Category: Caring for your Teeth

Haunted by Halitosis?

By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert

How to Handle SCARY and Dreaded Chronic Bad Breath

Does the fear of halitosis keep you up at night? If so, you’re not alone. Millions of Americans suffer from chronic bad breath. But you don’t have to suffer through this waking nightmare. Fortunately, we know many of the causes of halitosis, so we can offer you ways to treat and prevent it.

What’s Causing Your Bad Breath
Halitosis is more than morning breath or lingering odor from a tuna salad sandwich. It’s caused by bacteria thriving in your mouth and sinuses. Cavities and gum disease give bacteria extra places to live and breed. Bacteria also love the mucus your body produces when you’re recovering from a cold. If you have dry mouth from medications, an illness, or alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine use, you’re also likely to experience halitosis. That’s because saliva washes away potential food for bacteria. Without saliva, bacteria thrives.

Chronic illnesses can also cause halitosis. Gastric reflux, liver disease, kidney disease, and diabetes can all cause chronic bad breath. So can smoking tobacco, which contributes to gum disease and dry mouth.

Handling Halitosis
Since you know what causes halitosis, you can take steps to treat and prevent it. If you use tobacco or drink alcohol and caffeine excessively, consider quitting. If you’re battling a cold or sinus infection, work to clear your nose and sinuses as well as brush your teeth regularly and use mouth wash for your comfort while you heal. And if you wear dentures, make sure to take them out at night and clean them well before popping them back in your mouth in the morning.

If cavities or gum disease are causing your halitosis, it’s time to book a recare appointment with Eggert Family Dentistry. We can treat your cavities and diagnose and treat gum disease to keep bacteria at bay. Continue your care at home with regular brushing and flossing. Scraping your tongue with your tooth brush or a special tongue scraper can cut down on halitosis, too.

You don’t have to be haunted by halitosis anymore. Schedule your recare appointment with us today to start treating your chronic bad breath.

Keeping Your Teeth Clean with Braces

By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert

We urge everyone to practice good oral hygiene habits so they can have a life-long healthy, attractive smile. If you’ve got braces, it’s especially important, and just a little trickier than it is for the unbraced.

Greater Risks with Braces

It’s especially crucial because poor care and hygiene could cause problems leading to prolonged treatment. If you want the braces chapter of your life to come to a timely conclusion, take extra good care of your teeth to avoid risk of tooth decay, gum disease or simply undesirable coloration.

Plaque and bacteria are on a mission to stick to the surfaces of your teeth and spread. Also, stains from coffee, tea, wine and other foods can discolor your enamel, and when the braces come off, they may reveal whiter squares where the brackets were attached.

Long-Term Benefits of Braces

Braces are a long-term commitment with a great payoff: Not only are well-aligned teeth more attractive, they also avoid unnecessary wear, and they’re easier to keep clean, preventing decay and cavities.

Here are our tips for making sure that when the long-anticipated unveiling takes place, your teeth look their best–and there are no unpleasant surprises.

Brush After Every Meal and Before Bed

Brushing is the number-one defense against problems. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush, an electric toothbrush, or a high-tech one like Sonicare. Inspect your bristles regularly–they’ll wear out faster than without braces, so replace your brush regularly.

Develop good brushing habits, the same as we recommend for folks without braces. Brush for two minutes each session, and develop a routine so you give equal attention to each quarter of your mouth: top and bottom, left and right. Use a smooth, circular motion when you brush, and adjust the angle to get past your hardware. Don’t press too hard or saw back and forth. Remember to brush both sides of the bracket!

Interdental Brush

Use these miniature bottle brushes to tackle gaps or spaces between teeth, and to gently clean around and underneath your braces and wires where your brush isn’t making contact. Again, be systematic: start at one end and go all the way to the other, moving the brush between each set of brackets.

Floss with a Threader Once Daily

While you’re wearing braces, a floss threader is essential. It’s just like a plastic needle and thread. It allows you to slip the floss between your teeth and address plaque at the gum line. Follow a pattern, making sure you hit every gap: top to bottom, left to right, whatever works for you. Be gentle on your gums, and don’t saw back and forth–use an up-and-down motion.

Rinse Your Mouth

Take a good mouthful of water and swish it around to dislodge any remaining debris. For an extra level of care, use an extra strength, prescription fluoride toothpaste, or minimally an over the counter fluoride rinse.

