The Unchered oral diseases They affect a good number of the child population in Spain, according to the report of the General Council of Dentists of Spain and the Spanish Dental Foundation “White Paper: A look at Children’s Oral Health in Spain.”
In this document, it is revealed that 1 in 3 minors presents at least a decay in their temporary (milk) teeth. In fact, oral hygiene habits are improvable: they only brush their teeth at least twice a day, Between 52-59% of the minors (depending on their age) and the vast majority take less than two minutes to do so. Also, only half of children under 7-8 are supervised by their parents when their teeth are brushed.
It is worrying that the temporary dentition continues to be the great forgotten of oral care: in our country, only 3 out of 10 injuries to milk teeth are treated, and 35% of 6 -year -old children have never visited the dentist. Besides, 1 in 5 minors have frequent episodes of dental pain due to the state of their mouth.
Dietary habits must also be reviewed, since 1 in 2 minors perform a habitual consumption of sweets.
Dr. Óscar Castro Kingdom, President of the General Council of Dentists and the Spanish Foundation, recalls that “A healthy mouth in childhood marks the direction of oral health throughout the rest of life“. Indeed, the relationship between good oral health in temporary dentition and future permanent dentition is widely endorsed by scientific evidence. In addition, the control of children’s caries through preventive measures reduces infections in the child, avoiding losses of school hours and reducing the costs of dental treatments.
On the occasion of Children’s Day, which is held on April 15, the General Council of Dentists and the FDE have developed a educational brochure aimed at parentsin which it shows how the oral cavity should be taken to enjoy an optimal oral health:
-Mantner good hygiene, brushing the teeth, at least, twice a day for two minutes with fluorid dentifric paste, to a fluorine concentration adjusted to the child’s age.
-Supervise the dental brushing of children until 7-8 years.
-Carry A healthy and balanced dietwhere vegetables, fruits, fish and olive oil prevail and the consumption of sugars are controlled.
-Clear the child to the dentist when he turns the first year of life and, subsequently, with the frequency indicated by the dentist.
“Prevention is the best strategy to reduce the incidence of children’s caries. The objective of the campaigns that we carry out from the Council and the FDE are aimed at raising awareness about the importance of acquiring healthy habits from childhood and going periodically to review the dentist, thus ensuring good oral health for a lifetime, ”concludes Dr. Castro.
