We communicate with the surrounding world through our smile – we send our positive energy this way, spreading light around. That is why it is essential to take good care of our teeth since the earliest age possible.

Kids, aged 5 have an average of 4 or 5 deciduous teeth with caries, the 12-year-old ones have 3 or 4 permanent teeth with cavities and each 4^th teenager at the age of 18 has at least one permanent tooth extracted. This statistics of the Bulgarian Dental Union reveals the fact that oral hygiene is not at its highest level among children. The goals set by the World Health Organization have been exceeded manifold by the caries spreading in Bulgaria.

“Above all this is due to the low level of information and parents don’t know when to start teaching their children to maintain mouth hygiene. It should start as early as the birth or at least with the growing of the first tooth,” says dentist Dr. Nikolay Danov. “Unfortunately the nutrition of the children is not at its best either– they eat a lot of pastry and sugar foods which worsens the situation additionally. The other main reason is the widespread fear of dental manipulations among both kids and parents. However, it is not justified, as the treatment nowadays is totally painless and with small children there are only these medical checks twice a year which are nice and conducted as games. I think that if the level of awareness is raised with parents, all those factors could be placed under control.”

There are two major complaints among children – caries and mucosal disease, but they can be both overcome with better oral and overall hygiene, the dentist says. He advises parents not to miss any regular medical checks. Unfortunately kids tend to visit a dentist after the problem becomes a fact.

“Some parents still tend to think that milk teeth shouldn’t be treated, but that’s not correct,” Dr. Danov goes on to say. “This is the age when the basics of life are grounded in many directions and that is why it is important for the kid to start visiting a dental cabinet as early as the age of 12 – 18 months. It will get acquainted with the place on one hand, and on the other any issue will be found on time and may even be prevented.”

It is essential for the kids to turn to a dentist without fear and even less without panic, as there are many cases.

“This all depends on the way in which parents present to their kids the visits to the dental cabinet,” Dr. Danov says. “Often the grownups rush to explain that there is nothing to be afraid of and that it won’t hurt, but kids tend to hear only the ‘afraid’ and ‘hurt’ words. Children are very intuitive and if you say: ‘We go to the dentist now and then to the pastry shop!’ then they will relate the whole situation with something positive. Then everything at the dental cabinet happens as a game and there are many predisposition techniques used. Forceful treatment is inadmissible nowadays, it is a practice of the past, so mom and dad should just have positive attitude.”

The expert gives the following piece of advice: teach them to wash their own teeth as early as the age of 3. As their dexterity is not that high, leave the morning session to them and take care of the evening one, as it is the more important thing for good dental health.

“Everything should happen as a game and fun with kids,” the doctor further explains. “There are songs and videos, showing the correct teeth brushing technique. Of course, kids copy a lot, so it’s essential to receive help and guidelines from the parents, prompting what is right for their teeth.”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev