Children are being called on to eat fewer sweets.

Parents are being urge to ensure their children eat less sugar in order to boost oral health.

My West Texas reported February is National Children’s Dental Health Month in the US and as a result, parents are being advised to ensure their children do not eat so many sweets and to ensure they get regular check-ups with a dental professional.

“The key is they can take in sugar, they just need to brush their teeth to get it off … before everything starts destroying the teeth,” commented director of public relations and marketing at Casa de Amigos Fran Billingsley.

Elsewhere, parents who give their babies sweet drinks in a bottle have been advised on a number of ways to help reduce the likelihood that they will develop tooth decay.

Health Day noted children should not be allowed to take drinks to bed with them and they should ensure they use fluoridated toothpaste to help strengthen tooth enamel.

Poor tooth care could leave children needing dental implants to prevent their adult teeth from becoming crowded.

Damage to children’s teeth could lead to a need for dental implants in order to prevent long-term negative effects on their mouths.

The Morung Express reports that children’s teeth naturally fall out between the ages of around six and 12.

However, they must still be well maintained to avoid lasting damage to the child’s mouth.

This is because they provide the space for the adult teeth to grow into – and must therefore only fall out when the adult tooth is ready to grow through.

Should they fall out early, the publication warns that the gap can close up, meaning the adult teeth will appear crowded when they grow through.

Dental implants could be one way to combat this, filling the gap until the adult tooth can appear.

Meanwhile, US News & World Report recently reported that babies’ teeth should be brushed as soon as they begin to grow through, in order to avoid tooth decay due to their consumption of sweet milk, baby formula or juice.

Healthy diet helps kids keep strong teeth.

Children should eat a healthy mix of foods in order to keep their teeth as strong as possible, it has been claimed.

Dietician Elaine Hastings claimed drinking lots of milk is important, as the calcium contained in the drink is needed – especially when children’s teeth are developing – to ensure enamel stays strong.

Furthermore, she noted: “Dairy products, especially cheese, can actually prevent teeth from losing minerals and in some people, may even restore minerals to teeth.”

Elsewhere, the Las Vegas Review-Journal recently reported maintaining good oral hygiene cannot be stressed enough as it is intrinsically linked to overall health and wellbeing.

The publication noted gum disease can have serious adverse effects on the rest of the body – not just the gums – and this can be particularly devastating in pregnant women, as the illness has been linked to an increased likelihood of still birth.

Up to a fifth of children in the US do not see a dentist on a regular basis.

A fifth of children in the US do not see a dentist every year, new figures have shown.

Research carried out by the Pew Centre revealed most US states lack key policies to ensure children are provided with annual dental health check-ups, USA Today reported.

Shelly Gehshan, director of the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign, commented: “Americans will be spending $106 billion (£68.66 billion) on dental care this year. Much of that pays for costly treatments such as fillings and root canals, which have their origins in poor childhood dental care.”

Ms Genshan added preventative care would ultimately be more cost-effective.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, three NHS emergency dentistry centres are to be closed in Northamptonshire in order to ensure patients see the same dentist whenever they have a check-up.

Premises at St Leonard’s Road, Far Cotton, as well as in Daventry and Corby, are to shut down in order to provide greater continuity in care.

Advice for parents on baby oral health.

Parents who give their babies sweet drinks in a bottle have been advised on a number of ways to help reduce the likelihood that they will develop tooth decay.

According to Health Day, babies’ gums should be wiped with an absorbent pad after feeding, while as soon as the first tooth breaks, it should be brushed regularly and when the child has all their teeth through, they should start using floss.

In addition, children should not be allowed to take drinks to bed with them and they should ensure they use a fluoridated toothpaste to help strengthen tooth enamel.

Elsewhere, Cosmetic Dentistry Guide recently reported George Armelagos, an anthropologist from Emory University in Atlanta, has claimed defects which can develop in the tooth enamel while in the womb or during a child’s first few years could provide a link to premature death.

Therefore, it is important for parents to schedule a check-up for their children as soon as possible after they are born.

A competition to design a new toothbrush has been won by a nine-year-old.

