Dental visits can often be a tedious and anxious event for both parents and their children. However, they can be particularly difficult to navigate when a child has difficulties such as sensory sensitivities or developmental differences.
In this article, we will explore some helpful tips and guidance for parents with children who require extra care during dental visits, ensuring that your child leaves the clinic with their beautiful little smiles shining bright.
What are developmental differences or sensory sensitivities?
Developmental differences can be observed in the emotional or cognitive domains, where the child may experience difficulty in social situations, understanding behavioral norms, and may have a developmental disability, such as autism or ADHD.
Sensory sensitivities or sensory processing issues are often first visible during the toddler years, when the child may exhibit an unusual aversion to certain situations that might not be uncomfortable for most people. According to some sources, sensory processing issues can cause children to react in unusual ways to different situations, such as:
Loud noises
Bright lights
Uncomfortable clothing
The problem is that the dental clinic makes a LOT of loud noises from the various tools in use.
Bright lights will be necessary to shine towards your child’s face so the dentist can see and administer their treatment.
This makes it really hard for you as a parent to take your kid to the dentist, but you are not alone, and there are techniques you can use to help your kid.
How might your kid react?
Most of the tools in the dentist’s office can cause a lot of sensitivity in your kid. As a result, your child may react when going to the dentist or when being in the dental chair by:
Screaming if their mouth or face gets wet
Throwing tantrums when you try to get them dressed in the protective clothing
Having an unusually high or low pain threshold
Reacting in a way that you need to cancel the appointment
However your kid reacts, you still need to take them to the dentist.
What are some strategies for you when you have a child with sensory sensitivities and developmental differences?
How can you prepare for a dental visit?
Here we present you with some ideas that might help you in different cases:
Prepare in advance
One way to prepare your child for their visit to the dentist is by scheduling a tour in advance of their appointment. Some dental clinics will allow you and your child to visit the clinic a few days or weeks before the appointment to ensure that you both know what to expect. For example, the friendly front desk can welcome your child, show them around the clinic, and then send them home with a small treat. This can enable the child to establish a positive relationship with the venue, foster trust, and receive positive reinforcement.
Remember: It is essential to inform the staff about your child’s special needs so they can provide any necessary accommodations. The dentist can be on their level and remove any of the strangeness that may be expected from an unwelcome visit to the clinic. That way, your child feels more comfortable, and so do you as a parent.
Pro tip:You can also look for a dental professional who has direct experience with treating patients with autism or sensory needs. By doing a bit of extra homework, you may be able to find a pediatric dentist who is particularly attuned to your child’s special needs.
Practice makes perfect
Some parenting tools may help you prepare for a dental appointment. For example:
Storytelling
Storytelling can be a valuable tool in helping to alleviate a child’s nerves. By using direct and clear language and a step-by-step program, your kid will know what to expect on the day of the dental visit. Dental toys can also be used to create a better learning environment. For example, a parent can use a toy mouth and point to all the teeth inside to help their child learn about the process.
Individual coping mechanisms
It is also important that children can rely on their coping mechanisms when entering the dental clinic. For example:
Your child may feel soothed by holding onto their favorite toy.
You can also take their noise-canceling headphones to make sure they are not overwhelmed by all the strange noises.
Your kid can watch their favorite movie on your phone or laptop.
Visual supports
Provide visual supports to help the child mentally prepare for what to expect during their visit. There are many resources online that a parent can use, such as YouTube videos and cute animations, so children can understand what will happen.
Making many short visits
If a child is particularly nervous, parents and dentists can help build up the dental visit in steps. First, they can count the number of teeth before allowing the child to go home, then proceed to some gentle cleaning, and so on. This way, the experience will not be entirely overwhelming.
Waiting in the car instead of the waiting room
If your kid has trouble with new places, it might be overwhelming for them to wait in a waiting room. You can ask the dental clinic if your child can stay in the car until the dentist is ready. If it isn’t possible, you can always get the first appointment of the day.
Pro tip: Role-play a visit to the dentist at home. This can be a fantastic opportunity to have fun with your child and allow for a moment of bonding. By creating your own in-home dental clinic, it will be easier for the child to adjust to the real-world clinic.
Positive reinforcement: Reward your kid for a job well done
It is important that children are rewarded for overcoming a stressful moment. You can do something your child enjoys after your appointment is finished. For example, you can go eat some of their favorite food or do one of their favorite activities. As a result, your child will develop a positive attitude towards their dental visits. After all, who doesn’t like some pampering after a job well done?
Prevention is key
To ensure that the visit is as pain-free as possible, regular upkeep of your child’s dental hygiene and health is key. Regular brushing and flossing will help prevent any rigorous treatments that may be too intense for your child to tolerate in the dental chair.
If your child is overly sensitive to their toothbrush or paste, you can look for softer dental bristles and non-flavored paste to make sure that they can maintain their necessary routine.
Look for some tips to prevent tooth decay so your kids can have healthy smiles.
Medication
If other methods prove to be ineffective, parents can seek anxiety-relieving medications or light sedation for their children. This can be administered prior to the dental visit to help them overcome their anxiety.
Some specialized centers also offer exams and dental treatment under general anesthesia when needed.
If you feel that you need some help and more options, your dental professional can help you and guide you for the sake of your child’s health.
The bottom line: You need the right dental professional
We hope that you can find the coping techniques that work for your child on their dental journey.
Ensure that you have an open and honest dialogue with your dental professional to ensure that you and your child receive the care they need. This way, you and your kid can both leave the clinic with beautiful and healthy smiles.
Find modern and updated dental clinics that are open to conversations about special needs in your area.
