily is sufficient and ideal. Two times a day is the minimum routine for brushing away food debris and plaque buildup and maintaining healthy gums and teeth:
The morning brush clears bacteria and food debris from breakfast
The night brushing washes the teeth after dinner and evening snacks
This twice-a-day routine prevents overnight plaque buildup and tooth decay. This frequency is also a balance between being strong enough to break down damaging buildup without wearing away tooth enamel, especially when brushing with good technique and timing. If your kid brushes their teeth twice a day, it might significantly reduce the risk of getting cavities, gum disease, and other dental complications.
Other considerations
Although it can be time-consuming, it helps to stay consistent with your child’s brushing routine. Kids need gentle reminders and your example to start doing it on their own. Additionally, consider the technique, time, and the age of your kid.
Brushing time and technique are as crucial as frequency
Two factors to take into consideration when brushing are the duration and method, as they can make a significant difference. Children must:
Brush for at least two minutes per session to get all the tooth surfaces properly cleaned.
Use a child-sized toothbrush with soft bristles suitable for children’s smaller mouths.
Gently brush in circles on the fronts, backs, and chewing surfaces of all the teeth.
Use an adequate amount of toothpaste.
Young children require supervision to be capable of brushing effectively and not swallowing toothpaste.
As a parent, you need to be present in creating a twice-a-day routine for your kids, ensuring their teeth are properly brushed, and helping them have a good time while doing so.
Age-specific recommendations
Here are some recommendations for different age gaps.
Infants (6-12 months): Wipe gums with a soft cloth and brush teeth once a day as soon as the first tooth erupts.
Toddlers (1-2 years): Begin twice a day brushing with a small smear of toothpaste.
Preschoolers (3-5 years): Brush twice a day and promote independence, still assisting as needed.
School-Age Children (6-12 years): Twice a day brushing to continue. Provide parental supervision to ensure a good technique.
Adolescents (13+ years): Brush twice a day on their own; more frequent brushing should be encouraged for orthodontic care.
As you can see, as soon as a new tooth erupts, you need to start a routine with your kid for brushing twice a day.
Achieve optimum oral health for your children and for you
To achieve optimum oral health, children should brush their teeth twice a day for two minutes each time, with fluoride toothpaste and a soft toothbrush. So, remember:
Brushing once a day is not enough.
While brushing three times a day can have additional benefits (especially for high-risk children), you should try to avoid eroding the enamel by brushing softly.
Avoid brushing immediately after a meal, especially after consuming acidic foods.
Two times a day is usually the perfect number: create a routine for your children to care for their teeth.
Parents play a significant role in encouraging healthy habits. These habits set the stage for a lifetime of healthy smiles. You play a vital role in maintaining your child’s healthy smile.
Is there a connection between teeth and sleep in children?
Many of us parents have been overwhelmed by our children’s sleep, especially when they are young.
Have you ever wondered as a parent whether there is a relationship between teeth and sleep?
In this article, discover:
What is the link between oral health and sleep quality, and how does it affect our children.
What are the most common factors that cause oral problems related to sleep quality.
How to prevent and manage these issues to improve children’s sleep quality.
The connection between oral health and sleep quality in children
Children’s health depends on a balance of many factors. Two factors that are closely related, but that many parents are unaware of, are sleep quality and oral health.
Aside from brushing, flossing, and regular dental visits to protect our children’s teeth, we need to be aware of other dental factors that could affect sleep.
Common dental issues linked to poor sleep quality
As parents, restless nights are a nightmare. Some conditions that cause dental discomfort, such as toothache and gum pain, can increase our children’s difficulty falling asleep. Conversely, poor sleep weakens the immune system, and this can cause dental problems in our children. This creates a cycle that negatively impacts our children’s health. Some common problems linked to poor sleep quality include the following:
Teeth grinding (bruxism) in children
Sleep bruxism, or teeth grinding at night, is quite common in children. It is a grinding of their teeth or jaw clenching that can be heard when they sleep. Generally, children with sleep bruxism may wake up suddenly and frequently, or have trouble falling back to sleep.
Sleep bruxism can be caused by stress, anxiety, or even growing teeth or jaws. It can significantly affect sleep, and if left untreated, can cause permanent damage such as fractured teeth, jaw disorders, dentin wear, and others.
Dental and jaw misalignment
Dental misalignment, also called malocclusion, refers to crooked teeth or jaws. Dental misalignment may be caused by:
Genetic factors
Thumb sucking
Prolonged use of the pacifier
Dental misalignment affects sleep in many ways. In particular, it can contribute to airway obstruction in some sleeping positions. This airway obstruction increases sleep disorders such as OSA (obstructive sleep apnea). OSA causes repeated interruptions in breathing during sleep, which can lead to fragmented sleep and poor-quality rest. In general, children with OSA snore often, wake up a lot, and feel tired during the day.