Ambria Schneringer, a nine-year-old fourth-grader from Ripon, California has won a competition to design a new toothbrush.

The annual competition was run by Dr Fresh as part of National Children’s Dental Health Month in the US, with the aim of the competition being to make kids more aware of the need for regular brushing and hopefully making them excited about dental health by designing their own toothbrush.

Ms Schneringer noted: “You never hear parents nagging their kids to play video games, right? Well, my toothbrush is similar to a video game. It will light up with different colours and levels as you brush.”

Elsewhere, researchers for the Cochrane Oral Health Group recently highlighted the importance of fluoride in helping children’s teeth stay healthy.

A study by the organisation revealed a minimum concentration of fluoride in children’s toothpastes of 1,000 parts per million could have a significantly positive impact on oral health.

Putting milk teeth into stasis could save lives in the future.

Parents worried about the future health of their children could help ensure they can maintain good oral health throughout their lives by saving their baby teeth, it has been claimed.

The Daily Mail reported milk teeth are an excellent source of stem cells and these can be used to help in the treatment of illnesses that a person might develop later in their life.

As such, former rugby player Kyran Bracken has packaged the milk teeth of his children and sent them off to be cryogenically frozen at a lab in Cheshire.

“I’m sure that in 20 years’ time the possibilities of stem cells will be amazing and collecting them when the children are young will prove to have been worth its weight in gold,” Mr Bracken told the newspaper.

Elsewhere, Cosmetic Dentistry Guide recently reported Dr Kevin Brunski has developed the I-Denti-Fied chip, which can be implanted into teeth and then be scanned to prove a person’s identity.

He noted the technology has possible applications including identifying lost or abducted children, as well as enabling medical professionals to access an individual’s medical records more easily.

Children need to have a good oral health routine.

Research carried out by the US Centers for Disease Control showed a quarter of kids aged two to five and half of those aged 12 to 15 suffer from tooth decay.

In order to tackle this trend, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reported children should be taught the benefits of a good oral health routine from an early age and as well parents should take the time to make sure they are comfortable with taking regular trips to the dentist.

The publication noted: “Sitting on your lap or getting to sit in the dental chair without being a patient will ensure dental appointments are a positive experience for your child.”

Elsewhere, Aisha Sultan recently wrote in an article for the St Louis Post-Dispatch that people trying to get their kids to brush their teeth regularly and set them up to have good oral health routines for the rest of their lives might like a few pointers.

She noted children should view dentistry as a healing experience and not one that is traumatic and this would help allay any fears they have.

Children should see a dentist as young as possible.

Parents have been advised to take their children to see a dentist from a very young age.

Cosmetic Dentistry Guide reported George Armelagos, an anthropologist from Emory University in Atlanta, noted that defects which can develop in the tooth enamel while in the womb or during a child’s first few years could provide a link to premature death.

He said research carried out at the university showed that when looking at fossil records of teeth, those individuals who were found to have enamel defects generally died at a younger age than those who did not.

Elsewhere, researchers from Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio, recently revealed a link between premature birth and gum disease and therefore urged all women to ensure they brush regularly, floss and use mouthwash.

The report claimed that pregnant women who do not visit dentists or maintain oral health and allow oral bacteria to go unchecked run the risk of having pre-term babies or babies with low birth weight.

A new report has shown children’s teeth are getting worse.

A new report has been published by the Audit Commission which shows the dental health of under-fives in the UK has not improved over the last decade, despite investment of more than £10 billion by the government.

According to the findings, the average five-year-old had 1.43 decayed, missing or filled teeth in 1999-2000. However, this figure has now risen to 1.47.

Furthermore, it found children from deprived backgrounds are now 19 per cent more likely to have bad teeth than those from more affluent circumstances.

The report claimed: “Some health indicators have indeed worsened – for example, obesity and dental health – and the health inequalities gap between rich and poor has barely changed.”

Elsewhere, Aisha Sultan recently wrote in an article for the St Louis Dispatch that parents should aim to instil positive associations about oral health in their children and they can achieve this by being patient with their kids about trips to the dentist to avoid making it stressful.