We’ve all the heard the old adage “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” I once worked with a poor old soul who applied that proverbial wisdom to the dentist. She hadn’t been to the dentist in more than 30 years and started complaining of mouth pain. After 3 weeks of constant murmuring, I asked her if she was going to do something about it. “I am,” she said. “I’m eating an apple every day.”

Eventually my friend followed my advice and, after much prodding, made an appointment with my very kind, gentle and professional dentist. Quite a bit of work later, she was pain free and working her way back towards a healthy mouth. Her comment did get me thinking about apples though.

My daughter was about 1-1/2 years old, had a super-cool Dora the Explorer toothbrush and a tube of bubble gum flavored fluoride-free toothpaste. We were ready to start brushing our teeth together. My daughter had an intense desire to brush her teeth…until she realized that the process involved sticking a toothbrush in her mouth.

I let her watch me brush my teeth. Then, we laughed at Daddy while he brushed his teeth. Then, we made up a song to make it fun for her while I brushed her teeth. First, I put a little bit of toothpaste on the brush, added a little water and handed the brush to her. I told her to taste what was on the toothbrush. She very gingerly agreed. Once she realized that it tasted good, I asked if I could brush her teeth and sing a song. She agreed. Off we went to the tune of a silly little jingle I composed:

Brusha-brusha-brusha,

Brush those pearly whites.

Brusha-brusha-brusha,

Brush the plaque out of sight!

Brush ‘em front and back,

Brush ‘em side to side.

Brusha-brusha-brusha,

Brush those pearly whites.

Soon, my daughter learned the song herself and chimed in where possible. A year later, she was asking me if she could brush her teeth in the morning and reminding me that she needed to do it before she went to bed. We’ll see if the trend sticks when she’s a teenager but for now, she loves to brush her teeth. She’s developing healthy dental habits and having fun doing it. All because we made it fun rather than functional.

If you’re like me, when you were a new parent, after you obsessed about when your child was going to get her first teeth (my daughter’s didn’t come in until she was a year old), you wondered how you should clean them. Getting a young child to accept a toothbrush may not be easy. Like adults, kids don’t like having foreign objects stuffed into their mouths. (It seems we develop a dislike for dentists early on.)

Most dentists, including the founder of Emergency Dental Care USA, Dr. Obeng, like to see children when they’re around three or four years old for a “friendly” visit.

“We like to let the children sit in the chair and look at the light and get comfortable with the dentist office,” said Dr. Obeng. “That way, when they get a little older and it’s time for a teeth cleaning, they aren’t so afraid.”

Dr. Obeng also recommended bringing your toddler along with you to your teeth cleaning appointments so he or she can see what happens at the dentist. So, I’m planning on doing that with my daughter and am trying to get her in the habit of brushing her teeth twice a day.

We went to the grocery store and bought a tube of fluoride-free toothpaste and a toothbrush with her favorite person in the world on it - Dora the Explorer. My daughter was so excited to brush her teeth with Dora that she ripped open the package in the store! We held our first brushing session when we got home.

Next time I’ll share how we made teeth brushing time fun.

Even though children will lose their baby teeth when they are replaced by permanent teeth, it is still important to take proper care of children’s teeth with regular brushing, flossing and trips to the dentist for x-rays and teeth cleanings. Teeth are important to speaking, and overall oral health. Sealants have many advantages for children’s teeth, namely protection of the abundant, natural grooves and dips which are so prevalent in baby teeth surfaces which can collect food and bacteria leading to tooth decay, loss and gum disease. Sealants aren’t perfect though, and do have some drawbacks.

Non-Permanent
Sealants protect the chewing surface of teeth from decay.  A sealant is a clear, tough plastic enamel painted onto a tooth which dries and establishes a water-tight seal with the tooth. Unfortunately, sealants don’t last forever. After about five years, they need to be replaced.

Breakable
While sealants are tough, they can be cracked or damaged from eating hard foods like ice, jawbreakers, hard candies or nuts. Once a sealant breaks, food can become trapped beneath it, between the sealant and the tooth, and can cause tooth decay.

Don’t Stop Gum Disease

It’s cheaper to put sealants on your children’s first, permanent back teeth, than it is to correct tooth decay after it has occurred. That makes sealants a wise investment. But, sealants do not prevent gum disease due to lack of flossing, which removes bacteria from in between the teeth.

