Dental Health

Oral Health Of Children

Dental & Oral Health Care For Kids & Children in Ottawa, Ontario

Why Good Dental Health is Important

Innumerable studies and research have concluded on the importance of starting children early in their lives with good dental hygiene and oral care. According to research, the most common chronic childhood disease is tooth decay, affecting 50 percent of first-graders and 80 percent of 17-year-olds. Early treatment prevents problems affecting a child’s health, well-being, self-image and overall achievement.

The U.S. National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research estimates that children will miss 52 million hours of school each year due to oral health problems and about 12.5 million days of restricted activity every year from dental symptoms. Because of these facts and others, the current standard of oral health care is for children to receive their initial dental examination by their first birthday. This permits us to assess the child’s oral health status, determine their risk of developing decay, initiate good oral hygiene habits and review a number of growth and development issues.

Decay is an infectious disease, and the bacteria that causes the start of decay is known to be transmitted from other people, most often the parent or caregiver. Indeed, the status of oral health of the mother during pregnancy and in the early stages of infancy of her child can have a dramatic influence on the child developing decay. By the same token, early intervention with the mother during the pregnancy can disrupt this bacterial transmission. We will be happy to share some further information on this and many other preventive strategies for your child.