A recent report showed that children with heart conditions may be at additional risk for infective endocarditis from oral bacteria in their bloodstreams.
Between 2016-2019, 83% of children aged 1-17 received preventive oral health care but 27% of children had only fair or poor oral health with the poorest oral health being from children with disabilities or that came from lower household incomes. To learn more about the research that was conducted and how you can help your children check out the rest of our blog.
Oral Health Concern For Children with Heart Conditions In the US
For the 900,000+ children in the U.S. with heart conditions, preventative dental care was even more important to have regular check-ups, dental cleanings, radiographs, fluoride treatments, and sealants.
The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) compared children with and without heart conditions and found that children with heart conditions were more likely to have poor oral health (17.2 V.S. 13.7%).
The children in families with higher incomes and dental insurance were often much better off, but even if you can’t make it to the dentist you should still encourage great oral health habits for your children.
The information was collected from every family in the U.S. with one child from each family being selected at random and was accessed using Wald Chi-Square tests to evaluate the relationships between poor oral health indicators, where they had a heart condition, and preventative dental visits.
The children and teenagers with heart conditions were less likely to be Hispanic or uninsured and more likely to be non-Hispanic with dental insurance. Although, these children (95%) received dental checkups or cleanings during a 12-month window only 25% of children got a dental sealant. The children with heart conditions were also 10% more likely to have poor oral health.
Although this study had limitations due to the limited information related to children with heart conditions and their oral health It’s important to prioritize your children’s oral health including dental sealants in and outside of your dental office.
Why is dental sealant important for your children?
Dental sealants act as a shield against the plaque that forms within your children’s teeth. This sealant helps your kids prevent cavities and in the long-run dental procedures like dental implants and root canal treatments. Dental sealants are better applied immediately after the adult molar teeth start coming through before the cavity-prone ages of 6-14 years. But baby teeth can get sealants too if they’ve deep grooves.
The dental sealant application process is totally painless and only takes a few minutes with a dentist’s help. A resin-based or glass ionomer sealant may be used. Resin-based sealants have better retention than glass ionomers, but glass ionomer sealant has the advantage of being less moisture-sensitive and containing fluoride.
How to find a great Pediatric Dentist for your Children in London, Ontario?
Sbenati Dentistry in London Ontario can help provide you with amazing and world-class care for your children. A pediatric dentist is trained and experienced with identifying and treating the differences between children’s teeth and normal adult teeth for which there are many different factors.
It is important to look for a dentist with experience with being very attentive, gentle With your children, have a practice that should be strongly geared towards children and the dentist should be very responsive to your questions. Dr. Sbenati exemplifies all of these traits and is very responsive over Google messages, and social media, with the patients that phone his office and by responding to emails.
