February is National Children’s Dental Health Month and the California State Legislature is taking our children’s oral health seriously!
Tips for keeping baby teeth healthy
Bring your child to a dentist by one year of age to be checked!
Brush your child’s teeth twice a day, as soon as a baby’s teeth come in with a “rice-sized” dab of fluoride toothpaste. (Wipe off excess toothpaste for infants and toddlers who cannot rinse and spit.)
Never let your baby go to sleep with, or walk around with a bottle or “sippy” cup filled with anything but water.
Make snacks healthy foods, like fruit, vegetables or cheese – not sweets or sodas.
Check your child’s teeth once a month, by “lifting the lip” up to look for white spots; these may indicate the very beginning of decay, which can be reversed if caught early enough.
Starting in January 2007, children entering public school for the first time, in kindergarten or first grade, are to have a dental checkup by May 31 of their first school year. The goal of this new legislation is to ensure our children have regular access to dental care and to raise parents’ awareness of the importance of oral health to overall health and readiness to learn.
Many young children in Lake County will be having a dental screening this year at state subsidized preschools. Thanks to the Children’s Oral Health Project, funded by First 5 Lake County, children learn how to brush their teeth well and are encouraged to see the dentist every year.
Lake County Office of Education’s Healthy Start program is also holding Health Fairs at local state preschools, which include dental health screening, fluoride varnishes and oral health education for parents and caregivers
The project has also established “daily brushing programs” at preschools and daycares to increase the quality of teeth brushing among young children and to decrease the amount of time between thorough teeth cleanings. Children, parents and teachers are also taught the importance of good oral health care with class instruction and video-based courses, emphasizing the link between dental health and total health.
In 2000, the U.S. Surgeon General’s report, “Oral Health in America” described dental disease as an epidemic among children throughout our nation. Poor children are especially vulnerable.
In fact, dental disease is the most chronic childhood disease in this country – five times more prevalent than asthma. It affects overall health, impacting nutritional intake, growth and development, self-esteem and even future success in school.
Statistics show that one out of every 15 children in California suffers debilitating dental disease. In Lake County, 41 percent of preschool children receiving a dental screening this year have experienced dental decay.
And if a family member has untreated cavities, a child’s risk for dental decay goes up as well. Children of mothers with poor oral health are five times more likely to have oral health problems.
It is important for parents, prospective parents, and caregivers to monitor their own dental health – see a dentist at least once every six months and get treatment as necessary. We now know that dental decay is an infectious disease – the bacteria is passed from parent to baby.
Prevention is the key – and is certainly preferred to drilling a decayed tooth in the mouth of a young child.
Let’s make 2008 the year we stop dental decay among all Lake County kids!
Marta Fuller, RN, is the coordinator of the Lake County Children’s Dental Disease Prevention Program in the Department of Health Services. For more information, e-mail
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or call 263-1090. Joan Reynolds is the director of the Lake County Office of Education’s Healthy Start Program.
I would like to applaud the staff of the Lakeside Health Center/ Dental Clinic and Dr Lewis for their participation in this special event. It is reported that 100% of the staff voluntered their time, effort and skills to provide examinmation, diagnosis and treatment of dental disease in children. The health of all citizens begins with good dental care.