The Cost of Covering a Tooth
Sealants wear over time. As sealants break down and new teeth come in, sealants must be replaced. This requires a repeated investment of funds into children’s teeth. The cost of a sealant is about $45 per tooth. Find out whether or not your dental insurance covers sealants and determine whether you have the budget to afford sealants. Consider that waiting to fix tooth decay after it occurs through fillings and crowns is considerably more expensive than hedging it off beforehand through sealants.

So, while sealants alone won’t keep your children’s teeth perfect into adulthood, when they are combined with regular dental visits, beginning at age three, they will help your children speak well, smile well and have healthy, happy mouths. Talk to your dentist about the advantages and disadvantages of sealants and decide if they are right for your children’s teeth.

Read more about dental sealants here.

Thanks to all the kids and parents who came by Omaha Emergency Dental on Monday, Nov. 1 for the Halloween Candy buy back, sponsored by Michael Obeng, DDS. We paid out $95 and gave toothbrushes to kids who brought in their treats and sold them for $1 a pound.

But the fun wasn’t limited to the kids. Throughout the day, adults stopped by the office at 84th and Center streets to drop off their candy just so the troops could have more treats. That added another 36 pounds of candy, bringing the total to about 131 pounds.

All treats will be shipped to Operation Gratitude, which packages the candy with other items and sends care packages to soldiers overseas.

Aside from giving treats to the troops, kids and their parents had their reasons for participating in the buyback. One parent said her children are allergic to peanuts, so they never went trick-or-treating because they couldn’t eat the candy. But this year, they were thrilled to collect candy, knowing they could bring it in the next day and get some spending money for other treats.

Another mother said her daughter gained 11 pounds last year eating Halloween candy, and had to have her cholesterol checked before she went to kindergarten.

Most of the kids were saving their money to get something special. Their list of “someday” items included:

• A music box.
• Swimming goggles.
• A new bike.
• A trip to the Americal Girl doll store in Kansas City.
• “A horse when I grow up.” (That young man has a lot of trick-or-treating to do!)

Photos from the event can be found in this gallery.

If the thought of all that candy sitting around is more frightening than Halloween goblins, here’s a great trick: take your treats to Omaha Emergency Dental the day after Halloween.

Michael Obeng, DDS, is buying back prepackaged, unopened candy for $1 per pound, up to 5 pounds per person. Kids will also receive a toothbrush in exchange for their candy.

The event will take place from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Nov. 1 at Emergency Dental Care USA, 2605 84th Street (84th and Center).

The candy will be shipped to Operation Gratitude to fill up care packages for service members stationed overseas. These care packages are assembled at the Army National Guard Armory in Van Nuys, California, for safety and security.

“Kids and their teeth can be overwhelmed by sweets at Halloween,” Dr. Obeng said. “With the candy buyback, we want to give them an opportunity to turn those sweets into treats that are better for their dental health.

“At the same time, we want to send this candy to our troops overseas to give these soldiers a rare treat,” he added. “Many of these soldiers are serving in remote locations where good food is scarce and sweets are even harder to find. This is a small way of saying ‘Thank you’ to these brave men and women who serve our country so faithfully.”

It’s never too soon to teach children that they need to brush their teeth. But this twice-daily chore doesn’t have to be a bore for parents or kids.

The American Dental Association recommends that parents start cleaning their baby’s mouth within a few days after birth. Instead of using a toothbrush, parents should wipe their baby’s gums with a clean gauze pad to remove plaque and residual food.

Tooth-brushing lessons can begin as soon as the first tooth appears. Parents will have to manage the toothbrush for the first couple of years until tots are coordinated enough to handle a toothbrush on their own.

Here are some fun ways to inspire your children to brush their teeth:

• Switch roles. Allow your children to brush your teeth, then allow them to brush their own teeth. Finish the lesson by brushing your child’s teeth.
• If your child has a favorite doll or toy, let the child brush the doll’s teeth first.
• Use only a pea-size amount of toothpaste on your child’s toothbrush so there won’t be too much foam.
• Use a toothpaste made for kids that has a milder flavors. Many adult toothpastes have flavors that are too strong for kids and can sting their mouths.
• Print out a chart about oral hygiene and hang it in the bathroom where kids can see it.
• Sing a song while the kids are brushing. Use these suggestions for songs and lyrics, or make up your own.