As parents, we sometimes take the wrong steps or apply home remedies that may harm our kids’ teeth. Correct dental care in children is essential to prevent cavities, gum disease, and other dental health issues throughout their lifetime.
Let’s examine some common dental care mistakes to avoid in children, and what expert advice is available to preserve their smiles.
7 Common dental care mistakes
What are some common dental care mistakes to avoid?
As parents, we normally try to protect our children from harm. However, kids don’t come with an instruction manual that tells us what we might be doing wrong or how to avoid making mistakes. Let’s take a look at some common dental mistakes and analyze some tips to improve our kids’ dental care routines.
Prolonged use of pacifiers and bottles
We get it: pacifiers can really help calm a kid down. However, extending the use of a pacifier beyond six months or even allowing bottles of milk or juice at bedtime can cause big-time problems for teeth, such as:
Misalignment of teeth
Tooth decay
Improper development of the palate
Expert solution: Experts recommend limiting pacifiers to the first six months and stopping their use by age two. They also encourage the transition to sippy cups or regular cups by age one, rather than bottles, to avoid prolonged exposure to sugars that can damage teeth.
Ignoring destructive habits like thumb-sucking
Many young children have specific habits, such as thumb-sucking, that could be harming them greatly. Long-term thumb-sucking or nail-biting may affect tooth development and alignment.
Expert solution: Parents should intervene gently to help children replace these habits with healthier alternatives before permanent teeth are affected. For example, you can replace thumb-sucking with:
A stress ball
A favorite stuffed animal
Positive reinforcement strategies
Remember to avoid punishing or shaming kids for these habits. Instead, we can work with patience and consistency, remembering that they are little and still learning.
Incorrect Tooth Brushing Practices
Some incorrect practices when brushing teeth include:
Incorrect toothbrush size: Children often use the wrong toothbrush size; parents can replace them with toothbrushes sized appropriately for the child.
Hard bristles: Children need soft-bristle toothbrushes for their teeth.
Neglecting tooth surfaces: Parents and dentists can teach children to brush at a 45-degree angle and to brush all tooth surfaces.
Brushing for too short a period: Children should brush their teeth for at least two minutes, twice daily, to effectively remove plaque.
Expert solution: As parents, we should always ask our dental professionals about brushing techniques.
Improper use of toothpaste
Using too much fluoride toothpaste can cause dental fluorosis, while too little reduces cavity protection. The recommendation is a rice-sized amount for children under three years and a pea-sized amount for ages three to six.
Expert solution: The recommendation is to:
Give a rice-sized smear of toothpaste for children under 3.
Give a pea-sized amount to kids aged 3 to 6.
Supervision is important to prevent swallowing excess toothpaste.
Neglecting diet and sugar exposure
Frequent consumption of sugary snacks and drinks leads to tooth decay, both for children and for adults. More damaging than the quantity of sugar is the frequency of consumption. Every time a child eats sugar, acid attacks the tooth enamel.
Expert solution: As parents, we should limit our family’s consumption of sugary foods and encourage a balanced diet to promote oral health. We can also encourage the habit of choosing water over sugary drinks. Remember to set the example for healthy living.
Excessive dependence on home remedies for tooth pain
Sometimes, our children experience tooth pain, and instead of acknowledging this pain or consulting a dental professional, some parents rely on home remedies. Some of these remedies for toothache or oral pain, like applying aspirin directly to the teeth or using home concoctions, can cause irritation or damage in the short and long term.
Expert solution: It is always safer to consult a pediatric dentist rather than rely on unverified remedies.
Missing out on professional preventive measures
Thinking that we only need the dentist when a problem arises is a major mistake.
Regular dentist appointments can help children access dental preventive measures, such as sealants, that protect their back teeth from cavities.
Expert solution: Dental sealants are thin, plastic coatings that dentists apply onto the surfaces of molars and premolars, and they can prevent up to 80 percent of cavities. They should be discussed with your dental professional.
Extra tips to improve dental care for your kids
Apart from avoiding the seven most common mistakes, introducing some proactive habits can actually set your child up for a lifetime of health and happiness:
Go to the dentist early
Your kid should have their first dental visit within six months of the appearance of the primary tooth, or by the age of one at the latest. The first visit is crucial in establishing the “dental home” – a long-term, continuous, and ongoing relationship with a pediatric dentist. These office visits are educational, not therapeutic.
Know how to handle dental issues
Accidents happen, and children are often susceptible to falls and sports injuries. Knowing how to handle a dental emergency can save a tooth. If a permanent tooth is knocked out, time is critical:
Locate the tooth: Handle it only by the crown (the top), avoiding the root.
Keep it moist: Try to reinsert the tooth into the socket if possible. If not, place it in milk or a glass of saline solution. Don’t use water.
Seek immediate care: Go directly to the pediatric dentist or emergency room.
Turn routine into fun, family time
Brushing teeth is a chore for most children. As a parent, your responsibility is to make the two-minute time period non-negotiable, but fun. For example, you can help your kid with:
Apps and music: Use an app that features a two-minute song or game and teach the child where to brush their teeth.
Reward charts: Have a sticker or reward chart for every successful two-minute brush. Rewards can be anything, perhaps it’s extra time reading a book or choosing the next family movie.
Brushing buddies: Encourage the child to role play that they brush the teeth of a favorite stuffed animal or doll to practice the skill.
Improve oral health and get healthy smiles
If you combine avoiding these dental care mistakes and the extra tips, you will protect your family’s teeth. That way, you can maintain a radiant, healthy smile for years to come.
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.
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