The need for members of the public to always take good care of their oral health has been emphasised by Dr. Olufunke Agbekele of the Dental Department at Crystal line Hospital in Okinni area of Agunbelewo, Osogbo in Osun State.
Doing so, she said, would guard against tooth decay, and mouth odour.
The dentist said that some studies had shown that during the early stages of development in life, people, especially children, lose what is called the “milk teeth” to grow the “permanent teeth.”
Agbekele said that parents should monitor their children while growing up as they could develop some habits that might affect their dental formation in general.
She said that most of them might indulge in sucking their thumbs, lip sucking and tongue thrusting which might lead to improper care for their teeth.
She said that children through improper oral care and frequent contacts with sugary things also could develop decayed teeth, and that might not give proper positioning to the permanent teeth when they start growing.
Agbekele said if lip sucking , tongue thrusting and thumb sucking went beyond the age of five when children began to grow permanent teeth, dental problems could occur among them, depending on the intensity, duration and frequency of such unhealthy habits.
She said, “The teeth can be pushed out of alignment causing them to protrude and create an overbite.
“This can lead to the upper and lower jaw misaligning and the roof of the mouth can be malformed, hence, it may cause difficulty in pronunciation of words.”
She said that dental deformity could cause low self esteem in some teenagers and adults, and the option of corrective surgery is usually on the high side.
She, however, advised parents to discourage most of the habits in their children so that they would not disfigure their looks and lose their self esteem in future.
She canvassed proper cleaning of the teeth to prevent decays and tooth abscess in both adults and children.
She said that brushing of the teeth twice daily should be encouraged for people to get rid of any bacteria-forming plaque on the teeth and gums.
Agbekele also advised the public to always visit their dentists frequently for regular scaling and polishing of their teeth.
Source: NAN
