At School Level
School teachers should ensure these practices are followed by the parents and this can be done during the Parent Teacher Meetings.
Parents play a crucial role in maintaining the oral health of children. Parents need to advocate tooth brushing and mouth rinsing habits in school children. This begins when the first tooth erupts. Parents also need to reinforce about regular dental checkup. This makes the child get used to visiting the dentist.
In addition, teachers may –
· Organize a monthly class on oral health.
· Discuss child’s oral health in parent teacher meeting.
· Integrate midday meal, hand washing and mouth rinsing every day. Integrate annual deworming day with mass tooth brushing at school. Organize discussions on maintaining safe school environments. Facilitate annual oral health check up by a dental team.
At Home Care
The common dental diseases listed so far are easily preventable following simple measures at home. Some of these include:
· Tooth brushing and tongue cleaning
· Mouth rinsing
· Regular self-examination of the mouth
· Avoid smoking & breaking bad oral habits
· Consumption of healthy non-cariogenic diet
· Trauma management
· Visiting a dentist regularly
Regular Mouth Self Examination
Education about and encourage self-examination of mouth.
