A Brushing & Flossing Reminder from Angela the Dento Phobe

As parents it’s an understatement to say that we have a lot on our plates. There’s making breakfast, lunch and dinner, taking to school, picking up from school, football practice, choir practice, soccer practice, and 37 loads of laundry, 18 of which need stain fighting action, house cleaning and then homework. Plus those AR books. There’s much more, which I won’t bore you with. Getting it all done leaves me collapsing in bed each night ticking off to-do’s that’ll still be there tomorrow.

Keeping up with my kids’ dental hygiene, somewhere down that list, is not one of the jobs I particularly relish. Having to brush my three year old son Jack’s teeth is comparable to prize fighting an angry octopus twice a day. When I reach into his mouth it’s like he spontaneously develops six more arms to flail wildly. When we’re done, I’m never sure how clean his teeth are since most of the tooth paste appears to be streaking down the bathroom mirror. If only we used tooth paste to clean mirrors. Maybe I’ll invent that one day and save people a lot of time.

Yesterday was our six month dentist appointment. Would I once again get the lecture about brushing and flossing twice a day? Would x-rays expose cavities and strip me once again of my Mother of the Year award? Nope, it was a good visit with sticker rewards at the end for both my kids. While, I would’ve rather received a Barbie sticker, my reward was a $45 bill.

While sitting in the waiting area, I took the time to interview the experts at Dr. Rebecca Wigham’s office on why it’s so darn important for us parents to promote brushing, flossing and not going to bed with a sippy cup full of apple juice. According to office manager Lori Wood, other than water, a tooth brush is the last thing that should be inside our kids’ mouths before bedtime. “Children’s primary teeth are like M&M’s. The enamel is thin like the candy shell (but not nearly as tasty). Anything that sits on the teeth for an extended period of time causes plaque and bacteria to build up. Once the bacteria breaks through the enamel, it can eat away at the tooth causing pain, swelling, a cavity, or even worse an abscess.” (for those of you who aren’t dental terminology savvy, abscess is tooth language for “infection in the root”) If the infection, or abscess is bad enough, it can get into the blood stream requiring an IV or antibiotics to treat. Also, kids can get cavities in their permanent teeth before they’re even visible. This was hugely interesting to me as I didn’t know that when we’re two years old, our permanent teeth are fully developed and waiting off-stage to make their grand entrances a few days or weeks after the Tooth Fairy’s visit.

And what about flossing? Why is that so darn important? I’ll be honest. I can’t stand to floss. But I do it everyday. And I have to say that some pretty incredible stuff can get stuck between teeth. The other day, I flossed out a notebook I’d lost in fourth grade and an ex boyfriend from college. (I just thought he’d stopped calling). Lori, my new friend and dental hygiene expert gave me a real good reason to keep up the flossing. “60% of tooth decay occurs between our teeth. Flossing is extremely important to clean the plaque and bacteria out.”

While my kids are beyond this stage, it’s worth mentioning that Public Enemy Number One for kids’ oral health is nursing of baby bottle decay. “We see bunches and bunches of kids with nursing bottle decay,” said Dr. Wigham.

For all you moms who nurse your babies to sleep or put them to bed with a bottle or sippy cup, stop it. Now. Yes, I know it’s the only way you can get little Johnny or Emily to stop fussing and let you get some shut eye of your own, but bottle decay wreaks deadly havoc on baby teeth. Havoc that you can’t see unless you’re standing on your head, looking up into your child’s mouth. This is because the decay starts on the backs of their teeth. By the time the fronts are infected, it’s too late. You might be looking at tooth caps which come in two fashion colors: white and silver. I asked Lori why other colors weren’t available and she wasn’t sure. But she did say that many adults adorn their caps with diamonds and other high quality gem stones.

Lori and Dr. Wigham both stressed the importance of laying little ones down in your lap to brush and floss their teeth. “You’ll get a better view of what you’re brushing and can make sure their teeth are getting clean.” They encourage parents of little ones to bring them to the dentist early so that they can demonstrate proper brushing techniques.

I’ll say from my own experience that it’s never too early to begin good dental hygiene, but waiting too late can cause all sorts of problems. Looking into my mouth today, you’ll see an array of silver amalgam fillings, and a few caps that I paid more for than my current vehicle. So, take care of those choppers and they’ll last a whole lot longer.