Children's Dental Health Month

February is National Children's Dental Health Month.

Here area few tips to remember about your chldren's teeth

1) Brush and floss twice a day 

If your child is under age 8, you should be asssting the child in this.

Infants should be using a very small amount of a non fluoridated children's toothpaste. At about age 2 you can use a fluoridated toothpase with a RICE sized amount of paste on the brush.when a child is able to spt, you can go to a PEA sized amount of toothpaste.

2) Watch the intakeof sweets especially between meals.

3) Never put a baby down witha bottle of liquid other than water.

4) Encourage children to develop other security methods than finger sucking and pacifiers when possible.

These objects in themouth for long periods of time will alter thes hape of the mouth considerably leading to malocclusions whtich can be very hard to correct.

5) As soon as the first tooth arrives, begin taking the child to the dentist to help cement a positive relationship and encourage proper nutrition and hygiene habits.

6) Children should see the dentist twice a year.

Call for an appointment 815 459 2292

Dr Neal answers all of your questions regarding your children's dental health at Crystal Lake Dental Associates.

https://www.crystallakedentalassociates.com

Feel free to add comments.

6200 Children Will Die Today

Childhood hunger related illnesses kill a child every 1 1/2 seconds around the world!

This tragedy is preventable.

This past weekend, our office served at a food packaging and distribution site called "Feed My Starving Children"

We at Crystal Lake Dental Associates are dedicated to serving our local community as well as the larger world community . As such, we have participated in a Free Dental Service day at our office, collecting for the Crystal Lake Food Bank Bank, and collecting Toys for Tots. We were looking for other ways to serve and one of our team members suggested doing a shift at Feed My Starving Children. I had never heard of this organization before, but we decided to get involved. 

As I researched the organization, I became convinced that it was a great cause.

Last Friday, we served at a scheduled shift making up food packs and boxing them for shipment to Iraq. The entire shift was very well organized and our seven person team was able to box up almost seven hundred meals in a very short time. The time went very fast and the teamwork and enthusiasm was fantastic. 

Feed My Starving Children is a wornderful organization. They are very good at being efficient and cost conscious. Their meals are designed for maximum nutrition for children. This organization ships food all over the world partnering with other humanitarian organizations.

 If tis sounds like something you individually or with a group would like to get involved with, you can go to their website at WWW,fmsc.org and get details on either working a shift of food packing, or donating funds for the purchase and shipping of food wrldwide. you will be a blessing to starving childrel and will feel quite blessed for the opportunity to serve.

Have a wonderful day!

Call for an appointment 815 459 2292

Dr Neal answers all of your questions regarding your dental health at Crystal Lake Dental Associates.

https://www.crystallakedentalassociates.com

Feel free to add comments.

5 ways to ruin your teeth (besides not brushing and flossing)

 1) problem: Chipped, worn, broken, and loose teeth.

Causes: if you biteing on or chew hard objects like finger nails, ice, hard candy, bones, pens, pencils tongue and lip rings, or any metal object. In addition picking your teeth and gums with hard objects, as well as clenching or grinding your teeth. Trauma to teeth from sports and not wearing mouth guard.

Soution: Obviously do not put hard objects in your mouth (that is what dental professionals are for), also wear a mouthguard or biteplane if you are a clencher/grinder or are playing sports where you may be hit in the mouth.

2) problem: Cavities and abscessed teeth.

Causes:  Eating or sucking on lots of sticky sweet items like jelly beans, raisins, taffy, any     hard candies, sugar cough drops fro long periods.
Solution: These items should be eaten in small quantities and never parked in the cheek. Eating them at meal time can also be helpful. frequent brushing and flossing with fluoride will help.

3) Problem: Cavities and gum disease 

Causes:  A dry mouth from any medication that dries out your mouth, habitually breathing through your mouth due to nasal obstructions.
Solution:  If your airway is restricted, chronically, a consultation with an ENT specialist is needed to correct that problem. If your are taking medications that dry the mouth (over 3,000 medications are known to do this), frequent drinking and rinsing with water of a hydrationg mouth rinse will help.

4) Problem: Acid eroding your enamel (dissolving your teeth)

Cause: Eating and drinking having high acid content like citrus, vinegar, soda pop, also untreated acid reflux, or excessive vomiting
Solution: Restricting high acid content foods and rinsing with water or milk after consuming will help. It is advisable not to brush right away as your teeth need time to remineralize. If you have Acid reflux (GERD), treatment and medication can help with a reduction in stomach acid. Also acid reflux may be a symptom of sleep apnea.

5) Problem: Discolored teeth 

Causes:  from eating and drinking darkly stained foods like red wine, grape juice, coffee, tea, cola, stain from smoking.
Solution: Refraining from these food choices or going smokeless can help prevent staining. S
ome tooth whitening toothpastes or applications can help greatly as well as a good cleaning from your dentist.

Call for an appointment 815 459 2292

Dr Neal answers all of your questions regarding your dental health at Crystal Lake Dental Associates.

https://www.crystallakedentalassociates.com

Feel free to add comments.