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A child with bad dental habits drinking a sugary soda.

Bad Dental Habits for Children that Impact Their Oral Health

Dental health habits are best formed early on. Proper dental care is critical to ensure safe and healthy growth of teeth and supporting bone in and around the mouth. However, many children have bad dental habits that either they or their parents should avoid. Learn about these damaging habits and the effects they can have on your child’s overall health!

Baby Bottle / Breast-feeding at Night

Newborns are hungry when they’re hungry. It’s okay to feed them when they clearly need it! But once their teeth start to erupt, it’s worth the effort to try and avoid late-night feedings.

Breast milk contains lactose, which is a sugar. Like any sugar, prolonged exposure on your baby’s teeth or gums can help promote bacteria growth. The last thing you want is your child’s new baby teeth being immediately exposed to tooth decay!

The same goes for bottled drinks. If they contain sugar, they can have the same effect. This is called “bottle mouth.” If you do need to give your child a bottle at night for some reason, avoid sugary drinks whenever possible!

Thumb Sucking with Permanent Teeth

It’s natural for children and toddlers to suck their thumbs for comfort. During their early years, usually before age four to six, it’s not a major concern. But when their permanent teeth begin to grow in, you need to discourage it!

Chronic thumb sucking can misalign the teeth. It can also negatively affect the development of the roof of their mouth. Not only will these effect their bite, it can lead to a surprising number of dental issues which will likely need orthodontic intervention to correct.

Chewing on Hard Objects

Whether it’s a child exploring the world, or a pre-teen that’s simply bored, it’s common for children to chew on objects. Things like ice cubes are popular choices – especially because they seem innocent enough to bite. But it’s extremely harmful to their teeth!

Our teeth weren’t designed to handle extreme stress from chewing on solid objects. While ice cubes or non-food items are easy to identify as bad, this goes for hard candies like jawbreakers too! Just one bad bite can chip or crack a tooth. In those with their permanent teeth, that could mean crowns or root canals depending on the damage.

Nail Biting

Like thumb sucking, nail biting is often a nervous tick, or something done out of boredom. But, like biting any other hard objects, it can be terrible for teeth and a bad dental habit in the making.

First, the act of chewing on finger nails can lead to chips or cracks in teeth like any other object. Secondly, it’s bad for your child’s fingernails! Most importantly, it is associated with an increased risk in bruxism – more commonly known as unintentional grinding. Bruxism as a chronic issue can require intervention from your dentist or orthodontist to prevent long-term damage to their oral health.

Excessive Sugary Drinks

One of the worst dental habits to develop in a child is an addiction to sugary drinks or soft drinks. While these types of beverages are bad for everyone’s teeth, they’re especially damaging to young children’s new teeth – even when using a straw to drink.

Many juices or drinks contain a staggering amount of sugar. Even those labeled as sugar-free are often carbonated, which is acidic and damaging to teeth as well. It’s unfortunately common for children as young as two or younger to frequently drink sugary drinks.

Skipping Dentist and Orthodontist Visits

Nobody should miss a dental appointment. Like any health problem, it’s easier to catch and correct tooth decay or other risks early. If you let your child miss their appointments, they could start to develop advanced gum disease or tooth decay issues that otherwise would have been easily prevented.

More importantly, if your child has new braces, it’s critical to make every orthodontic appointment. An orthodontist uses these visits to examine the progress of their treatment and adjust their braces as necessary. If you miss a visit, it could delay your child’s treatment.

An orthodontic visit is also a great time for you or your child to ask questions or discuss concerns, such as minor pains from their braces.

Information on Types of Braces

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If you’re in need of braces, or have recently started orthodontic treatment, Dr. Andy can help answer your questions! You can find out how we can help by scheduling a free consultation! Contact us online or call 440-842-8015.

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