Bad Teeth in Children Leads to Bad Grades

By Dr. Scott Thompson, DDS, Winning With Smiles

A recent study at USC and published in the Journal of Public Health verifies that children with poor oral health have, on average, lower grades. They also miss more days of school due to tooth aches and dental appointments. It also pointed out that parents of these students miss more days of work due to the need to care for their children's dental appointments.
One of the tragedies here is to know this is so simple to prevent, though without adequate information, parents find it difficult to accomplish. An early start (age 1) with good instruction will demonstrate to parents how simple it is to give children an excellent start to a lifetime of good oral health. Cavity free, healthy, beautiful smiles.
The most significant challenge facing parents and making difficult the simple task of creating good oral health is the food culture of modern society. It starts as infants when parents wean their children from milk/formula to juice rather than water. Two generations of mis-information have led our culture to believe juice is healthy. In some respects juice is worse.

Brush & Spit - DON'T Rinse!

By Dr. Scott Thompson, DDS, Winning With Smiles

Since 1999, when John Featherstone PhD published his new data on the mechanisms of Fluoride in oral health, I and many prevention oriented colleagues have promoted the concept that one should not rinse after brushing one’s teeth.  Just spit the excess foam out and leave the residual toothpaste on your teeth.  After all, don’t we tell you the same after your dental appointment where we give you a fluoride application and tell you not to eat or rinse for 30 minutes?  Many folks will use a fluoride mouth rinse after brushing for the express purpose of leaving fluoride on their teeth.  The same concept can be accomplished by merely leaving the residual toothpaste on your teeth.

 If you like to rinse with a mouthwash for other than a fluoride based reason, then I would recommend waiting at least 30 minutes after brushing if you are going to use a non-fluoride mouth rinse.

 Despite long term recommendation of this concept by those of us in the prevention oriented segment of oral health, there has been surprisingly little formal research to verify the concept.  It was great to see an expert panel convened to review all the available research to date.  Their expert opinion of the evaluated research supported the recommendation to “Brush your teeth with a fluoride toothpaste and spit the excess foam, but do not rinse afterward.”  Published in the British Dental Journal April, 2012.

Exercise Makes the Grade

By Richard Peatman, Pharm D, Meadow Vista Pharmacy

Want your child to do better in school? Make sure exercise doesn't get the short end of the stick. A review of 12 exercise studies recently reported in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine underscored how important exercise is for the brain, not just the body. It found that children who regularly exercised tended to do better in school.  These were a few of the research findings:
• Middle school kids who exercised vigorously for at least 20 minutes, three days a week, achieved higher grades over two semesters than students who did not intensely exercise.
• Elementary school children with good aerobic fitness were more likely to excel in reading and math.
• Overweight children who exercised 40 minutes every day for 15 weeks scored better in tests of executive function – the "conductor" of cognitive skills – than overweight kids who only exercised 20 minutes.
 Researchers point to several possible reasons for these promising findings. For one, physical activity increases the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain. And, as you may already know, exercise boosts endorphins. These are hormones in the brain that improve mood. They may give kids an extra lift for tackling academic challenges. Exercise also promotes development of a protein that acts a little like Miracle-Gro® for your brain. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is found in areas of the brain that are critical for learning, memory, and higher thinking.
  Unfortunately, many children today aren't getting the physical activity their bodies and brains so desperately need. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that children and teens need a minimum of 60 minutes of mostly aerobic, physical activity each day. Aerobic activities are the ones that get your heart beating faster, such as fast walking or running. 
 What if your child isn't into sports or shuns the idea of physical exercise altogether? Then, it's up to you as a parent to help make exercise become a habit. Here are some ideas:
• Do what you can to set a positive example.
• Find fun activities you can enjoy together as a family. Hike, go bike riding or play hide-and-go seek.
• Give gifts that promote physical activity, not just sedentary ones.
• Help your child find physical activities he or she enjoys. Remember: it's not the same for everyone. Some like team sports. Others enjoy individual activities such as swimming or skating.
• Set up an electronics-free time each week.4
 With teens, exercise may be an even tougher sell, but remember that exercise doesn't have to be just for jocks.  There are countless ways to hook a kid into being more active. Think of potentially more popular activities like the video game, DanceDance Revolution. Or maybe hip-hop, martial arts, or mountain biking is the way to go.
 Want to learn more? Check out the fitness articles in our online Wellness Library at HealthMart.com.
Nothing herein constitutes medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, or is a substitute for professional advice.  You should always seek the advice of your physician or other medical professional if you have questions or concerns about a medical condition.
           
