Dental FAQs
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Prevention

How Do I Prevent Cavities

Care of your Child's Teeth: >> download pamphlet

Brushing

  • Brush your child’s teeth at least twice a day:  after breakfast and before bed.  Use a pea-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste on your child’s toothbrush and encourage kids NOT to swallow.
  • Continue to help your child brush until at least age nine or older.
  • Replace your toothbrush every three months and always use a new toothbrush after you’ve had a cold

Flossing

  • Flossing cleans between the teeth where the toothbrush cannot reach.
  • Help your child floss his/her teeth once a day:  Ease floss in between the teeth.  Curve the floss around the tooth at the gumline and gently sweep up and down.

Good Diet = Healthy Teeth

Putting a child to bed with a bottle containing formula, milk, juice or soda or sleeping with your child so that they breast feed at will can lead to nursing caries.  Unswallowed sweet liquids in the mouth support bacteria that attack the teeth and can lead to severe caries.  Protect your child from early childhood caries by putting them to sleep only with a pacifier or a bottle of water.

Sugar is not only found in candy!

  • Bacteria in the mouth convert sugar and starch from our food into an acid which causes cavities.
  • Watch for hidden sugars and starches in many natural or processed foods like fruits, vegetables, crackers, potato chips, peanut butter, ketchup …..
  • Your child does NOT have to give up all foods with sugar or starch.  Just limit the frequency of snacking to no more than 2-3 times a day:  The more a child snacks and nibbles; the greater chance of having cavities.

Eat Smart!

  • Food with sugar or starch is safer for the teeth if it is eaten with a meal, not as snack.  Avoid eating sticky foods, such as fruit snacks or toffee because they are not easily washed away from the teeth by saliva or water.

Fluoride

  • Fluoride is effective in preventing cavities when combined with a healthy diet and good oral hygiene.  It slows down enamel breakdown and makes the teeth more resistant to bacterial acid attack.
  • Most cities in B.C. do not have fluoridated water.  If your water comes from a well, you can test its fluoride content.

What is fissure sealant?

Your child’s teeth may develop imperfections called pits and fissures.  The pits and fissures are often filled up with bacteria and food.  The bristles of your toothbrush may be too thick to reach into these area and the bacteria and food cannot be removed by brushing, flossing and rinsing. 

 

  
Left: Microscopic view of the surface of a tooth showing very small pits and fissures

Right: Microscopic view of the surface of a tooth showing bristles of toothbrush unable to brush in the very small grooves of the teeth

Special materials, which have proved to be safe and effective in the mouth, can be painted on the pits and fissures and bonded firmly in place.  Pits and fissures are effectively “sealed” and bacteria and food cannot accumulate. 

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Left: (arrows) pits and grooves naturally present on the tooth which become bacteria and food traps.  These teeth are at risk of getting decay

Right: Pits and grooves sealed by fissure sealant so that bacteria and food cannot accumulate.

Sealants can last for many years.  Due to chewing and the abrasive nature of some food, such as ice cubes, crunchy candy or sticky foods, sealants may sometime be dislodged or damaged.  In such cases new sealant material can be applied to repair or replace the original sealant.  Sealants are proved o be beneficial where pits and fissures are at risk of decay.