Why Dentists Urge Early Oral Care for Children

Proper oral hygiene should start the moment a child’s first set of teeth erupts. In fact, even before teeth eruption, the mother should practice cleaning a child’s gums to prevent infection. The effects of not having proper oral hygiene could lead to a rude awakening in the form of cavities and toothaches.

It also doesn’t help that kids usually associate dental visits with pain, so they choose to keep mum about any sort of discomfort they feel in their mouths rather than tell their parents about it, until the toothache worsens.

How Your Teeth Affect Your Overall Well-Being

Oral care is more important that you might think. Brushing and flossing will not just save your teeth from decay, but the fact that the teeth play a major role in food digestion makes them influential to your overall health.

As you can see, your teeth have far-reaching effects on your overall health, and they are not just limited to the early onset of rheumatoid arthritis. Other studies also show that inflammation in the gums can hamper the body’s ability to control blood sugar, which complicates matters for people with diabetes. Poor oral hygiene has also been linked to heart disease—according to research, 91% of people with heart disease also have periodontitis or gum inflammation.