{"id":38744,"date":"2023-08-21T17:14:51","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T22:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/?p=38744"},"modified":"2023-08-21T17:16:34","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T22:16:34","slug":"dental-health-tips-for-your-teen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/dental-health-tips-for-your-teen\/","title":{"rendered":"Dental health tips for your teen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here is how to prepare your teen for a lifetime of health smiles.<\/p>\n<p>In the busy lives of teenagers, oral health may not feel like a top priority. However, dental decay is the most common chronic disease in young people between the ages of 6 and 19, according to the\u00a0<a class=\"cmp-link cmp-link--external\" title=\"Opens external link in new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/healthywater\/hygiene\/disease\/dental_caries.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>. Cavities aren\u2019t the only dental risk teens face in their day-to-day lives.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few quick tips to keep your teen\u2019s smile in great shape:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Play it safe.<\/b>\u00a0Five million teeth are lost annually in sports-related injuries, according to the\u00a0<a class=\"cmp-link cmp-link--external\" title=\"Opens external link in new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adaausa.org\/Education\/Continuing-Education\/View-Course\/CourseId\/69\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Dental Assistants Association<\/a>. Contact sports can cause oral injuries, but teens can prevent injuries by wearing a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deltadentalins.com\/oral_health\/mouthguards.html\">mouthguard<\/a>\u00a0while playing sports. Whether a mouthguard is custom-fitted by a dentist or bought at a store, your teen should keep it clean by rinsing it often and storing it in a ventilated container.<\/li>\n<li><b>Avoid oral piercings.<\/b>\u00a0Tongue or other mouth piercings can easily chip your teen\u2019s teeth while eating, sleeping, talking or chewing. The fracture can be confined to tooth enamel and require a filling, or it may go deeper, which can lead to a root canal or tooth extraction. Infections are also common with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.deltadentalins.com\/oral_health\/oral-piercings.html\">oral piercings<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><b>Understand the hazards of vaping.\u00a0<\/b>Vape sales have skyrocketed in recent years under the misconception that they\u2019re less harmful than cigarettes. Unfortunately, users are still at risk for gum disease, tooth loss and oral cancer. Talk to your teen about the dangers of e-cigarettes.<\/li>\n<li><b>Make time for healthy habits.<\/b>\u00a0Teens sometimes opt for quick meals in the form of \u201cnutrition\u201d bars and fast food to stay alert and on schedule between school, extracurricular activities and part-time jobs. However, these habits aren\u2019t always the best choices for their oral and overall health. Providing your teen access to healthy snacks such as apples, carrot sticks, cheese and water can be helpful in keeping their health on track. Recommend that he or she keep a travel-size toothbrush in their locker or backpack to help keep up good teeth-cleaning habits.<\/li>\n<li><b>Schedule regular dental visits.<\/b> Just like adults, teens should visit their dentist at least twice a year. Regular dental visits and cleanings can help boost a teen\u2019s confidence and self-esteem and catch minor problems before they become worse.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Guiding your teen in the right direction can help set them up for a lifetime of healthy smiles. A little bit of effort towards upkeeping their oral health will go a long way. For information regarding Delta Dental, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www1.deltadentalins.com\/group-sites\/tamus.html\">TAMUS Delta Dental website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is how to prepare your teen for a lifetime of health smiles. In the busy lives of teenagers, oral health may not feel like a top priority. However, dental decay is the most common chronic disease in young people between the ages of 6 and 19, according to the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1971,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1,"label":"Uncategorized"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Estela Felan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/author\/efeagin\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":1,"name":"Uncategorized","slug":"uncategorized","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":11,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":11,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Uncategorized","category_nicename":"uncategorized","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1971"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38744\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tamus.edu\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}