Verde Valley Families Learn about Early Oral Health

Did you know more school hours are missed from cavities than from any other health condition in kids? Left untreated, the pain and infection caused by tooth decay can lead to problems in eating, speaking, and learning.  Poor oral health has been related to decreased school performance, poor social relationships, and less success later in life.  The earlier children learn good oral health habits, the better.

That’s why Verde Valley Healthy Families (VVHF), a free Verde Valley-based home visiting program for families with young children ages birth to five, has a mission to educate parents and kids about the importance of early oral health. The program, which is housed in the Verde Valley Medical Center and funded through First Things First, offers families home visits from a family support specialist every two weeks. This family support specialist partners with parents by providing individualized parenting education, assessing the development of their child, and suggesting fun child-centered learning activities. The program also holds playgroups for families to come together, learn and socialize.

On Tuesday, January 21^st at the Verde Valley Medical Center, VVHF partnered with Parents as Teachers, a countywide free home visiting program for families with young kids, to hold an oral-health focused playgroup specifically for their Spanish-speaking families.

“We know the importance of good early oral health care,” said Susan Lacher, Director of Verde Valley Healthy Families. “Oral health concerns need to be caught as early as possible so that they don’t get worse. Parents don’t want their children to be in pain, and they don’t want the dental bills associated with problems that are caught too late.”

With the help of a generous grant from Delta Dental, each child at the playgroup received a free oral health kit. “With this generous grant, we’ve been able to integrate oral health information and materials into our family playgroups,” said Lacher.



Children practice their tooth-brushing skills on a huge

set of teeth held by family support specialist Laura Dimmick.

 

Dr. Mitzi Wasden of Cottonwood Children’s Dentistry also provided handouts on early oral care to the playgroup, which offered tips and tools to help parents care for their children’s teeth, including:



· Brush your child’s teeth with a soft toothbrush twice a day.  It takes the same manual dexterity to effectively brush one’s teeth as it does to tie your shoe, so your child will need help brushing until around age 7. 

· Children should not fall asleep with a bottle, and at-will nighttime breast-feeding should be avoided after the first baby tooth begins to erupt. Drinking juice from a bottle should be avoided. By the age of 12 months, children should be encouraged to drink from a cup.

· Your child needs a dental visit at the pediatric dentist by age one. Starting dental visits early can prevent costly dental care later.

At the playgroup, children were read books about dental care, ate healthful snacks, and practiced brushing on a huge set of plastic teeth. The skills the children of Verde Valley Healthy Families and Parents as Teachers are learning now are laying the foundation for a lifetime of healthy habits and pearly white smiles.

For more information about Verde Valley Healthy Families, please contact Susan Lacher at (928)-639-6566. For more information about Parents as Teachers, please contact Rainee Crabtree at (928)-443-1991 X2021. Both programs are made free to families with young children ages birth to five through a grant from First Things First.