Check a Mirror

Simple — make sure you’ve gotten rid of all visible particles and don’t forget to check under your lips!.

Keeping Braces Clean is a Little Extra Work, but Worth it

Getting braces requires an extra commitment to oral hygiene, but it only takes a few minutes a day to ensure that you’re taking the best possible care of your mouth. Because you’ll probably be brushing more frequently than you did previously, put together a kit with your essentials, so you can brush on the go. Toothbrush, toothpaste, interdental brush, mirror and floss don’t take up much space, and will ensure that you don’t walk around with any embarrassing bits of food clinging to your braces.

We hope these tips reassure you that it’s easy to take great care of your teeth, with or without braces. The good oral habits you develop now will continue to serve you long after the braces are off. If you have any questions, the team at Eggert Family Dentistry is happy to help you out.

10 Common Foods and Beverages That Stain Your Teeth

By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert

Let’s face it. No one wants discolored teeth. A less than sparkling smile can be socially awkward and put a huge dent in our self-confidence. We think if we find the perfect toothpaste and commit to brushing, flossing and rinsing with mouthwash with more vigilance then maybe, just maybe, we can counteract the yellowing and staining. The reality is, although each of these components of dental care are incredibly important, we do ourselves a disservice if we don’t look at one of the main culprits of dental discoloration – our diet.
Here is a list of 10 of the top foods and beverages that may be working against our pearly white smiles…

1. Soda
We love our pop but the sugar and acid it contains don’t love our teeth. Even diet soda is highly acidic and can erode the enamel on our teeth – exposing the yellow tissue behind it. Most soda also contains artificial colors that cause staining. If you can’t kick the habit altogether consider sipping it through a straw to minimize the acidic effect.

2. Tomatoes
Tomatoes and tomato-based sauces are highly acidic – to the point where many people experience acid-reflux after consuming them! Your teeth are not immune to the effect of this acid. Tomatoes also have a deep, reddish hue which stains everything it comes into contact with – clothing, carpet and teeth included! If you’re concerned about yellowing teeth, minimizing tomato-based products will pay dividends in the dental department.

3. Tea
Tea is a healthy alternative to soda but comes with its own dental challenges! Not only is tea acidic but it contains tannins, or plant-based compounds, which make your teeth a magnet for staining. It’s helpful to rinse your mouth with water after a cup of tea or consider adding milk to your tea – the casein component of which can reduce acid and counteract the staining effect.

4. Beets
Although highly-nutritious, beets are also deeply pigmented. Consider pairing them with cheese to experience the stain-fighting benefit of casein!

5. Citrus
Citrus is well-known as highly-acidic (citric acid, anyone?). Citrus fruits, while nutrient-rich, are enamel enemies much like soda, working to break it down and expose the yellow tissue, or dentin, under it.

6. Wine
It is a common misconception that only red wines cause dental staining and decay on account of their rich pigmentation. Red wines contain much higher levels of tannins but both red and white wines are highly acidic and the acid from both red and white wine can intensify staining. A helpful tip? Enjoy hard foods such as nuts with your glass of wine to scrub away plaque and increase saliva production which helps neutralize acid.

7. Curry
If you love Indian food but also love your sparkling smile try and minimize your consumption of these beautifully-hued spices and drink plenty of water with your meal.

8. Coffee
Coffee contains both tannins and chromogens, or natural dyes, and is very acidic. As with tea, consider adding milk to your coffee to counteract staining.

9. Berries
Who doesn’t love fresh berries? They are nutritious, delicious and beautiful. Beware of their staining effect, however, and avoid berry-based jams and juices which have added sugar and compound the negative effect on your teeth.

10. Popsicles
Don’t be fooled into believing that popsicles are a benign go-to for snacking. They often contain artificial colors and are actually loaded with sugar (processed or natural) which sticks to your teeth and creates a breeding ground for discoloration.

If you are concerned about your smile and want to ensure proper care, Eggert Family Dentistry would love to help! We would be happy to assist you with a routine check up and cleaning or a professional teeth whitening treatment. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have!

 

Teeth Grinding – Causes & Solutions

By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert

Teeth grinding is a common problem in both children and adults. It can take place in waking hours as well as while sleeping. Bruxism is a term we use to describe the habit of tooth clenching and/or grinding.

