What are your memories of going to the dentist as a child?
Mine are getting to choose the color of my new toothbrush, the sickeningly cloying orange flavor of the flouride treatment, and not being able to stop running my tongue over my smooth-again teeth after the braces were removed.
Memories for some children today may not be quite as benign.
A New York Times article this week told of how dentists are facing more young children with more cavities. These children need so much dental work, that dentists are needing to put them completely under with general anesthesia.
One example in the story was a 2 1/2-year-old child who had cavities on 11 of his 20 baby teeth.
Ouch!
Dentists quoted in the story put the blame squarely on the parents, saying today's parents are less likely to enforce twice-a-day brushing, don't get their children into regular dental care soon enough, give their children bottled water that has no flouride, and let them eat stuff with sugars in it without brushing afterwards. A big problem, dentists added, was the never-empty bottle or sippy cup filled with juice.
Today, let's talk children and dental care. Do you feel the dentists quoted were too harsh on parents? Share your experiences with children and teeth-brushing. What's the best advice you got on children's dental care? Can the cost of dental care and dental insurance be an issue with parents getting regular dental care for their children?
Joining us, as always, is our great Moms Council.
Julie A. Short is a freelance reporter who has worked with Patch and is also a communications professional. She is a first-time mom of a son born in 2010.
Monina Wagner works in public relations. She has a daughter, Amara. Monina is also a member of the Disney Moms Panel, one of 15 moms selected nationwide, advising people online about planning Disney vacations.
Stephanie Predovich is a mom of four children ages 6 and under with her husband, Bill. Their fourth child, Colette, arrived Jan. 10. Stephanie also works part-time.
Christine Papesch is a native of New Jersey. She is a marketing professional who has worked in advertising, market research, vending and equipment companies. She and her husband live in Avon with their two children.
Michele Welshhans is a mom to a Girl Scout and lives in Avon.
Heather Mahoney is the newest member of the Avon Board of Education and past president of Avon Early Childhood PTA.
If you're a parent and want to share your experiences raising children in Avon, you can also become an Avon Patch blogger.
In This article
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Julie A. Short
Joined Patch Sunday, December 5, 2010 -
Monina Wagner
Joined Patch Monday, December 20, 2010 -
Stephanie Predovich
Joined Patch Wednesday, January 26, 2011 -
Christine Papesch
Joined Patch Wednesday, February 9, 2011 -
Michele Norman Welshhans
Joined Patch Monday, March 28, 2011 -
Heather Mahoney
Joined Patch Tuesday, May 3, 2011
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Avon Board of Education
35575 Detroit Rd, Avon, OH -
Stephanie Predovich
12:14 pm on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
I'm not sure if the quotes were too harsh or not but from personal experience I feel like a horrible mommy because our oldest son has had cavities already! I feel like it was my husband and my fault that we didn't floss his teeth and let him have the fruit snacks that lead to the cavities. Our son enjoyed the fruit snacks and still likes to have them once in a while. But had I known they were the worst food for their mouths they would have not started eating them as much!
I grew up going to the dentist regularly and then had the wisdom teeth removal along with braces. I hate going to the dentist now because I am worried that I will need painful procedures now that my mouth is starting to change with age. We take our kids regularly for their checkups and actually have to get our oldest in for a late checkup asap(rescheduled due to baby arrival).
I hope our kids will not have dental issues to deal with as long as we can prevent them. It is my duty to keep them on track with dental hygiene as long as I can!
Julie A. Short
12:17 pm on Wednesday, March 7, 2012
I think the dentist was right....to a degree, as he doesn't live with the parents so he doesn't know what they do to the kids. But I do see lots of kids drinking juice, pop, bottled water and eating lots of sweets.
Luckily my son is unable to have juice, it upsets his stomach and goes right through him so we stopped giving it to him (diapers were horrible to change!). He doesn't need it. He has water out of the faucet.
I also rarely give my son any sweets as we don't even have much in our house since we don't eat them either. I know he will be exposed to things when he is away from our house, but for now, he doesn't eat, nor even want sweets.
As for brushing his teeth, as soon as it appeared his first tooth was coming in, we started brushing. I bought a "Spider Man" spin brush for him and he loves it! In the morning and at night he is excited to get Spider Man out and brush his teeth. We've made it a fun activity so he doesn't even know it's for his health. I plan to take him to my dentist at my next visit this summer. I talked with my dentist during my last visit about bringing my son and he said it would be good for him to see the dentist office, look around, sit in the chair, etc. so he won't be afraid. I actually like going to the dentist (better than the OB/GYN lol!!). Dental health is important. Studies show poor dental health can lead to other health problems such as heart disease