Starting Early Initiates Lifetime of Children’s Healthy Oral Care
By Lt. Cmdr. Sabina Yun, U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka


HM2 Joseph Vargas shows a group of children from The Sullivans Elementary School how false teeth are made as they tour the dental clinic at U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka. Keeping your child’s baby teeth healthy starts just days after birth and will initiate a lifetime of healthy oral care. U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Chantel M. Clayton

They are questions as old as dentistry: Are baby teeth really that important? Won’t they just fall out anyway? Do I really need to take care of them? The answers are just as old: Yes they are important. Yes they will fall out anyway. Yes it is important to take proper care of them from the very beginning. Baby teeth are as important to children as permanent teeth are to adults.

Adults and children alike need teeth for proper chewing and nutrition intake, speech development and to establish self assurance and confidence every time we smile. In addition to those basic functions, baby teeth serve as space savers for permanent teeth and help guide them into their proper alignment. A baby tooth normally remains in a child’s mouth until a growing permanent tooth is ready to erupt through the gums. If a child loses a tooth prematurely due to an accident or extraction of a diseased tooth, it will lead to the loss of space and has the potential to cause the new permanent tooth to erupt out of alignment or fail to erupt completely. Improperly aligned teeth may require expensive and time-consuming orthodontic treatment in the future. For those reasons, it is very important that baby teeth are kept healthy and in place until they are lost naturally.
Keeping baby teeth healthy starts just days after birth and will initiate a lifetime of healthy oral care. The first care you provide is actually for the baby’s gums. Start cleaning your baby’s gums using water and a soft towel or cloth. As the teeth begin to erupt, start brushing with an age appropriate toothbrush twice a day (after breakfast and before bedtime) using a fluoridated toothpaste that has been approved by the American Dental Association (ADA). Look for the ADA seal of approval on the box or tube of the toothpaste. For children less than 2 years old, use a small “smear” of toothpaste. For the 2-5 year old, you can use a “pea-size” amount of toothpaste. Remember to assist your child because their manual dexterity and cognitive understanding are not mature enough to effectively clean their teeth.

Another way to promote healthy teeth for children older than 6 months of age is to simply drink tap water while on base. Like many communities in the United States, Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka adds fluoride to drinking water piped to base residences in Yokosuka, Ikego and some of the schools.

Consuming fluoridated water and using small amounts of fluoride topically on a routine basis can help prevent tooth decay by strengthening tooth structure and reducing bacterial activity that causes cavities. Research shows that community water fluoridation has lowered tooth decay rates by more than 50 percent which translates to fewer cavities. Every time your child drinks fluoridated water, baby teeth get topical exposure and permanent teeth get fluoride incorporated into the structure during development.
 
If you live off base or in a community that does not have fluoridated water, ask your dentist for fluoride supplements. While beneficial, it is important to note that too much fluoride can lead to fluorosis which can cause staining or pitting of the teeth. To avoid this, limit fluoride intake to drinking fluoridated water, brushing twice a day with an age appropriate amount of fluoridated toothpaste and following the dentists instructions with fluoride supplements.

The last key to proper baby teeth care is to watch what you children eat and drink. Dietary choices play an important role in oral health. One common cavity causing mistake is to allow children to fall asleep with a bottle or nurse a sippy cup filled with milk or juice. It is important to limit prolonged and frequent exposure to fermentable carbohydrates (sugar). If a bottle or sippy cup is necessary to help soothe a child or help them sleep, the healthy option is water.

For older children, avoid diets high in sugars and other simple carbohydrates such as junk food and sugary beverages. While it is tough to promote healthy choices rather than the high priced marketing campaigns promoting the latest candy and sweets, it will go a long way to ensuring your children have a lifetime of oral health.

Lt. Cmdr. Sabina Yun is licensed in dentistry and board certified in pediatric dentistry. She is the division officer for Pediatric Dentistry on board U.S. Naval Hospital (USNH) Yokosuka. USNH Yokosuka is the largest U.S. military treatment facility on mainland Japan and serves approximately 55,000 beneficiaries. A 47-bed core hospital and dental clinic in Yokosuka is complimented by eight branch health clinics in Japan, Korea and Diego Garcia.