To prevent these sleep disruptions, it is important to address dental misalignment early.
Additional oral factors affecting sleep
Other oral and dental factors that can affect our children’s sleep are mouth breathing, dry mouth, and bottle use at bedtime.
Mouth breathing: Many children breathe through the mouth instead of the nose for different reasons. This can alter their jaw and facial growth and increase the likelihood of snoring or fragmented sleep.
Dry mouth: Saliva normally decreases in our mouths when we sleep. Children who sleep poorly or who breathe through their mouths have abnormally dry mouths, which increases the risk of dental caries or gum inflammation.
Bottle use at bedtime: Parents run a major risk of baby bottle tooth decay if they let their children fall asleep with a bottle.
A high prevalence of cavities in baby teeth may lead to a higher prevalence of dental problems in the long run.
Consequences of poor sleep in children
Children who are sleep deprived are less motivated to brush and floss regularly. This increases their chances of having more dental problems.
Additionally, these children may struggle with mood swings, difficulty concentrating, slower development, and slower growth. Some wide-ranging effects affect children’s physical health, cognitive functioning, and emotional well-being:
Disruption of repair processes: Bone and tissue growth and hormonal regulation take place during sleep. Poor sleep quality interferes with these processes in children.
Prevalence of sleep trouble: Many studies show a high prevalence of children having trouble sleeping due to dental problems. This can lead them to have fragmented and insufficient rest.
Impact on quality of life: During the day, children who sleep poorly tend to have poor concentration, be more irritable, have tantrums, and have learning difficulties.
Specific oral problems: Children who sleep poorly due to oral problems may have malocclusion, bruxism, dry mouth, and increased cavities.
Long-term dental implications
Poor sleep during infancy can affect growth, development, immune function, and general well-being. Early prevention is extremely important to improve sleep and sleep quality and break this harmful cycle.
Prevention and management: Tips for parents
The good news for parents is that there are many prevention strategies and tips for improvement with the right approach:
Early detection
Routine visits to a dentist can help detect problems early. In addition, monitoring children’s sleep behaviors for teeth grinding noises, jaw pain, snoring or mouth breathing is important for parents.
If problems persist, parents may seek further evaluation by a specialist.
Improved sleep habits
A dark, quiet, and cool room can help children sleep more peacefully. These factors can also indirectly improve stress and decrease bruxism.
Dental appliances
For children who grind their teeth at night, there are mouthguards to protect the teeth. In addition, early intervention with orthodontics improves the quality of sleep in children.
Addressing airway issues
Children with chronic respiratory problems are more likely to have airway problems. These problems can be improved by treating possible allergies and nasal congestion and maintaining humidity with a humidifier if necessary.
Healthy Habits
A consistent bedtime routine, in addition to avoiding snacks and drinks before bedtime, can improve children’s sleep. In addition, it is important to improve eating habits and manage stress.
Finally, you can gently remind children of the importance of breathing through their nose.
Remember: as parents, it is our duty to look out for the welfare of our children. With the help of great professionals and the right approach, we can improve the quality of their sleep and increase their quality of life, and let’s face it: if they sleep better, we sleep better.
Parents know all too well how difficult it is to get their child to brush their teeth before going to school or to bed. However, did you know that smart and innovative tech can make toothbrushing actually fun for your child?
Now that we are living in “the technology age”, there are many options available to make your child’s toothbrushing routine more fun!
You probably enjoy apps and smart products in nearly every area of your life, from voice recognition to smart TVs inside your car. Now is the time to use technology (such as smart toothbrushes) as part of a fun dental routine for your family.
What technology is available to parents and their children?
Available technology
From advanced electric toothbrushes to new, innovative apps, parents have many opportunities to make their child’s dental and oral health more enjoyable. Let’s discuss the apps out there and the toothbrushes available for children.
Apps
Apps not only make toothbrushing more fun for your child but also can educate them about proper oral care techniques.
There are many perks that apps are able to provide, such as providing timers to make sure your child reaches their two full minutes brushing, and prompts that remind your child to brush again.
Dental apps offer invaluable support in maintaining optimal oral health for young children. Here are some free apps you can use to help your children brush their teeth:
Brush DJ
This app plays music from your child’s device while displaying a timer that encourages them to keep brushing until the song ends. It also provides helpful tips on technique and reminders for regular check-ups.
