Teenagers can be tough on their teeth. They may be so busy with school, jobs, sport and social activities that it’s difficult to find time to brush. They also tend to eat a lot of “junk” food. Combine the two and you have a situation ripe for dental decay. Not surprisingly, this is the time when may people develop a lot of cavities.
Here are a few tips to help you get you child through the teen years free of cavities:
If you are a parent/guardian, talk to your teenager and encourage him or her to take good care of his or her teeth. This means brushing and flossing at least twice a day. Teenagers care a lot about how they look. Help your child to understand that bad oral hygiene contributes to teeth staining, bad breath, missing teeth and an assortment of other dental problems.
Continue to set a good example. If your teenager sees that your dental health is a priority, it will reinforce how important oral hygiene is to you. Your talks and warnings will not seem hypocritical and will carry greater weight.
If they participate in contact sports, you may want to have a custom made mouth guard fitted during a dental visit. Mouth guards assist in providing protection against dental injury.
Have plenty of oral health-care supplies on hand for your teen to use. Keep soft toothbrush, floss (or plastic flossers) and good tasting toothpaste in their line of sight in the bathroom.
Don’t buy junk food. Instead keep lots of fruit and vegetables in the house for snacking. You can reinforce that this will also be very beneficial to their skin – a topic most teens are very sensitive about. Double benefits for them.
If they wear custom-made appliances or dental braces, pay special attention to keeping spaces between the teeth and wires/appliances clean by using floss threaders. Orthodontic toothbrushes are specially designed to make cleaning teeth and braces easier.