[00:00:00] Speaker A: The Journey Hometown Journal Are there questions
[00:00:03] Speaker B: that parents have or are there habits that we could talk about to help minimize risk factors for future cavities?
[00:00:12] Speaker C: Welcome to the Hometown Journal. I'm Mark Edwards. February is National Children's Dental Health Month, and today we're going to share some information with you on your child's first dental visit and caring for their teeth at a young age. Dr. Summer Sawyer is our guest. Her practice, Children's Dental Health of Lynchburg, is located on Timberlake.
Well, Dr. Sawyer, thank you so much for being with us today on the Hometown Journal as we talk about Children's Dental Health Month and why this month is so important. But first, tell us a little bit about your background and how that led you into becoming a dentist.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: When I was 10, I fell roller skating and I broke my front tooth. And up until then, I didn't really have too much interaction with a dentist. I would go for my cleanings but never really paid any attention what dentist did. And my dentist at the time opened his practice up at night and he fixed, fixed my tooth for me. And I just thought that was the coolest thing in the world that you could build a tooth up.
And so ever since the age of 10, that's kind of been my goal. So I went to dental school in Florida and then I was in the Navy for four years. And then, then my husband, he's also a dentist and we work together. And so we eventually made our way to Lynchburg.
[00:01:38] Speaker C: Let's talk a little bit about this month. The ADA is promoting this as a dental health month for children across the country.
Why is this month so important?
To get the word out and to remind parents, guardians why the dental health is so important for children.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: So dental cavities is probably the number one disease that is out there and it's kind of underrepresented, not really talked about that much.
And some people will think, well, they're baby teeth and they're not really that important. And so, you know, what's the big deal? But baby teeth not only provide pretty cute smiles and function eating food for, for little kids, but they help guide the adult teeth where they're supposed to go. And they also can, you know, if you have a baby tooth that is infected, there can be, you know, infections and the need for antibiotics. There's pain.
Kids who are in pain, you know, may not eat very well. And so kind of making an emphasis on making sure that kids are seen by a dentist and having routine checkups and making sure that we can address needs before they get too far too bad is why it's really important.
[00:03:07] Speaker C: How early should a child begin going to the dentist?
[00:03:11] Speaker B: So there's a range in general, in our office, we say around two to three, but you can see a dentist as young as one. I mean, I would say if your child has teeth, then they probably should see a dentist. And it's not that there's going to be a lot of stuff done between the ages of 1 to 2 with new teeth growing in, but it also helps with the parent if there's any questions that they have of, you know, what do I do with these new teeth and how do I take care of them? Or they're sucking their thumb or they are really attached to their pacifier. So it's not so much early ages between 1 and 3, it's not so much us making sure we're cleaning teeth and that kind of stuff, but it's more so, you know, are there questions that parents have or are there habits that we could talk about to help minimize risk factors for future cavities? So young kids who go to bed with a bottle or with a sippy cup, they're at higher risk to develop cavities on their baby teeth or, you know, thumb sucking or on a pacifier that can alter the development of their teeth and jaws. So we can kind of help guide them kind of mitigate some future problems if we start early. The other thing is that if we bring them in early, then they kind of get used to the acclimation process of coming to see the dentist and having somebody put their hands in the mouth and look. And it just kind of helps, kind of set a good healthy pattern and relationship early on.
But in general, I think across the board, age 3 is kind of the general. But like I said earlier, it's not a problem either.
[00:05:02] Speaker C: That is Dr. Summer Sawyer of Children's Dental Health of Lynchburg, and she is our guest as part of National Children's Dental Health Month, sponsored by the American Dental Association. Information about caring for your child's teeth is
[email protected] we'll be back with more of the Hometown Journal in a minute.
[00:05:22] Speaker A: What if spreading hope was as easy as tapping your screen just like that with the MyJourney FM app, your favorite encouraging music, your go to place for uplifting moments now goes with you wherever life takes you.
Road trips, work trips, mission trips, anywhere the world has WI fi or even just cell service. And here's your mission. Pick one person in another state, another country, or just another time zone and share the myjourney f map with them.
[00:05:54] Speaker C: I live in Italy.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: Been really, really blessed by the journey. Let's light up the world with encouragement one download at a time.
[00:06:01] Speaker B: So encouragement is exactly what y' all are.