Sources
1. Singh, A. et al. "Physical Activity and Performance at School: A Systematic Review of the Literature Including a Methodological Quality Assessment." Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012;166(1):49–55.  Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Physical%20Activity%20and%20Performance%20at%20School%3A%20A%20Systematic%20Review%20of%20the%20Literature%20Including%20a%20Methodological%20Quality%20Assessment. Accessed March 21, 2012.
2.  Edutopia: "A Fit Body Means a Fit Mind." Available at: http://www.edutopia.org/exercise-fitness-brain-benefits-learning. Accessed March 21, 2012.
3. CDC: "How Much Physical Activity Do Children Need?" Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/children.html. Accessed March 21, 2012.
4. CDC: Available at: "Making Physical Activity a Part of a Child's Life." http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/getactive/children.html. Accessed March 21, 2012.

Cavity Germs (Plaque) Finder

By Dr. Scott Thompson, DDS - Winning With Smiles

Dentist: “Sally, if you were a tasty bug and you were hiding in the grass so a bird would not find you and eat you, what color would you like to be?”

Sally: "Green!"
Dentist: “Exactly! So if you are a cavity causing germ hiding on a tooth, what color would you be?”

Sally: "White?"
Dentist: “Right again!  That makes them invisible on your teeth. So when you brush your teeth, how do you know if you got them clean?”

Sally: "Hmmm. I don't know. I can't see the germs."
Dentist: “Well that is a problem, isn't it?  When we brush our teeth we want to know we got all the germ hiding spots clean. If we could color the germs so we can see them, that would help, right?”

Sally: "Of course!  That is why you use the pink stuff on my teeth at checkups."
Dentist: “Correct.  At every checkup we want to help you see the places you are brushing well and the places your brush is missing. The pink "disclosing" stuff shows the germs for us. Did you know you can do this at home with your kitchen food colors? After you finish a "regular" tooth brushing, use a Q-Tip to paint the red food color over all your teeth. Then lick it all over. Then rinse real well with water and take a look. The clean areas on your teeth will rinse clean and leave the sticky germ "plaque" colored red and pink. Now you can teach yourself how to get those areas clean with your tooth brush. Do that once a week about 4 weeks and you will teach yourself how to be an excellent tooth brusher. For a really gross look, use the green or blue food color!
Sally's mother: "Why doesn't my dentist do this at every checkup for me? They talk about brushing better, but they have never shown me how to teach myself at home."
Dentist: “Good question!”

Four Corner Flossing

By Dr. Scott Thompson, DDS, Winning With Smiles

Cavity free kids and keeping it simple.  Kids who enjoy going to the dentist and consistently belong to the "No Cavity Club." That's what we parents want, right?

 After age 3 about 90% of the cavities are in 4 locations.  Between the molars in the 4 corners of the mouth. If I could get parents to spend 10 seconds each evening flossing these 4 spots, it would nearly eliminate all the cavities I have to fix.  And I do mean 10 seconds!

 Here is how I did it. At story time each evening the kids brought a book and I brought some floss. Each in turn would lay on the couch with head in my lap, mouth open and looking up at me. It is an easy view of upper and lower teeth and I am not chasing a bobble-head.  Zig zag the floss between the molars so it does not snap as it goes past the tight spot.  Snap it back out.  Four corners and you are finished. After a couple nights practice you will discover this takes about 10 seconds, really!  A hug or tickle and a question about the book they brought might make it 30 seconds.

 Once parents have done this they are astonished how easy it is and elect to use their fingers rather than flimsy flossers (which I find are often ineffective due to their flexibility). Those spots are so easy to reach, you don't even have to do a big wind of floss on your fingers. Just grab it with your hands.

 Some parents do this when the kids are lying in bed being "tucked in." Others do it on the bathroom floor after the bath.  You can even use that towel to papoose them if they are the wiggly type.

Even though my kids took over their own tooth brushing at 6, I kept responsibility for flossing the important molar spots till they were 9.  Since that is where the cavities happen, I wanted to be sure their hand skills were adequate before I turned it over to them. Once cavities start, it is a lifetime maintenance nuisance. So far, 3 kids in their early 20s and no cavities.  They know flossing is the most important oral health measure.