Disney Magic Timer
Children can brush their teeth with the help of their favourite characters, from Elsa from Frozen to Spider-Man.
This app makes each brushing session feel like an adventure through a magical wood.
Chomper Chums
Your child will have a wealth of adorable characters to choose from to guide them through various toothbrushing challenges.
This app teaches proper brushing techniques and offers rewards for their efforts.
Toothsavers
This fun app gives kids an adventure to go on while brushing their teeth.
It is engaging and sweet, it teaches kids basic dental hygiene skills, and also showcases the time they spent doing so to encourage them to do a good job.
Brusheez
Kids, parents, and dental professionals have said that this app is tremendously fun for helping children brush.
Children can pick their pal and interact with the animations, choosing their unique colours and brushing alongside them during a two-minute timer.
Mimizaur
Looking for an app that will get your kids excited about brushing their teeth? Minizaur provides a dinosaur companion to accompany your child during their brushing. It combines fun and dental education, teaching them to brush properly.
Brush Teeth with The Wiggles
The Wiggles is a popular kids’ musical group that stars in this app in conjunction with dental experts to help build regular and healthy dental habits.
Brush Teeth Reminder
This is a simple daily reminder to stick to your dental routine. It can be used by adults and children. You can make it a family activity and brush together. You will receive two reminders per day, with two minutes to brush each time.
Brush Monster
The app is very simple and easy to use. It uses your device’s camera and dresses your kid in a tooth superhero costume. This mission is to banish your teeth’s enemies using your toothbrush’s powers. As you progress in cleaning your teeth, the mouth-dwelling monsters will become weaker, until you defeat them.
Colgate Brushing Adventure
This is a free iPhone app designed to make brushing teeth a fun and educational experience for children. The app offers two exciting games to play:
Plaque Attack: Where kids must defeat nasty plaque monsters while learning the correct brushing motion and speed.
Brushing Adventure: This game brings the children on a journey to surf the ocean and brush away the nasties with the help of a voiceover.
What about limiting screen time?
While apps may sound like a lot of fun to add to your child’s dental routine, it is important to limit screen time. Screen time is dangerous for children’s mental development, so it is essential to use it only when necessary. As long as your child spends no more than a few minutes looking at apps while brushing their teeth, the risk decreases.
Smart toothbrushes
We have smartphones, smart TVs, and smart cars, so it is inevitable that we all start using smart toothbrushes. It is essential for children to develop good oral hygiene habits as early as possible because it is the foundation for lifelong dental health. Let’s dive into the science behind such innovative gadgets and explore the transformation it does to our children’s teeth:
Built-in sensors
Many smart toothbrushes have sensors that let you know if you are brushing too hard. Brushing too hard can lead to gum damage and tooth enamel wear. The sensor will remind your child to ease up on the pressure, which can help your gums and teeth.
A typical toothbrush requires technique and focus to reach all areas of the mouth thoroughly. Children need to maintain the right angle, pressure, and duration when brushing, which some children may find difficult. The sensors act like a cue to let your children know they’re missing spots, which helps children learn the correct technique over time.
Built-in reminders
Consistency is the magic ingredient that helps develop good dental habits. Smart toothbrushes make it easier to stick to a regular schedule.
Apps can be linked to your smart toothbrush, which emits a noise when you need to brush your teeth next. This helps your child stick to their routine, which is essential for avoiding cavities and gum disease.
Parental monitoring and progress tracking
Parents no longer need to anxiously ponder their child’s brushing performance, as they can immediately review the data on their phone. You can also work with the child to see what areas of their mouth they need to spend more time on, creating a collaborative approach to their dental well-being.
Additionally, you can make it more fun for the child by offering rewards every time they achieve a perfect score.
Better plaque removal
Smart toothbrushes are better at reducing the risk of cavities compared to manual toothbrushes.
Children take years to develop their motor neuron skills, and handling their manual toothbrush means that they are almost sure to miss sections of their teeth when they brush.
Smart toothbrushes are designed to help children reach all areas of their mouth, including the gum line, which is often missed when using a manual toothbrush.
Technologically advanced toothbrushes can help give your children happier and brighter smiles.
Make brushing an exciting part of your child’s routine
Apps and smart toothbrushes are a modern and more efficient way to keep your child’s smile brighter and happier. By engaging your child in technology, toothbrushes encourage lifelong habits and will reduce parents’ anxiety about their child’s oral health.
We, as parents, want the best for our kids. To be healthy and to do well at school. How do we ensure that they do their best? There are many areas of health that have an impact on academic performance, such as:
Kid’s mental health: Emotional and psychological health are major components of learning for our kids.