Lots of us carry some stress in our jaw muscles, and it’s no surprise that stress can be a cause of teeth grinding, but there may be more to it than that. In addition to stress and anxiety, other common causes of grinding include an abnormal bite, missing or crooked teeth, and sleep disordered breathing, often diagnosed as sleep apnea. Additionally, alcohol and tobacco use are linked with a 50% increase in teeth grinding.

Many folks grind their teeth without knowing it, so if you notice loved ones grinding away while sleeping, let them know so they can take steps to prevent it. Other symptoms that may reveal a grinding problem include headaches, especially in the morning; sore jaw joints or muscles; painful or loose teeth; and cracked or even fractured teeth. Any of these situations may lead to the need for dental interventions like crowns, implants, root canals or dentures, so it’s worth taking steps to resolve the problem.

The first step is to talk to us, your dentists, who can evaluate your mouth and jaw for possible signs of grinding. Some things we look for are excessive tooth wear and jaw tenderness, as well as how well your teeth function with each other. If we determine a dental reason for your bruxism, we might recommend splint therapy. There are many methods for splint therapy and we work to determine the most successful treatments for you, often through our records process (integrate link to other blog(s))

If stress seems to be the problem, take steps to reduce it. Consider counseling, exercise, meditation, or journaling to find a calmer state of mind. Along a similar vein, reducing or eliminating caffeine, alcohol and smoking often helps reduce bruxism.

An often overlooked, but becoming better understood, reason for bruxism is because of sleep disordered breathing. If your body can’t get enough air, especially when you are lying down and sleeping, one way your body compensates is to push the teeth around to open your airway. Ask your medical doctor to evaluate you for a sleep disorder, and start treatment if you have one. You often have to be an advocate for yourself to get the right testing and treatment and seeking a second opinion or seeking out a sleep specialist may be in order.

Break yourself of any chewing habits. Quit chewing on pens or pencils, nails and chewing gum. Habitual chewing not related to eating promotes over-active jaw muscles.

If you’re a day grinder, train yourself not to grind or clench your teeth. When you notice it happening, place the tip of your tongue at the roof of your mouth. This will remind your jaw muscles to relax.

Children also grind their teeth. They’re particularly prone to it when their baby teeth emerge and when they get their permanent teeth, and they often stop grinding once the teeth have become established. Children who grind their teeth should always be evaluated for sleep disordered breathing.

Teeth grinding may seem like a minor problem, but like any habit it becomes more entrenched over the years. After years of grinding, it can have a seriously negative impact on your oral health. Talk to us, your dentists, if you think bruxism may be a problem for you. We at Eggert Family Dentistry will help evaluate the problem and determine the right treatment for you!

Keep Your Mouth Healthy All Summer Long

By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert

Summertime can make it hard for people to take good care of their teeth. Vacations, summer camp and days at the pool interfere with everyone’s schedule and unfortunately, brushing routines may suffer. Both kids and grownups may face the temptation of extra sugar, from donuts in the car on the way to the beach, to a cooler full of pop, to late night s’mores around the campfire.

Here are some tips for ensuring that when September comes, your teeth are in better shape than they were in June.

Remind kids to keep to their regular brushing and flossing schedule–and remind yourself, too.

Start summer with a fresh toothbrush for everyone, and a fresh travel brush too. Get travel-sized toothpastes for the whole family, and a few backup brushes for guests and to cover misplaced toothbrushes.

Keep the kitchen and cooler stocked with healthy snacks. Think fruits and vegetables instead of sweets. Sugar encourages bacteria and acidity in your mouth, which causes plaque to form and damage to easily occur with your enamel and gums. Every time you eat sugar, your mouth will boost acid production for up to 20 minutes.

Soda is especially harsh on teeth, containing phosphoric acid and citric acid, which weakens tooth enamel  and makes it more susceptible to cavities. Instead of soda and juice, choose iced tea or water perked up with sliced berries, citrus or cucumber and a few mint leaves.

Book check-ups before school starts again.  It is important that all members of your family see us at least  twice annually. This will also help reduce the chance that someone in your family will suffer tooth pain on vacation.

Quit tobacco. Nicotine and tar damage your gums, and encourage bacteria and plaque. Tobacco can also lead to oral cancer. Smoking and chewing are bad news for your oral health.

Have both kids and grownups wear the proper protective headgear and mouthguards for contact sports.

