Matthews Dentist Shares 5 Back-to-School Dental Care Tips for a Healthier Smile

As you begin to tick off everything on your child’s back-to-school to-do list, it’s important to remember that your child deserves the best smile and healthy teeth as they return to the classroom. So apart from purchasing a new set of clothes and shoes, maintaining your child’s oral health is important. If you’re looking for a dentist in Matthews, NC, to provide excellent dental services to prepare your kids for a new school year, you’ve come to the right place.

Our Matthews dentists, Dr. Harish Patel, D.M.D and Dr. Stacey Alston, D.D.S, have provided some excellent back-to-school dental care tips to help you make sure your child begins the school year with a healthy smile and maintains it all through the session.

How Bad Oral Health Affects a Child

Many dental problems affecting kids are often a result of bad oral habits, and if not addressed, they can affect their overall health. It’s important to know that your child’s teeth are still developing. When bad oral health habits are practiced, it can result in poor tooth development, which eventually causes serious dental issues as they grow.

Your child’s teeth may look bright and clean on the outside, but you may be unaware of the dental decay lurking beneath the surface. Bad dental habits can result in other oral conditions, such as:

• Bad breath
• Sensitive teeth & gums
• Canker sores
• Tooth loss, and more.

Our dentist in Matthews can help take proper care of your child’s teeth early before it worsens. Our family-friendly dentists also provide excellent dental hygiene tips and help them maintain good oral health. This, in turn, gives them healthy teeth and also improves their overall health.

How Poor Child Oral Health Affects School Performance

There is a correlation between good dental health and children’s performance in school. The same can be said for bad oral health and poor school performance. If your child’s oral health is poor and they are struggling with any dental issue, such as tooth pain, it can make it difficult for them to concentrate in school.

Unplanned dental emergencies may occur, causing your child to miss school and also causing you to miss some working hours. Poor child oral health usually comes with a variety of issues, physically, psychologically, and medically. 

A child can’t perform excellently in school when they are battling headaches due to toothache and low self-esteem caused by poor dental hygiene. Our Matthews dentists, Dr. Harish Patel and Dr. Stacey Alston are providing you with these healthy back-to-school tooth care routines to help improve your child’s oral health as they prepare to resume.

5 Back-to-School Dental Tips for a Healthier Smile

 

It’s important to remember that your dental health has a major impact on your overall health. It’s popularly said that the mouth is the gateway to the body and should be well cared for. The following back-to-school dental tips have been well articulated by our dentist in Matthews, and we recommend you put them to good use so that your child’s dental health will be on a healthy track this school year.

1. Establish Good Dental Hygiene

While adults concentrate on following a regimented dental schedule and routine, they often forget the importance of such routines for children. Getting the best dental care in Matthews involves visiting the dentist and establishing a good dental hygiene routine at home. This helps your child to grow with a healthy and beautiful smile.

Establishing healthy back-to-school tooth care routines include brushing in the morning before and after school, flossing between the teeth at least once daily (preferably at night), and using a soft-bristled brush with fluoride toothpaste.

2. Pack Healthy Lunches and Snacks

Packing healthy school lunches or snacks is another way to ensure that your child maintains healthy oral health in school. If your child likes a particular vegetable or fruit, use it as an opportunity to include it in their diet. 

Raw vegetables and crisp fruits, such as carrots, celery, and apples, helps give a freshening breath and remove plaque from the teeth. Fruits and vegetables also contain vitamin C and other nutrients that help safeguard your gums and other tissues from bacterial infection.

The best back-to-school dental care you can give your kids is to provide them with healthy lunches and snacks. Grocery stores make selecting healthy school lunches for your kids much more accessible. Our family dentistry also involves recommending healthy snacks for your kids. Visit our dentists near Matthews to get more ideas on what snacks your kids should and shouldn’t eat.

3. Encourage Water Over Soda

When packing up your child’s back-to-school lunches and snacks, take note of the amount of sugar concentration in the food or drinks. Our Matthews dentists, Dr. Harish Patel and Dr. Stacey Alston, often tell parents and kids that eating or drinking lots of sugar can lead to cavity buildup and tooth decay.

We recommend you encourage water over soda. Drinking water not only keeps your child hydrated but also helps limit the buildup of plaque and bacteria. 

4. Consider a Mouthguard

If your kids are actively engaged in various sports activities in school, you must protect them from dental injury by using a mouthguard. Sportsguard is the best oral appliance you can invest in to shield your child’s teeth from getting knocked out or broken.

They help reduce the impact of hits or blows that would have otherwise caused injuries to the lips and face. Although there are various types of mouthguards out there, you can ask your dentist in Matthews for the most suitable mouthguard for your kids.

5. Schedule Regular Dental Appointments with Our Dentist in Matthews

We offer preventive dental services in Matthews and by scheduling a visit at least twice a year at our dental practice, you can improve your child’s oral health. Preventive dentistry allows your dentist to monitor your child’s oral health as they grow.

Our dentist will examine your child’s mouth, teeth, gums, and jaw. We will also monitor their jaw development and provide orthodontic treatment if there are any underlying issues or improvements that need to be made.

Back to School Dental Care With a Trusted Dentist in Matthews, NC

At Fine Arts Dentistry, we provide comprehensive back-to-school dental care for your child’s healthy smile. Our dentists in Matthews, NC will walk you through every step when it comes to your child’s oral health. We will celebrate their dental milestones from infancy to young adulthood while ensuring their teeth are a joy to behold. 

With the back-to-school dental hygiene tips we have provided in this guide, your child is well on their way to having one of the best years in school, both academically and health-wise.

Remember to give your child unique and personalized care from the best dentist in Matthews by scheduling an appointment with us at Fine Arts Dentistry today.