Although an inevitable time in a child's life, the day they start losing their teeth can be somewhat overwhelming and unfamiliar for both children and parents alike. For the kids, they are going through changes and experiencing something that may even be a little painful. For the parents, they are experiencing a milestone in their kid's life that is putting them one step closer to growing up. Either way, there are a few things that become more important after that first tooth is gone. Below is a list of a few things to do when your child starts losing teeth.
1. Schedule regular dentist appointments – This should already be part of your regular routine, but if it's not, make sure it becomes a staple after that first tooth goes. According to Polo Park Dental Centre, dental health is extremely important and, if it isn't taken seriously, it can lead to many different health issues, such as gingivitis, gum erosion, and oral cancer.
2. Examine your diets – A lack of important nutrients such as calcium and protein can cause teeth to become very brittle and lead to a lot of other problems down the road. It can become very easy to simply have your child eat whatever is available or, more commonly, whatever they will actually agree to eat, but it's important to make sure they are getting a healthy balance of all necessary fruits, vegetables, and other nutrients.
3. Encourage more health conversations – It can be somewhat uncomfortable to talk with your children about health issues especially as they start to get older, so this could be a great platform for getting those conversations started. This is a relatively simple conversation to have and doesn't have any potentially embarrassing or uncomfortable topics, so look at it as a practice session and start an open dialogue with your kids. Knowing that they can trust in you and having them feel comfortable enough to confide in you is extremely important to their well-being.
It may not seem like that big of an event when compared to other milestones within a child's life, but the time in both you and your kid's life when they start to lose their teeth is actually a very crucial time within life. Oral health is a very important key to overall health and, sadly, is often times overlooked and forgotten about rather than treated with the same amount of care we do the rest of our bodies. Knowing how to properly care for their health as well as the idea as a whole of being able to talk about health is not a skill that your child is born with, but is certainly a skill you can help them forge over time, leading by your own example.