Tooth decay is the most common childhood disease, but it's preventable. Children with dental pain can have trouble speaking clearly, eating, and learning. Use the resources below to promote a healthy mouth. Learn about proper toothbrushing and other preventive measures and how to find a dentist.
If your child’s dentist finds tooth decay and recommends a follow-up dental visit for treatment, it’s important for your child to get care. Receiving follow-up treatment is key to keeping your child healthy.
Long term use of pacifiers can affect your child’s bite and the growth of the jaws and bones that support their teeth. If your child shows no interest in giving up their pacifier by age 4, they may need help to stop.
A regular bedtime routine helps your child know what to expect at the end of the day. Brushing your child’s teeth with fluoride toothpaste is an important part of the routine.
A dental visit by age 1 is key for building a lifetime of good oral health. Tooth decay can be prevented or managed with early dental visits and with good oral hygiene.
These Brush Up on Oral Health tip sheets provide information on current practices and practical strategies to promote good oral health for pregnant people, children, and their families – both in the classroom and at home.
Learn how partnerships can increase access to oral health services for children in Migrant and Seasonal Head Start programs. Find information about oral health care, financing oral health care, and planning ahead.
This tip sheet provides guidance for Head Start programs on how to resume toothbrushing in group care settings by implementing strategies to reduce the likelihood of virus transmission to others via salivary droplets during brushing.
This webinar features simple and fun ways Head Start staff and families can promote children’s oral health during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Explore culturally responsive practices and how staff can help parents promote their children’s oral health.
Explore oral health literacy, why it is important, and what Head Start staff can do to improve it.