How Kids Can Maintain Good Oral Hygiene

 

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Gov. Cuomo recently announced that dental offices are now opening in New York. However, in-person appointments might be difficult to come by at this time given the high demand. If you want to make sure your kids are continuing to maintain good oral hygiene, here are some helpful tips and a printable tooth-brushing chart to encourage kids to keep their teeth clean.

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How Kids Can Maintain Good Oral Hygiene

Tips for Kids to Keep Up with Oral Hygiene 

Practicing good oral hygiene habits are important for kids and parents to learn at a young age which they will continue doing throughout their lives. Especially with dentist offices being closed for so long, it is even more important that parents take the necessary measures when it comes to helping their children maintain good oral hygiene. Babies are born with teeth that are hidden under their gums. In order to make sure that your baby’s teeth will be healthy, parents need to make sure that their babies have healthy gums. Make sure that you wipe your baby’s gums with a soft washcloth after feeding in order to remove any bacteria.

“It is important to maintain a sense of routine during this uncertain time. That includes an oral hygiene routine of brushing twice daily and flossing in the evening,” says Bitesize Pediatric Dentistry. Kids also have a tendency to snack more while they are stuck inside. Bitesize says that it is best for kids to try and avoid stickier food as well as make sure that kids are drinking water immediately after snacking.

Can You Set Up a Virtual Appointment?

Dental practices across New York are setting up virtual dental appointments in order to help their patients with any problems they might have. In order to set up an appointment, you will need to contact your preferred dental practice and choose a time that will work with your schedule. In order to go through with a virtual call, you will need to use either a smartphone or a computer that has a webcam and a working microphone. Not all dental practices are providing virtual appointments, so make sure to check with your local dentist.

What Should Parents Look Out For?

Every parent wants to make sure their kid’s teeth are staying healthy. Many problems come from underneath the teeth or other areas that you can’t see, but there are signs of dental health issues that parents would be able to see. If a parent sees and of these issues, they should contact a dentist as soon as possible:

  • Ulcers, sores, or tender areas in the mouth 
  • Bleeding or swollen gums after flossing 
  • Chronic bad breath 
  • Sudden sensitivity to hot or cold temperatures or beverages
  • Pain or toothache 
  • Receding gums 
  • Cracked or broken teeth 
  • Frequent dry mouth 
  • Pain with chewing or biting 
  • Swelling of the face and cheek 
  • Clicking of the jaw 

If any of the symptoms listed above are accompanied by a high fever, you should seek emergency medical treatment.

Another big problem that could occur is cavities. Cavities can be caused by having limited spacing between teeth, as well as staining and plaque buildup on the molars. In order to maintain cavity-free, parents should make sure that their kids are flossing at an early age in order to fight off plaque buildup. The little things that kids can do, such as continuing to brush their teeth and floss every day, will come a long way! “Parents should play an active role in the oral hygiene habits of their children,” said Bitesize. “A good rule of thumb is — when children can tie their own shoelaces, they typically have the manual dexterity to brush their own teeth”.

Here is a printable tooth-brushing chart!

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<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b076e719-7fff-a614-1e03-7070c8fdb6f7"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Family Speech Center has been servicing children, adolescents, and adults since 2003. Our Speech-Language Pathologists are trained professionals who evaluate and diagnose adults and children to identify specific speech, language and swallowing difficulties.<br />Once the communication difficulties are assessed and identified, our Speech-Language Pathologists develop and implement a therapy plan individualized to meet a client’s needs.<br />Our staff has experience with many types of communication disorders and difficulties, including language delay and weak vocabulary skills, articulation/phonological disorders, myofunctional disorders, apraxia, language learning disabilities, auditory/language processing difficulties, fluency disorders, and pragmatic/social disorders.</p>

Enabling Devices

<p><strong>Enabling Devices is a family-run business that designs, manufactures and sells adapted toys and accessible devices that make life more joyful and fulfilling for children and adults living with disabilities.</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>It started with a train set, a mercury switch, and a young boy whose therapist thought he couldn’t play with toys. In 1975 our founder, Dr. Steven Kanor, walked into a room at United Cerebral Palsy/Long Island and saw a boy sitting in a wheelchair, his head resting on his shoulder. When he asked where the toys were, the OT said, “He doesn’t have the motor skills to play with toys, and he can’t lift his head.” But Dr. Kanor was not interested in what the boy couldn’t do. He was interested in the boy's potential. The next morning, he was back. He’d brought a train set, which he’d connected to a mercury switch. The switch, the first capability switch he’d designed, was attached to the boy’s ear. When the boy raised his head, the switch made contact and the train ran around the tracks. After several weeks of playing with this toy, the boy was holding his head up straight, even when the train was not running. Dr. Kanor was elated.</p> <p>Since that day, he never stopped innovating, never stopped trying to make our products better, never stopped designing new devices. Today, our design team is just as passionate, just as creative, and just as committed to innovation as the man who founded this company. Enabling Devices is the place to find toys, devices and tools that help build more joyful, fulfilling lives. We have an extensive selection of adapted toys, capability switches, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, adapted electronics, mounts, iPad products, sensory items and products for the visually impaired.</p> <p>Over the years, the important constants remain. We’re still the same small, family-run company Steven Kanor founded in 1978, with the same values of personal connection and deep product knowledge. We’re still committed to providing caring, individualized service to each customer. And we’re still grateful for the privilege of sharing in your journey.</p>

Advantage Care Health Centers

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-db4b2459-7fff-adc1-4601-75b3690fc174"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #434343; background-color: #ffffff; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Advantage Care now offers in-person and Tele-Health services to all new and current patients through their secure online platform visit: </span><a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://advantagecare.doxy.me/"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #434343; background-color: #ffffff; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://advantagecare.doxy.me</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #434343; background-color: #ffffff; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to see how it works.  Tele-Health Services for Children and Adults include the Following: Primary Care, Psychotherapy, Psychiatry.  Advantage Care continues to take proper measures to keep their patients, community, and staff safe during the pandemic. Advantage Care Health Centers are Long Island’s premier Federally Qualified Health Centers. They accept Medicaid, Medicaid Managed Care Plans, Medicare. The mission of their centers is to provide the highest quality comprehensive primary, dental, mental, and behavioral health care services.  They offer these services to all members of the community with a commitment to those who might otherwise be excluded from the health care system, while remaining cost-effective and efficient. Advantage Care specializes in providing services to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.</span></span></p>