Enforce the rules around the pool–they’re ubiquitous for a reason! According to the Academy of General Dentistry, summer oral injuries often take place around the pool. Shallow-water dives, running on slippery pool decks, and bumping the pool ledge can easily chip or fracture a tooth or even knock one loose.

Put together a dental emergency kit for sports and vacations. Include a clean handkerchief, gauze, a clean small-lidded container, ibuprofen and our office’s contact information.

If you are around a dental injury, get the patient to our dental office ASAP. In the meantime, clean the area with warm water and apply a cold pack to reduce swelling. Use gauze to stop bleeding. If a permanent tooth has been knocked out, place it back in the mouth if possible. Otherwise, place it in salt water or milk to keep it moist and bring all fragments into our office with you.

We at Eggert Family Dentistry look forward to seeing you! Please come in for your summer checkup, and take good care of your teeth, mouth and gums so you can enjoy uneventful checkups for years to come.

Can Tooth Sensitivity Be Treated?

By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert

Can tooth sensitivity be treated?Tooth sensitivity is a common dental problem. At Eggert Family Dentistry, our patients often ask how to get rid of tooth sensitivity so they can start enjoying ice cream and coffee again. We’re happy to tell them that yes, tooth sensitivity can be treated. Often, diagnosing tooth sensitivity helps us uncover underlying oral health conditions that are also treatable.

Why your teeth become sensitive

Enamel is the hard, outer layer that protects the soft interior of your teeth. If it is worn away by decay or aggressive brushing, the soft dentin and nerves inside your teeth are exposed to heat, cold, and pressure from chewing. This is what causes the jolt of pain in your teeth when you sip a hot chocolate or chow down on chewy foods.

Teeth become sensitive to hot or cold for a variety of reasons. The most common culprits are tooth decay, cracked teeth, worn enamel and fillings, and exposed tooth roots. But these conditions are actually symptoms of other oral issues, such as infrequent brushing, overly aggressive brushing, gum recession, periodontal disease and especially clenching and grinding of your teeth.

Treatments for mild tooth sensitivity

If you experience occasional sensitivity to heat, cold, or pressure, we may recommend a desensitizing toothpaste for you to use at home. These toothpastes contain ingredients that prevent the hot or cold sensation from reaching the nerves of your teeth. We may also recommend regular fluoride treatments at our office during your recare appointments.

Treatments for severe tooth sensitivity

But sometimes, desensitizing toothpastes and fluoride treatments aren’t enough to alleviate your discomfort. In these cases, we may recommend a filling, crown, or bonding to fix the underlying decay or worn or cracked tooth. If you have advanced periodontal disease that has exposed the root of your tooth to the elements, we may recommend a periodontal therapy or a gum grafting procedure to repair and heal the exposed area.

Another way to make huge improvements in relieving tooth sensitivity is to look for and treat underlying issues with your bite. By undergoing our records process, we can help you to determine if making improvement to how your teeth come together and how they chew can stop your tooth sensitivity, often for good!

The best way to treat tooth sensitivity is to develop healthy oral hygiene habits to prevent decay and worn enamel in the first place. Regular recare visits to Eggert Family Dentistry are part of any great oral hygiene plan. To schedule your next appointment, contact Eggert Family Dentistry today.

Fluoride in Water: What You Need to Know

By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert

Fluoride in waterSince the 1960s, communities across Minnesota and the United States have added fluoride to their community water supplies. Fluoridating water is an easy and cost-effective way to improve residents’ oral health. Though some consumers find the practice controversial, many scientific studies back up the health benefits of fluoridated water. Here are a few of our favorite reasons to love the fluoride in your water.

  1. Fluoride prevents cavities in kids and adults.

Fluoride can reduce tooth decay by 25 percent for kids and adults alike across all education levels and socio-economic statuses. It’s no wonder the Centers for Disease Control has called fluoridation of water one of the 10 greatest public health achievements in the 20th century.

  1. Fluoride is safe for your family.

Fluoride is an element found in most natural water sources, just not necessarily in amounts that prevent tooth decay. The Environmental Protection Agency strictly regulates the amount of fluoride in community water supplies to keep it safe and healthy to drink. Compared to other sugary beverages such as soda and fruit juice, fluoridated water is a great choice for your family.

