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As part of National Children’s Dental Health Month, installation dental personnel visited with children at the Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, child development centers Feb. 17 and 21, to promote positive oral health habits.
Each February, the American Dental Association hosts NCDHM to educate and encourage children to develop good oral habits at an early age, such as proper brushing and flossing techniques and mouthwash and toothpaste use.
This year’s theme is “Choose tap water for a sparkling smile.” According to the ADA, those who drink only bottled or filtered water do not get the same fluoride, used to prevent tooth decay, as those who drink tap water. Tap water typically has natural or added fluoride at a level that is effective for preventing cavities.
“The younger you can get to children and make sure they know about practicing good habits, the better off they are in the long run,” said U.S. Army Capt. Tyler Oatmen, U.S. Army Dental Health Activity dentist. “There are a lot of kids out there as young as two or three years old with a lot of tooth decay, so hopefully we can make brushing their teeth seem fun so they want to do it often.”
During their visit to the CDCs, dental technicians demonstrated the proper way to brush teeth, and gave children an opportunity to practice on their own Technicians also presented food and beverage flash cards, allowing children to identify which may be better or worse for teeth.
“The two-year-olds typically just play with the model teeth we bring in, but around three years old and older we can start having conversations with them when they apply what they are learning,” said Oatmen. “They really get involved and seem to respond pretty well to the information.”
As seen through these visits, dentists and technicians at JBLE continue to get down to the root cause of tooth decay to help give a polished smile.
For more information on NCDHM, visit the ADA website at www.ada.org.
| Date Taken: | 02.21.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 02.23.2017 14:11 |
| Story ID: | 224507 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 29 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Dentists educate youth on healthy smiles, by MSgt Teresa Gallagher, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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