Most Parents Clueless About Proper Pediatric Dental Care

Over half of parents, 60%, say their kids are eating sugary foods at least once a day. Eating sugary foods can cause damaging acids to form in the mouth. These acids can affect teeth for at least 20 minutes before they are neutralized and chewy sweets stick to the surface of the teeth, spending more time in the mouth and potentially causing more damage. Because of this, parents should consider how often their children are eating sugary snacks and the type of snacks their children are consuming. Also, if parents cannot brush their child’s teeth after eating a sugary snack, it is very important to rinse at the very least.

Nearly 25% of respondents have not taken their child to the dentist in the past year for a dental exam. When asked about how often their child should visit the dentist, about one-third (35%) responded that a child 5 years-old or younger should visit a dentist less frequently than twice a year or were unsure.

“It is recommended that a child is taken to see a dentist within six months from when the first tooth appears, but no later than his or her first birthday,” notes Dr. Guarrera. “But two-thirds of parents in the study said that their child was two- to three-years-old when he or she had the first dental check-up. This is troubling because, while 72% of respondents added their child to their dental insurance policy between their birth and their first birthday, only 16% of parents actually took their child for their first dental check-up.”

Only 46% of respondents say their child has received fluoride treatment from a dentist or dental hygienist within the past year. Sixty-one percent of respondents report fluoride is in their tap water and 39% indicate there is either no fluoride in their tap water or they are not sure. Fluoride is extremely important for the prevention of tooth decay. According to the Office of the Surgeon General, people who live in communities with naturally fluoridated drinking water have far less tooth decay than people in comparable communities without fluoride in their water supply. Parents should speak to their child’s dentist about fluoride treatments, particularly if the family lives in a community that does not contain fluoride in the water supply.

MetLife, celebrating 50 years of healthier smiles in 2012, continues to enhance its online Oral Health Library. For tips about maintaining and improving the oral health habits of children, download a copy of  by accessing the library atwww.metlife.com/dental.

MetLife, which today is a leading provider of dental plan administration for nearly 20 million people, provided its first dental benefits for families in 1962.