We are in good company as we celebrate National Children’s Dental Health Month (NCDHM). Those of us invested in seeing that children have healthy smiles lasting a lifetime celebrate NCDHM each year to raise awareness of the importance of oral health beginning at a young age. Children’s teeth are vital to eating properly, developing speech and growing into healthy adults.
Dental visits should begin by age one with a quick dental exam during which homecare techniques are demonstrated and any questions or concerns by parents are addressed. Parents should think of their child’s dentist as a member of their health care team. At home, the best way for children to learn how to care for teeth and gums is by their parents modeling effective daily wellness habits, showing them, as well as telling them, that oral health is important to overall health. Children encouraged to take care of their teeth and gums and taken to the dentist regularly have many health advantages over children who are not.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reminds us, cavities are the most common chronic disease of childhood, yet they are preventable. For helpful information on children’s oral health visit Children’s Dental Health (cdc.gov).
Children from low-income families are more than twice as likely to have untreated cavities compared with children from higher-income households, the CDC says. We believe that all children deserve a healthy smile. That’s why Northeast Delta Dental funds oral health initiatives in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont that underscore the importance of lifelong good oral health routines beginning early and make cavity prevention and treatment accessible to more children.
Untreated cavities can lead to pain, school absences, lower academic performance and tooth loss. An evidence-based cavity prevention and treatment program, CariedAway™ NH Concord, is preventing and stopping tooth decay in children in the elementary and middle schools in Concord, Pittsfield and the Merrimack Valley school district. It has the potential of benefiting as many as 4,200 students across 13 elementary and middle schools! We recently presented CariedAway with a three-year award totaling $1 million to support its work.
Children who’ve received written consent by a parent or guardian are given an oral health screening, cavity prevention and treatment in a portable chair set up in a school space twice yearly. Cavity prevention measures include the application of fluoride and sealants. The program complements treatment that children can only receive in a dental office, and those children not established with a local dentist are referred to a permanent dental home for more complex care.
CariedAway’spartnershipswith school offices, school nurses, parents and local dentists make it so impactful that, in 2022, the American Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors named CariedAway’s New Hampshireprogram a national model for school-based cavity prevention.
Learn more at News — CariedAway NH Concord.