Sources:

http://www.ada.org/3084.aspx?currentTab=1

http://www.saveyoursmile.com/parents/dzgettingkidstobrush.html

http://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/oralhygienecharts.htm

http://www.lucylearns.com/tooth-brushing-song.html

Dental exams weren’t really a consideration as I got my kids ready for school this month. I had other things on my mind – notebooks, pencils, crayons, car pools and lunch money.

But then I heard someone say that a visit to our family dentist could actually help my kids concentrate in the classroom. I wanted to know more.

“It makes sense,” my friend told me. “After all, think about how difficult it is to concentrate when you are in pain or uncomfortable.”

I understood. A toothache really hurts. I can’t imagine trying to concentrate during math class!

I decided to call the dentist’s office and set up an appointment. It does seem to be a good way to start the new school year.

It was a good thing I did because the dentist found a few problems I didn’t know my child had – a cavity in one of her back molars. If it had gone untreated, the dentist said it could have turned into an abscess. An abscess would have been a painful experience and a dental emergency. 

If, for whatever reason, you do have a dental emergency, there could be an Emergency Dental Care USA office near you. The offices are open every day from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. No appointment necessary.

I can remember my first visit to the dentist. I don’t know who was more put out – the dentist or me! 
No one ever warned me about this strange masked man, the rubber gloves and that drill. It was scary!
Now as an adult, with my own children, I can understand why it was such an awful first experience. No one talked to me about what to expect. No one explained to me why I needed to go to the dentist and have a stranger look at my teeth.
Because of that, I made that first visit very difficult. Before the visit had barely started I had clinched my jaw and wasn’t going to open for anyone! And so it went for what seemed like an entire afternoon. Actually, as I recall, the dentist was pretty good about my stubbornness. He seemed to understand, which helped my fears dissipate.
Dr. Michael Obeng, founder of Emergency Dental Care USA, understands too.
Gently helping children understand why dental care is so important will help with that first visit,” Dr. Obeng says.
“Children will only understand as much as we allow them to understand.”
My first visit to the dentist became the backdrop to a lifetime of dental care. I never really got over my fear of the dentist.
That’s why, when it came to my own children, I felt it was so important to prepare them for the dentist. I even took them with me when I had an exam. They became very comfortable with our dentist and even enjoyed those visits.
 “Talk with your children about the dentist,” Dr. Obeng advices. “It could easily be the first step in building a healthy foundation when it comes to taking care of their teeth.”

Dr. Michael Obeng, founder of Emergency Dental Care USA, wants us to know that teaching our children the importance of proper dental care begins today.
“It’s never too early to begin teaching your child the importance of caring for their teeth,” Obeng said. “Even if it’s only one tooth!”
When that first tooth begins to appear give your child a soft bristled toothbrush and let him or her gnaw on it. By doing this you are allowing your child to get the feel and habit of using a toothbrush.
Children younger than three are too young to be given toothpaste and you should never leave a child unattended while using a toothbrush.
“Your guidance and encouragement is so very important when it comes to teaching them about their oral health,” Obeng said.
Teaching your child how to care for their teeth at a young age will help them develop healthy habits – habits that will stay with them a lifetime.
Of course, you should introduce your child to the dentist at an early age and continue with regular dental checkups throughout their childhood. Only your dentist can address oral health concerns that may arise with your child, and only your dentist can counsel you on how to teach your children about their oral health.
It’s also your family dentist who will be able to evaluate your child’s gums and teeth to determine what needs and concerns there may be. Making regular dental check ups part of your child’s routine will ensure their oral health and it will also get them accustomed to visiting the dentist – a thought that is frightening to many people who haven’t grown up with a caring dentist.
If you don’t have a dentist or are searching for one, a dental care provider at any of the Emergency Dental Care USA offices will be happy to meet you. The staff will contact your dental insurance provider to assist with the paper work.
“Help your child develop strong, healthy habits,” Dr. Obeng says. “Make that appointment today to introduce your child to a lifetime of dental care.”