  1. Fluoride strengthens tooth enamel of permanent teeth.

Fluoride helps strengthen the enamel of permanent teeth, which protects the rest of the tooth from decay and disease. For kids under age 8, fluoride can even strengthen permanent teeth that have not erupted yet, reducing the chance kids will develop cavities or require fillings.

  1. Fluoridated water saves money.

Yes, it does cost money to fluoridate your community’s water. But your community’s investment in fluoridated water reaps a strong return as families and your city’s health care system spend less money on treating tooth decay and related oral diseases. The Centers for Disease Control estimate towns of 5,000 people or fewer save $4 per person and larger cities save $27 per person.

  1. Fluoride supports regular brushing, flossing, and recare visits at our office.

Fluoride in your tap water helps support the good oral health habits you and your family already practice. In addition, we offer in-office fluoride treatments to children and adults alike to increase cavity prevention.   The varnish is quick, painless, and will protect all the teeth in your family.

Want to learn more about fluoride or schedule your family’s summer recare visits? Contact Eggert Family Dentistry today.

Celebrate Dads, Grads, and Summer without Harming Their Teeth

By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert

Celebrate Dads and Grads This SummerMemorial Day weekend officially kicks off the summer cookout season in Minnesota. Many of us look forward to toasting grads, dads, and warmer weather with brats, cold pop, chips, and frozen treats to cool us off. But many of the cookout foods we look forward to in summer can wreak havoc on our teeth. Here are some tips on how to enjoy summer cookouts while maintaining a healthy smile.

  1. Make gum part of your party spread.

Chewing sugar-free gum does more than just freshen breath. Chewing for at least 20 minutes generates saliva that washes away food, sugars, and acids that bacteria thrives on. Offer your guests gum on the picnic table or in a closed container in the bathroom.

  1. Offer dental picks, not toothpicks.

Toothpicks are handy at getting stuck food out between teeth, but their sharp ends can do major damage to gums (and who wants a mouth splinter ruining a great party?). Instead, offer dental picks or plaque removers in a closed container in the bathroom so your guests can remove corn on the cob from between their teeth.

  1. Go seedless.

Help your guests avoid getting food stuck in their teeth in the first place by choosing foods without seeds. Opt for hot dog buns without sesame seeds and make your fruit salad with seedless watermelon, apples, grapes, and banana instead of strawberries and blackberries.

  1. Try infused water instead of pop.

Infused water is a great refreshment on hot, humid Minnesota days. It’s cool, low in sugar and calories, and full of fruit flavor. Serve infused water in place of pop and sports drinks. Encourage adult beverage drinkers to alternate cans of beer with glasses of infused water. Some favorite infusers include cucumber, melon, pineapple, mint, basil, orange, lemon, grapefruit, but there are so many possibilities.

  1. Crush up ice cubes.

Everyone enjoys a cold beverage on a hot summer day, but chewing ice cubes can wear away tooth enamel and even crack teeth. Take a moment to crush ice cubes before serving them to your guests. You may even find breaking up cubes with a hammer great therapy for a stressful week (or party prep!).

Dr. Jeff and Dr. Elizabeth at Eggert Family Dentistry love summer parties as much as our patients do. Enjoy your company and your party food this summer, just don’t forget to show your teeth some love, too. Contact us today to schedule your next recare visit.

Your Child’s Teeth from Age 6 to Age 12: What You Need to Know

By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert

Oral Health from age 6 to age 12By age two, your child should have a complete set of primary teeth that will stay put until the first tooth is lost, around age six. But well before then, around age four, your child’s jaw and facial bones start to develop to make room for the permanent teeth, which develop under the primary teeth. It’s important that your child has good oral health habits starting early in development so the primary and then permanent teeth are healthy and serve well into adulthood.

Age Six to Age Eight

The tooth fairy usually makes her first visit to most households near the age of six. That’s when children lose their first primary teeth and the first permanent teeth appear. The permanent first molars erupt behind the primary teeth and are usually the first to come in, followed by the lower front teeth and upper front teeth. It’s completely normal for your child’s teeth to be different sizes, look uneven, and even appear missing. But don’t worry: by early adolescence, your child’s smile will come into place.

As permanent teeth appear, it’s important to continue the good oral health habits you started with your child’s primary teeth. The health of your child’s permanent teeth affects the ability to chew foods, speak, and smile. Encourage your child to avoid sugar and develop healthy eating habits to support his or her oral health.