Proper nutrition: A Proper and balanced diet with all the necessary nutrients promotes development, memory, attention, etc.
Regular physical activity: Regular exercise and physical activity improve mood, body blood circulation, and memory and cognition.
Good sleep hygiene: Sleep helps children consolidate what they have learned. It also improves attention and mood.
Healthy ways of living: Actions such as limiting television and computer screen time for children, ongoing movement (activity), or staying away from drugs boost energy and mental clarity.
Good emotional well-being: Children should be able to deal with stress, be positive, and get on well with other people, which will improve their school performance.
Evenly balanced social well-being: Positive friendships, family relationships, and teacher relationships provide a rich learning environment in which children feel secure and happy.
When we think about children’s academic performance, we typically refer to all of these factors. Yet oral health in children is not always taken into account when measuring academic performance.
But could there be a link between oral health and academic performance?
In this article, learn about prevalent oral health issues among children, recent findings, and experts’ views that relate to focus and school attendance with untreated dental issues, and how the dental issues impact school performance.
Common oral health issues among children
First, let us discuss the most common oral health issues prevalent among children. Some of the common oral health issues that children endure that are likely related to school performance are:
Cavities: Tooth decay, also called dental caries or cavities, is the most prevalent dental problem in children. It is estimated that a large percentage of children suffer from cavities, mainly due to poor hygiene and high-sugar diets.
Toothaches: A significant number of children in the United States also experience toothaches. This pain may be caused by cavities or other oral issues.
Gum disease: Gum disease is not a disease that only adults can get, contrary to popular belief. Children can develop gingivitis or serious gum problems due to poor hygiene.
Malocclusion: Misaligned teeth or jaws can impair chewing, speech, and oral function.
Oral habits: Some habits such as thumb sucking or mouth breathing can lead to misaligned teeth or speech difficulties.
Evidence linking oral health to academic performance
Multiple studies have revealed an association between these dental problems in children and diminished academic outcomes.
Mechanisms by which oral health affects academic performance
How do oral problems affect academic performance?
Some proven mechanisms by which academics are affected by oral problems include:
Pain: Dental pain causes absenteeism from school and difficulty concentrating or participating in class
Discomfort: The discomfort caused by dental problems also causes concentration problems, lowering academic achievement.
Missing school: Children with poor oral health are more likely to miss school because of dental problems.
Sleep problems: Sleep disturbances interfere with children’s sleep. Fatigue from not getting enough rest also leads to lower grades and lower participation.
Social or psychological effects: If dental problems are too visible, children may suffer from bullying or social withdrawal, which significantly impacts their school performance and social life.
Many studies have shown a strong association between dental caries and lower school performance.
Mouth breathing and cognitive skills
Mouth breathing is one of the least known factors affecting children’s cognitive skills. Evidence shows how it affects children:
Oxygen deprivation for the brain: Oxygen saturation for the brain decreases when breathing through the mouth compared to nasal breathing. Low oxygen levels affect key learning and memory regions.
Sleep disruption: Generally, children who breathe through their mouths have problems sleeping due to airway obstruction and snoring. This causes daytime fatigue and sleepiness, as well as less memory consolidation.
Academic performance deficits: Some studies compare children who breathe through the mouth with children who breathe through the nose, showing that mouth breathers have more academic challenges.
Additionally, oral muscles may be less developed in mouth-breathing children, creating improper tongue placement. This can affect pronunciation and speech.
Socioeconomic and demographic considerations
Regardless of income, sex, age, or insurance status, children with oral health problems are more likely (between 40 and 50 percent) to have problems in school or miss school days.
However, by age, the greatest impact is on children between 12 and 14 years of age. Disparities in dental care can exacerbate dental situations, especially if there are children who do not have access to a dentist on a regular basis.
Interestingly, preventive dental care can help keep most children from having dental problems and decrease their difficulties in school.
Integrated approaches to solve this situation
There is strong evidence linking oral health to academic outcomes. However, we do little in preventive health to improve the dental status of children of all ages.
Early dental screenings in schools and community health programs can identify children at risk. Educators and policymakers need to incorporate oral health into measures to improve learning outcomes, which will improve academic performance.
Prevent oral issues and improve academic performance
As parents, there is much we can do. From avoiding unhealthy habits when children are young to scheduling regular dental visits to monitor dental problems.
Dental education depends on families, policymakers, dentists, and teachers. It is possible for all of us to improve children’s dental health and academic outcomes. Children’s health should be a comprehensive, collaborative, and community-based endeavor.
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