Oral hygiene is vital ... and that’s the tooth
Advice day at dentist
A Cambuslang dentist is urging residents to make sure their kids get their teeth into dental hygiene.
Complete Dental Care in Whitlawburn held a Childsmile open day last week to encourage better oral health among the town’s youngsters.
Residents were able to enjoy face painting, fruit kebab-making and competitions.
The event also raised £320 for the Glasgow Children’s Hospital.
Although the rate of dental registrations in Rutherglen and Cambuslang are on the increase, dentists are still seeing too many youngsters coming in with bad teeth.
Children as young as three are receiving fillings for their baby teeth and having to go to dental hospital for major procedures.
Childsmile is a national initiative aimed at improving awareness of dental health among parents. Kirsty Miller is the Childsmile nurse at Complete Dental Care and she said: “It was a great day, we got a really good response.
“Childsmile is about educating parents on good oral health. There are too many children getting sent to the Glasgow Dental Hospital to go under an anaesthetic.
“It’s a big problem in the Glasgow area. Hopefully by running initiatives like this we can see a change.”
For parents wondering how to keep their child’s teeth healthy, Kirsty added: “If they are having sugar keep it until meal times and not snacks.
“Parents don’t give their children sweets or fizzy drinks as much but there are lots of sugar in things like jars of sauce or baby food. Making your own is much better.
“Brushing properly twice a day as well. Parents and children need to learn how to brush their teeth properly. You don’t really get taught that anymore.”