Understanding the importance of dental checkups early is one of the key responsibilities of every child’s mother. These checkups would guarantee the dental health of their children throughout their whole life (Vikram, Vanneman, & Desai, 2012). Mothers should realize that these checkups would help prevent numerous dental health issues (including tooth decay and cavities). Taking into consideration this important point would help mothers to avoid causing pain, improve the ability of their children to concentrate, and evade any additional health issues (Aslam & Kingdon, 2012). Children with no dental issues have no problem chewing food, speaking clearly, and smiling with self-confidence.
In other words, mothers are responsible for the development of the appropriate oral hygiene routine. This routine should be developed throughout the first years of their children’s lives. Tooth brushing routine and technique should be supervised by the mother during the first 12 years of the life of her children. This should be done to make sure that at some point children can perform the routine correctly without any external help (Vikram et al., 2012). Therefore, the mother’s education plays a very important role in child’s health. For the first two years, parents will brush their children’s teeth for them. When their children turn three, parents will have to find numerous ways of playfully motivating their children to explore teeth brushing techniques. This can be explained by the fact that this is the time when kids need to brush their teeth without parents’ help. Nonetheless, the parents are responsible for brushing the hard-to-clean areas after the child has finished brushing his or her teeth. Appropriate brushing techniques are discovered by children when they are about five or six years old (Aslam & Kingdon, 2012). The parents’ education plays an important role throughout this period because parents are in charge of supervising the process of how their children are brushing their teeth. The parents should be educated and understand the importance of developing a healthy habit of brushing teeth in their children by helping them do it until the eruption of the second molar (Vikram et al., 2012).
It is safe to say that parent’s education concerning dental health has a huge impact on the way how their children perceive the importance of brushing their teeth and taking care of their dental cavity (Vikram et al., 2012). The parents should be aware of the fact that starting from the age of two years, their children’s teeth should be brushed two times a day. Only special children’s toothpaste can be used (small amount). The mother should know that her children may be susceptible to swallowing an excessive amount of toothpaste (Vikram et al., 2012). Therefore, these children are exposed to the risk of developing dental fluorosis. Specifically, educated parents control the amount of toothpaste that is applied to the toothbrush (Aslam & Kingdon, 2012). Proper dental education would help parents transfer their children to the toothpaste with an adequate amount of fluoride (as the children grow older, they can brush their teeth with toothpaste that contains more fluoride). On a bigger scale, appropriate dental education would help the parents prevent the breakout of caries and the destruction of dental tissues (Vikram et al., 2012). To sum it up, there is a vivid relation between the mother’s education and her child’s dental health. She is responsible for teaching him or her to brush their teeth properly and take care of their dental cavity from the early childhood.
References
Aslam, M., & Kingdon, G. (2012). Parental education and Child Health—Understanding the Pathways of Impact in Pakistan. World Development,40(10), 2014-2032.
Vikram, K., Vanneman, R., & Desai, S. (2012). Linkages between maternal education and childhood immunization in India. Social Science & Medicine,75(2), 331-339.