ADEQUATE AND BALANCED NUTRITION AND ORAL DENTAL HEALTH IN CHILDREN

Inadequate or unbalanced nutrition in childhood causes many general health problems and has negative effects on oral and dental health. In particular, uniform nutrition, consumption of ready-made and packaged foods (such as biscuits, crackers, candies, sugary gums, flavored milks, carbonated drinks and ready-made fruit juices…) does not provide any benefit to the development of the child, and also paves the way for obesity and many other related diseases. It also negatively affects oral and dental health due to the high sugar they contain. Here, I would like to emphasize that; Almost all products that are claimed to be produced for children and which adults buy and give to children for the purpose of pleasing and rewarding children are poisons for our children. While these seriously affect their brain development, they can also cause many chronic diseases that they will have when they become adults in later ages. Nutrition with this type of food can of course cause many dental diseases. For this reason, it is very important for oral and dental health that children take the nutrients they need at every meal regularly and in sufficient quantities.
For example, at breakfast; Foods such as eggs, milk, cheese, molasses, which have high nutritional value and play an important role in tooth development and protection of teeth from caries should be included. Especially cheese has an important role in regulating the acidic oral environment during meals and cleaning the teeth. For this reason, in cases where teeth cannot be brushed after breakfast, the last cheese consumption has a great effect on preventing tooth decay. This is not to say “then we don’t need to brush our teeth”, don’t get me wrong. In the long run, it doesn’t really matter what they eat or drink if we don’t get our children to brush their teeth.
Another harmful food group that we offer to children and which they love very much is fast food. In addition to their own harm, acidic beverages and sauces containing high sugar are often consumed alongside these foods. These pose a very serious threat to general health and especially oral and dental health. For this reason, the consumption of such foods, as well as acidic beverages, should be restricted or even completely eliminated. In terms of the continuity of oral and dental health, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, purslane, etc. in main meals. it is necessary to consume green leafy vegetables and alternately foods such as fish, chicken, meat (in fact, we can include almost all natural and organic foods).
Chips, candies, chocolate, biscuits, pastries, cakes, etc. Consumption of foods in large quantities instead of the main meal should absolutely be avoided. Especially children can easily reach such foods from school canteens during the daytime. However, instead of these foods, it is of great importance to consume foods such as buttermilk, milk, kefir, raisins, dried apricots, hazelnuts and walnuts, which have high vitamin, protein and calcium content and also have important contributions to prevent tooth decay.
Unfortunately, the incidence of dental caries in children and young adults is increasing day by day. Studies show that the main reasons for this situation are the mistakes in the oral-dental hygiene habits and nutritional habits of children. For this reason, in addition to dental treatments in individuals with a large number of dental caries, the nutritional habits of the individual should be investigated.
Regular physician control, awareness arising from the child’s relationship with the physician, and gaining the habit of brushing teeth will ensure that the child is comfortable in the future. At 6-8 months, the first milk teeth begin to erupt. With the eruption of milk teeth, the cleaning/brushing process begins. Many teeth cleaning apparatus and brushes for babies are available in the market. Children should start brushing their teeth on their own from the age of 2-2.5. Parents must follow this process. There should be support when needed.
If there is no abnormal condition, the first dentist’s examination should be done once until the age of 2 years. Afterwards, controls can be made regularly every 6 months. The biggest factor in children’s fear of the dentist is the talk, fears and bad memories of parents and close people about the dentist. In particular, intimidations and threats that will increase the fear of the dentist cause the children’s fears to settle. In such a case, even if the child has never been to the dentist before, he can learn the fear of the dentist from his parents. Parents who say that their pain is relieved and that they are happy after the treatment gives a much more positive message to the child. At the same time, a good dialogue with the dentist during the treatment helps the child get used to the dentist. Thus, the child learns that dental visits should be normal and regular. A child who grows up like this has already struggled with his teeth throughout his life.