The answer to this is a definite yes as a flossing is essential for keeping your child’s teeth and gums healthy. In spite of this, the American Dental Association has found only half of Americans floss every day. Just brushing your child’s teeth isn’t sufficient to maintain their oral health, and it’s important to make sure regular flossing is a part of their daily oral hygiene routine.
Why We Recommend Daily Flossing at the Kid’s Dentistry Center
You’ll find Dr. Mila Cohen or any of the dentists at the Kid’s Dentistry Center recommend your child flosses at least once a day. Even though they may still have their milk teeth, tooth decay is a very real threat for toddlers and children. Daily flossing helps remove plaque from in between the teeth where it can easily create cavities. At the same time, removing plaque helps reduce the risk of gum disease or gingivitis which can result in bleeding and inflamed gums.
If your child already has the very first signs of gingivitis then a regular flossing routine can help reverse this process before it develops into the much more serious form of this condition which is called periodontitis. It can come as a surprise to quite a few people to realize children can get gum disease, but the unpleasant truth is that it can affect anyone at any age. As well as preventing diseases, daily flossing helps freshen up your child’s breath through removing food particles that would otherwise begin to rot.
Taking Care of Baby Teeth
You need to take just as much care with your child’s baby teeth as you would with their adult teeth. Many parents don’t realize this as baby teeth are eventually replaced, but in the meantime they serve several very important functions. Without them your child will not be able to chew their food properly or may find it painful to do so. This can result in a less than perfect diet that doesn’t contain all the necessary vitamins and minerals and which may affect their overall development. Those baby teeth are also essential for learning to speak clearly, and without them your child may have difficulty communicating with others. In addition, baby teeth help reserve the correct amount of space for the permanent teeth, possibly reducing the need for orthodontic treatment in the future.
Tips for Flossing Your Kid’s Teeth
You’ll need to begin flossing your kid’s teeth as soon as they have two teeth that come into contact with each other. It can be useful to use pre-threaded flossers or you are more than welcome to ask Dr. Mila Cohen or any of our pediatric dentists for practical advice and demonstrations on how to floss properly and which are the best tools to use. You might need to experiment with several different types of dental floss, and it’s even possible to buy a flavored floss to make the process a bit nicer for your child. As they get older, be sure to set a good example by flossing your own teeth and you can get them to copy your techniques.
