Oral Health Tips for Ages 7 to 12 Years Old

Ensuring proper kids’ oral care is essential from an early age. Infants whose teeth are just emerging needs care to ensure that the teeth grow healthy and remain decay-free. Now, the ages 7 to 12 are the critical ones when it comes to dental care for children. This is the age when permanent teeth start growing.

Taking dental care seriously at this stage prevents poor positioning of teeth, problems caused by decay or damage, and other issues. Establishing good oral health practices at this age lets you give the child a lifetime of excellent dental health. Here’s what you can do.

Prevent unhealthy habits

This is the time to prevent unhealthy habits from becoming the child’s way of life. The common mistakes made are as follows:

Snacking on/ drinking sugary stuff

Sucking lollipops or hard candies or just eating too much sugary stuff can be the worst thing for your child’s teeth. The crunching action can damage the tooth while sugar coats the teeth, making a thriving environment for bacteria to start eating into the teeth. Drinking sugar-loaded juices and sodas coats teeth with sugar too. Ask your children’s dentist for healthier alternatives.

Chewing on hard items

Chewing on pencil ends, a common childhood habit introduces bacteria into the mouth. The chewing action itself abrades the enamel and makes the tooth vulnerable to cavities. If the item is too hard, the child could crack a tooth too. Crunching ice cubes left at the bottom of a glass of soda or juice also have the same potential for damage.

Using teeth as tools

Many adults do this too, and watching them makes kids resort to using their teeth to open snacks, beverages, packages, etc. This can loosen the tooth in its position and also damage the tooth enamel or the tooth itself.

Playing contact sports without protection

A mouth guard protects the child’s teeth in case of falls. Even a seemingly minor injury to the face can result in a cracked or chipped permanent tooth. Young kids should know that high-intensity activities and sports can potentially harm their teeth permanently. This can be prevented by wearing a mouth guard without fail.

Top oral health tips for ages 7-12 years old

Your children’s dentist can recommend tips for kids oral care to maintain excellent dental health. Here are some ideas they may suggest:

Brush twice

Teach your child how to brush properly to cover all surfaces of the teeth. Make sure they know to brush for a full two minutes with just enough pressure to ease out all the food debris and not more. Supervise the child’s brushing until they have learned to do it perfectly on their own.

Flossing

Plaque is difficult to get out of the crevices between the teeth. Flossing helps achieve this. Flossing just once at night every day can help prevent cavities.

Rinse after meals

After every meal time, set up a rinsing schedule so the child washes out all the food particles in the mouth. Rinsing after drinking sugary kinds of food items is a great way to keep the sugar from coating teeth too.

Schedule periodic visits to the children’s dentist and diligently follow the dentist’s advice about which kids oral care products to use for your little one. This helps you maintain their teeth in perfect condition right from the age when their permanent teeth come in. Contact Woodlawn Kids Dental today!