Roles of Parents in Maintenance of Child’s Oral Health

Parentshave a very big influence in building children's behaviour. In aneffort to maintain children's dental health, there must beinvolvement of interactions between children, parents and dentists.Attitudes and behaviour of parents, especially mothers, inmaintaining dental health have a significant influence on children'sbehaviour. Because children are good imitators, parents become peoplewho are first used as role models. From this imitation, it willcreate good behaviour habits that are embedded until the adult child.

Althoughthey still have children's teeth, parents must pay serious attentionto the child. The growth of a child's permanent teeth is determinedby the condition of the child's primary teeth. But in reality, thereare still many parents who think that deciduous teeth are onlytemporary and will be replaced by permanent teeth, so they oftenassume that damage to deciduous teeth is not a problem.

Children,at the age of 2 years the identification process occurs, namely theprocess of adopting the nature, attitudes, views of others and madeinto their own traits, attitudes and views. Children will doeverything by imitating it. Parents will be an example and rolemodels to emulate. The role of parents as role models is more achallenge if parents start it in the wrong way so that it takes a lotof time and effort to correct these mistakes when the child isalready bound by his behaviour and habits.

Thatis why, at these times, parents must take firmness to familiarizechildren with positive activities. This age is the best time to startteaching using a toothbrush.

Therole of parents as guardians of children's health are:

1. Caregiver

Therole of parents as dental health caregivers includes providing goodfood intake for dental health according to age. Basically, good foodsare vegetables and fruits that contain lots of fiber and water,grains and fish that contain lots of natural fluorine and reduce theintake of sweet and sticky foods.

2. Educator

Dentalhealth education for children must be obtained first from the familyenvironment. This is the importance of a healthy paradigm insightthat must be instilled in parents. This education includes how tobrush your teeth properly, what foods are good and should be avoidedand also provide insight or introduction about treatment to thedentist as a treatment that is unscary. This education can be givenby parents in a language that is easily understood by children, bystorytelling, reading books or playing videos of dental healtheducation.

3. Motivator

Therole of parents in assisting the child to learn is to provideencouragement so that the child continues to do his daily tasksregularly. This is an effort to build behavioural habits in thefuture. Motivation, gifts and compliments are highly recommendedespecially if the child is successful in doing what he is assigned orwhen the child reaches a better level. Avoid unconstructive criticismif the child fails. A motivational approach is more recommended tobuild the urgency and awareness of the child to meet his own needs.

4. Supervisor

Parentsas a dental health supervisor starts from keeping the child fromengaging in behaviours that have a negative impact on dental health.For example, bad habits of thumb sucking, biting things, leaning onthe chin, chewing on one side which results in disruption of thegrowth of the jaw and teeth. Eating patterns also need specialattention as long as the child is still fond of eating sweet foods ordrinks. Prohibition is not always necessary. The most important thingis how to get used to drinking water as a neutralizing sweet food ordrinks that have been consumed.

Parentsalso need to actively check the child's teeth and mouth such asseeing cavities, luxation, signs of the growth of replacement teethand abnormal tooth growth.

Basedon these four things, one thing that is absolutely needed by parentsis insight into general dental health. Starting from yourself to beworthy of being a role model for their children. Because after all,children have the same health rights as adults, but the approach isdifferent because the child is still in the stage of growth anddevelopment.

Source:

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