Continue to brush and floss your child’s teeth until they are at least six years old. By age eight, most kids can brush their own teeth with supervision, but you should continue to floss your child’s teeth until they turn 10 or 11. Until these ages, children really don’t have the ability to fully clean all the teeth surfaces.  Only use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. Ask us for a recommendation for child-safe options.

Age Eight to Age Thirteen

Between ages eight and thirteen, your child’s permanent cuspids, bicuspids, and second molars will appear. As they do, we recommend sealants to protect teeth from cavities and tooth decay. Sealants are protective substances that we apply to your child’s teeth and is as easy as a regular dental checkup. The material bonds to your child’s teeth and fills in the pits and grooves that naturally appear on a tooth’s surface. This painless process can protect your child’s teeth for years before needing to be reapplied.

During this time, your child can take responsibility for more aspects of their health, including brushing, flossing, and making healthy eating choices. As more permanent teeth come in, it may become apparent that your child will need braces or other dental appliances to fix misaligned teeth or a bad bite. We can help you identify when and if these issues arise and will recommend an orthodontist.

If your kids are active in sports, it’s important to protect the permanent teeth from injury. A mouth guard protects teeth from being broken, knocked out, or from injuring your child’s lip or tongue during contact sports. There are many over-the-counter versions, but even better is to have us make a custom-fit mouth guard for your child.

Eggert Family Dentistry can help you and your child build good oral health habits that will keep the permanent teeth healthy well into adulthood. Schedule your child’s next dental recare visit with our dental team today.

Your Child’s Teeth from Birth to Age 6: What You Need to Know

Oral health birth to age 6By: Dr. Elizabeth Eggert

Did you know your child’s teeth start developing 6 weeks after conception? While baby teeth may not appear until your child is 6 months old, a lot of oral development occurs well before your child reaches that milestone. Here’s what you need to know about your child’s teeth from birth to age six.

Birth to Two Years

Your child is born with a complete set of baby, or primary, teeth under the gums. Typically around 6 months of age, your child’s lower central incisors—their lower front teeth—erupt as a pair, followed approximately a month later by the upper central incisors. Lateral incisors, cuspids, and first and second molars erupt in pairs over the next 18 months until your child has a complete set of primary teeth before the age of three.

As parents know well, erupting teeth can make for cranky kids. Gums are often tender and sore, and the discomfort can cause your child to become irritable, have trouble sleeping, and can increase drooling, chewing, and sucking. You may notice your child rubbing their face or grabbing their ears, too. Gently rubbing your child’s gums with a clean, damp cloth or gauze or a chilled teething ring can be comforting.

Two Years to Six Years

Your child’s primary teeth serve several essential purposes, which is why it’s important to keep them clean and healthy. Primary teeth serve as placeholders for the permanent teeth forming below them. Keeping primary teeth healthy helps your child’s permanent teeth develop appropriately. Primary teeth also help your child chew and process healthy foods, promoting good nutrition and eating habits.

It’s important your child receive regular dental recare visits while they have their primary teeth. Schedule your child’s first appointment as soon as you see the first tooth appear and no later than their first birthday. At their first visit at Eggert Family Dentistry, we’ll give your child a complete oral exam, clean their teeth, and discuss teething, pacifier use, thumb-sucking, and tips for keeping your child’s teeth clean and healthy between visits.

Home Care for Primary Teeth

Care of your child’s primary teeth begins before they even start to erupt. After each feeding, wipe your infant’s gums with a clean, damp cloth or gauze. When teeth appear, switch to a child-sized toothbrush to clean the teeth and ask us for a recommendation for an infant-safe toothpaste, generally a fluoride-free toothpaste until your child can fully spit the excess toothpaste into the sink. Begin flossing for your child as soon as two or more teeth touch. Most children cannot floss properly by themselves until age 10 or 11.

Just like permanent teeth, primary teeth are susceptible to decay when they come into contact with sugary, sticky, or acidic substances such as juice, soda, and honey. We recommend you avoid giving your young children sugary drinks and transition your children to small, open cups after their first birthdays. Replace sweet snacks with vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

The Eggert Family Dentistry team is passionate about developing healthy habits in young children. Our team members are trained to provide safe, fun, and educational dental appointments for children and their parents. Schedule your child’s first or next dental appointment today.