Family Resouces

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Bright Smiles from Birth has assembled resources for families to learn about oral health for their young children. Parents can find information about oral health strategies dealing with:

Baby teeth and early childhood caries
Plaque and tooth decay
How to brush and floss a child’s teeth
Fluoride prevention
Dietary habits
Dental visits and referrals
Community water fluoridation

From these resources, parents can expect learn more about prevention strategies, learn how to access pediatric dentistry referrals, and understand the importance of the pediatricians’ assessing and monitoring infant and toddler oral health.

Baby Teeth and Early Childhood Caries

A child’s teeth begin erupting at around 6 months of age, and the development of these teeth play important roles in early childhood development. Without proper care, tooth decay can occur in infants and preschool-aged children. Tooth decay at this stage of development is called early childhood caries.

This fact sheet provides information on the importance of baby teeth, early childhood caries, and how to ensure a healthy childhood dentition. [...more]

Plaque and Tooth Decay

Plaque is a film that develop on teeth and contains bacteria that can cause cavities. This fact sheet explains the nature of plaque, its effects on child dentition, and how plaque and tooth decay can be prevented. [...more]

How to Brush and Floss a Child’s Teeth

Brushing a young child’s teeth is an important, sometimes delicate process. This fact sheet explains how to correctly brush the child’s teeth from the time when the teeth first appear in the mouth, through 4-5 years of age. [...more]

Fluoride Varnish

Fluoride varnish is protective coating that can be painted on your child’s teeth by a dentist or doctor. There are many benefits to fluoride varnish including prevention of tooth decay. This worksheet engages some common questions regarding fluoride varnish. [...more]

Dietary Habits

Content forthcoming. [...more]

Dental Visits: Visit the Dentist on a Child’s First Birthday

Dental visits are important to your child’s overall health and well being. Families need a dentist they visit regularly and become their dental home. Visits should start at age 1 and should occur every 6 months to one year. [...more]

Dental Referrals

Dental patients can be referred to a pediatric dentist or a general dentist who treats children, and who understand the need for establishing a dental home. Care should be accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective

The AAP and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentists recommend that all children have an identified dental home within six months after the first tooth erupts- or by one year of age- whichever is earlier. Yet, finding access to oral health care in Illinois may be difficult. Approximately 1.2 million children in Illinois are enrolled in public aid and insurance programs.

ICAAP and Bright Smiles from Birth recommend DentaQuest and the American Association of Pediatric dentistry as resources for physicians, dentists and parents in need of a pediatric dentistry referral. [...more]

Community Water Fluoridation

Though controlled addition of fluoride into community water supplies is one of the most effective ways to prevent dental caries, more than 100 million Americans do not have an optimally fluoridated water supply. In Illinois, more than 93 percent of the population receives fluoridated drinking water. However, there are still a significant number of residents who may not receive the benefits of fluoride in their water, such as mobile home parks and individuals on private wells. [...more]

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For more information about family resources or Bright Smiles From Birth, please contact:

Jennie Pinkwater
Director, Prevention Projects
1400 W. Hubbard
Chicago, IL 60642
312/733-1026, ext 213
Fax: 312/733-1791
jpinkwater@illinoisaap.com

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Baby teeth and early childhood caries