From the earliest age, children spend many hours at school. From nursery through to secondary school, school is the place where children spend the majority of their days — studying, learning, and socialising with their peers. It is also the place where the good habits we have instilled at home are put to the test.
Proper oral hygiene is one of them.
Several international scientific studies have demonstrated over the years how oral health is a surprisingly important factor in influencing children’s academic performance. The role of adults in ensuring that younger ones do not forget to take care of their teeth therefore becomes fundamental — not only for their physical wellbeing, but for their psychological wellbeing too.
A Lesson in… Nutrition
One of the biggest risks children face when they walk through the school doors has to do with food choices. As we all know, kids tend to have a sweet tooth and are easily tempted by snacks that aren’t exactly ideal for keeping their mouths healthy: sweets, candy, and fizzy drinks are among their favorites.
In the early years of childhood, when young ones attend nursery or kindergarten, nutrition in the school environment is more closely supervised and largely in the hands of teachers. However, the situation changes considerably as schooling progresses. From primary and middle school onwards, children often bring a snack from home to stave off hunger mid-morning. The simplest solution — particularly for busy families juggling a multitude of work and logistical commitments — is to slip a packaged snack into the school bag. This situation becomes even more entrenched in the secondary school years, where vending machines dispensing snacks and beverages are frequently available. Healthy alternatives are rarely among the options offered by these machines, meaning that as they grow older, students are continuously exposed to sweets, chocolate bars, and sugary carbonated drinks.
By now we adults should know this well — and it is essential to pass this knowledge on to our children: all these sugars are harmful! The entire body suffers, but the oral cavity is the first “victim” of this unbalanced diet. The harmful bacteria that live in our mouths thrive on sugars. Consuming too many not only promotes the proliferation of the bacteria responsible for cavities and gum infections, but also causes — as a result of the metabolic activity of these microorganisms — an increase in oral acidity, with consequent damage to tooth enamel, making teeth even weaker and more susceptible to decay. A true vicious cycle!
That’s why the role of parents starts at home, when packing the school bag for the next day. If we want to prevent our children from consuming harmful foods and drinks, we must set a good example and provide healthy alternatives – fresh fruit, for instance, is a great place to start.
Oral hygiene: an appointment worth adding to the school planner
Food isn’t the only challenge when it comes to protecting children’s teeth. Brushing at school after meals isn’t always easy: younger kids in preschool often don’t have the chance to use a toothbrush and toothpaste, while older students may simply not have enough time to take care of their oral hygiene during the school day.
For everyone, the starting point is setting a good example at home. As parents, it is our responsibility to establish the habit of tooth brushing, adapting the approach to the age of the children. Younger ones, for example, can be encouraged to turn tooth brushing into a fixed daily routine. And if they cannot bring a toothbrush and toothpaste to school, we can place in their school bag a product that replicates their function; for this purpose, sprays based on natural ingredients are ideal — they lubricate the oral cavity, mimic the action of saliva, and reduce oral acidity.
It is important to support the buffering action of saliva: it can take up to forty minutes to restore oral pH to “safe” levels by reducing acidity. Using saliva substitutes after eating allows us to cover this time window and protect the oral cavity while awaiting the physiological action of saliva.
For the youngest children, establishing the good habit of brushing teeth after meals may require the involvement of teachers, who will encourage children towards healthy oral hygiene. For older students, however, the challenges are different: children are more independent, but as parents we can no longer rely solely on the authority of teachers. Time is also more limited, lessons take up a great deal of time, and spending time with friends is often more appealing than attending to oral hygiene. The breaks between lessons, moreover, are too short to allow for a healthy pause between eating a snack and reaching for a toothbrush. In these cases, a salivary substitute can be a practical solution.
At every age, teachers’ involvement is key. They can explain why a healthy mouth is the foundation of a healthy body and, especially in the early school years, create dedicated moments and spaces for children to take care of their teeth.
