Are Children Excited With the Arrival of the National Children’s Dental Health Month in February?
The ADA is bringing along the National children’s dental health month for 2020 in February as it did in 2019 and perhaps the year before. The National health observance program is bringing together thousands of healthcare providers, dedicated professionals, caregivers of children, and teachers besides many others to participate in the program. The dentist in Torrance, CA is also a participant and will be spreading the message of the ADA among children to brush and clean in between to build a healthy smile.
The ADA believes that habits and attitudes established early in life are critical for maintaining good oral health. As before, they have prepared a program planning guide for the NCDHM for promoting the benefits of good oral healthcare among children. Free promotional materials printed in English and Spanish are available for ordering or downloading from the Internet. The ADA is doing a commendable job by promoting the benefits of fluoride and telling children it is available in tap water and can prevent cavities in their mouths. However, despite the enthusiasm displayed even by the dentist near me are children excited about NCDHM? Let us look at some facts which may suggest the contrary.
Why Children May Not Be Excited about NC DHM?
It is a well-known fact that cavities are chronic conditions among children with nearly 80 percent of the cavities being in the mouths of 25 percent children. Many of these children developed their first cavity at the time they made an application for a driver’s license. These are figures from 2013 and the numbers could be much higher presently.
It is possible that many children did not have access to proper dental care during the initial stages and some fell to the misconceptions in the minds of parents that children don’t need dental care until their baby teeth fall off. Regardless of what the reason was these children are today the proud owners of cavities in their mouths that are barely allowing them to smile gracefully.
Some children may currently have restorations in their mouths while others may still be trying to figure out how they can overcome the problems. Even the dentist in Palos Verdes, CA, suggests that children receive fluoride treatments from a dentist despite the mineral being available in drinking water and attend regular appointments with the dentist for cleaning and checkups. Therefore can it be determined that all children will be excited by the annual program conducted by the ADA?
Children Should Receive Proper Dental Care from Their Immediate Caregivers
Young preschoolers that are unable to access professional dental care by themselves must receive attention from their parents who should be contacting the dentist in Long Beach, CA for advice about how they can care for their child’s dental health. Merely picking up the advice without supervising the child when brushing or flossing and keeping a close watch on their dietary habits will not prove beneficial but will only lead to tooth decay and cavities. Therefore the responsibility of the caregivers of children is even higher to make the child understand the benefits of maintaining dental health in good condition.
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry suggested way back in 2014 that besides providing infants, children, and adolescents preventive care and treatment in the dental office it was also essential to educate their children, parents, and dental professionals how they should be providing the best possible care and continue working to develop better methods of preventing oral problems.
The information mentioned above clearly indicates that a collective effort is needed not just from dental professionals and parents but also from children right through their adolescence for maintaining dental health in optimal condition.
Currently, many children or adolescents may be ruing their misfortune for not receiving the attention they deserved and many may be too young to bother. Dentists all over the country are making attempts to participate in the program and educate children about the benefits of good oral health. However wouldn’t it be better if parents of children also participated similarly to educate themselves about how their children’s teeth should be cared for to ensure the success of programs like NCDHM that are conducted every year?