[00:06:04] Speaker A: Get the My Journey FM app today free in your App store. Now back to more of the Journey Hometown Journal.
[00:06:10] Speaker C: Mark Edwards, back with you. Children's dental health is our topic today as we talk with Dr. Summer Sawyer. Her practice is located in Lynchburg. This is National Children's Dental Health Month. Dr. Sawyer, before the break, we were talking about the best time that a child should begin seeing a dentist. If they do not begin those dental visits before the age of five or six, does that necessarily mean that they will have some issues when they first go to see the dentist?
[00:06:38] Speaker B: Not necessarily. It's not an age thing.
So some kids are just naturally apprehensive.
And then some kids also hear things being said by either older siblings or even parents. Inadvertently, we can pass on our own fears or just even the words that are used can start to instill different thought processes on what may happen coming to the dentist. So it's not really an age thing. It's or even now what you see on social media or, you know, on tv.
So those are the kind of the things that sometimes lay a foundation of fear. And when we encounter that, we just kind of take a step back and we just go step by step to get them comfortable. And some days we, for us, we just do what they're ready for us to do. And sometimes it's not much, and then the next visit we just build on that. But yeah, age doesn't really play a huge factor in that.
[00:07:53] Speaker C: Okay, let's talk a little bit about some of the best practices at home, what parents can be doing with their children. How early should they start brushing?
How early should they begin flossing after their teeth are coming in?
[00:08:09] Speaker B: So the first question is, you know, how early do you start? Well, I would sit here and say from day one. And the reason is it's just an acclimation process. Once again, now you're not using a toothbrush on an infant that has no teeth. You're either they make finger gum massagers and you use those and just kind of get in there and rub the gums with the little finger massager. And it's just once again, getting the child used to you as a parent doing that. And so then as the teeth come in, you can upgrade to, I think they even make so they make finger gum massages, and I'm pretty sure they make like finger toothbrushes to actually start working on the baby teeth. And then. And even at that age, toothpaste is not necessary. In fact, toothpaste in general isn't 100% necessary in general. But you just want to get in there and kind of mechanically remove any kind of debris that is on teeth. And it's not really. And it's not even debris that you can see. So an infant who is breastfeeding or bottle feeding, the milk residue will stay on there and it's not something you can see, but you just want to still take your finger toothbrush and remove that.
Eventually you'll upgrade to a regular toothbrush and you'll encounter at that point probably the terrible twos. And it is, as a parent myself, it's never a fun experience because kids at that time are trying to, well, they're two years old, so they don't really like anything. So it's a battle and it's one you do have to win because their teeth are important.
And so once again, doing the best you can. But getting in there, brushing their teeth twice a day, when it comes to flossing, that you were saying, so that's not super important until teeth are touching. So baby teeth in general usually have adequate amount of spacing or gaps in between.
And that's just for future development of the adult teeth because they're bigger. And so once the adult teeth start coming in and you see teeth that are starting to touch, that's when introducing the habit of flossing comes.
There's no right or wrong way to floss. Floss Picks are really good and there's no right time or wrong time. It is recommended to at least floss once a day. It doesn't have to be tied to when you brush your teeth. It doesn't have to be tied to, you know, morning or afternoon. It just needs to be done at some point throughout the day, I guess
[00:10:59] Speaker C: for maybe a new parent or their child is old enough maybe to begin visiting the dentist for the first time. What's kind of the, the number one question do you find that parents have.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: I think it's just them asking, is there anything that they need to be doing? Are they, you know, is what they're doing right?
A lot of parents want to make sure they're doing the right thing for, for their kids and they want to make sure that, you know, you know, saw on the Internet or they, what they read about or whatever. You know, are they, you know, are they doing the right thing? And that's in general. The first question, and it kind of goes back to what we were saying earlier, is just kind of those good basics.
[00:11:39] Speaker C: We have been talking with Dr. Summer Sawyer of Children's Dental Health in Lynchburg. February is National Children's Dental Health Month, so we've been discussing some of the best practices for children. You can find out more information at the American Dental association site. That's ADA.org thank you for joining us on the Hometown Journal.
[00:12:01] Speaker A: You've been listening to the Journey Hometown Journal. If you're a part of an organization or know of one in the communities we serve and would like to be considered as a guest, please make your
[email protected] email officeyjourneyfm.com or call 800-424-9594. The Hometown Journal is a presentation of the Journey.
