Oral hygiene
section 11
community topics
62 meeting
Let’s review:
Once the meeting starts, welcome everyone and ask the participants: • Who can help us remember what we talked about in our last meeting? • Who was able to do the activity at home that we asked you to do at the end of the meeting? How did it go? • Does anyone have questions or concerns after doing the activity?
What are we going to learn?
Families and communities will learn why good oral health contributes to the whole well-being of children. LET’S TALK ABOUT IT! We are going to look at some pictures, so we can talk about what we all know about this topic.
What can you do to promote oral hygiene in your children? When do you think it is necessary to bring a child under 5 years-old to the dentist? Why?
If a child’s baby teeth are going to fall out anyway, why is oral hygiene important for children under 5 years-old?
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Activity:
“Correct Brushing” We are going to practice how to brush teeth and how to use dental floss and fluoride in order to have healthy teeth.
What we’ll need: • Toothbrush and toothpaste • Dental floss
WHAT WE’LL DO: • Clean water • Before this meeting, ask participants to bring their children to the next meeting and to bring a toothbrush and toothpaste (if they can). • Also if possible, invite a dentist, health promoter or nurse from the community to show the correct way to brush teeth and use dental floss. • At the start of the meeting welcome the guests and thank them for their assistance. • Ask participants to get into groups of three and think of three questions about oral hygiene that they want to ask the guest. • Then give them time for each group to ask the guest their questions and for the dentist or health promoter to answer. • At the end of the time for questions, ask the children to prepare a toothbrush with toothpaste so that the dentist or health promoter can show them the correct way to brush and floss their teeth. Parents can help the children that need it. • If it is possible to have fluoride at the meeting, explain the importance of using fluoride to strengthen teeth and prevent cavities. • At the end of the practice time remind the group about the importance of eating healthy food and avoiding candy and sugary drinks for the health of the teeth. (Review meeting 57) Other Suggestions: If there is time, the dentist could look at the teeth of the children present to evaluate if the children need more extensive treatment and should be referred to a clinic. If there is no time, set up an appointment for small groups of parents and children to visit the dentist at the closest clinic to evaluate the dental health of the children.
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Summing Up:
What did we learn today? Now, we’ll review what we discussed today. • How do you feel after this meeting? Why? • What are the two most important things you’ve learned today? • What will you do differently based on what you learned during the meeting? • What did you like the most? Are there things you didn’t like? • Do you have any remaining concerns or questions about what we talked about? To finish, what would you recommend to improve today’s meeting when we do it again with another group. (Explain that answering this question will help the meeting be even better in the future for parents with small children.)
To do at home:
Tell parents to teach all the member of the family the correct way to brush their teeth and use dental floss.
Basic information for the facilitator: Learning more about oral hygiene: 1- Oral health: maintaining healthy gums and teeth: bottle-fed babies and young children fond
of sugary drinks and snacks could have tooth decay – cavities or holes in the teeth look brown or dark. Cavities can lead to gum infection and early loss of teeth. It is important to clean teeth because food or drinks left on the teeth can damage teeth and gums. Here’s how to clean the teeth and maintain healthy gums: • Brush teeth and clean gums at least twice a day using a soft toothbrush and toothpaste. If there is no toothpaste, use salt dissolved in clean water. • Brush all parts of the teeth – front, back, top and sides, and in-between the teeth. Do not brush too hard. • After brushing, rinse with clean water. • Floss your child’s teeth once a day to keep her teeth and gums healthy.
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2- How to treat a cavity?
• When a child has a tooth with a cavity (a black tooth), bring him to the dentist to be examined and treated. A cavity that is very advanced can get infected down to the root of the tooth and this is painful and can be dangerous. • An infection can affect a permanent tooth and can even reach the blood. This is very dangerous for a child or adult since the infection can move to other organs including the heart. In some countries, adults pull teeth that have cavities and replace them with false teeth that make them look better. However, when the person gets older their ability to chew food becomes difficult which means their body can’t absorb nutrients as well.
Other positive practices to promote and maintain healthy gums and teeth include the following: • Prepare and give your child a healthy diet especially those foods rich in calcium, like milk, cheese or fish (pounded dried fish can be added to rice or maize porridge). • Reduce your child’s consumption of between-meal sugary drinks and snacks. • Take your child to the dentist every six months for a cleaning and check-up. • Avoid passing germs from your mouth to your child’s mouth by not sharing spoons, drinks, ice cream cones or toothbrushes. • Avoid putting your child to bed with a bottle unless there is water in the bottle. Almost anything else can cause cavities including milk, breast milk and juice. • Avoid having your child use a sippy cup between meals or when going to nap or sleep as this also causes cavities.
Facilitator’s Manual