Parents of pre-teens and teens know that teaching adolescents to adopt healthy hygiene standards can be a thankless task and oral care seems to be an area that particularly suffers, often because they won’t see the damage that they’re causing until later on in life.
Yet, the risk of periodontal disease greatly increases if your adolescent doesn’t practice good oral self-care from a young age. The hormonal changes that children are undergoing at this stage can also contribute to a heightened risk. But how do you teach good oral hygiene without nagging. Although it might be frustrating when they choose to ignore your sensible advice, we have found, from our own experience, that teenagers often respond to someone other than their parents teaching them both why and how to look after their teeth.
Education is key
Laying the foundations of good dental health at an early age is incredibly important, as gum disease can lead to serious health problems as well as damaging your teeth and gums. Also teens can often be insecure about their physical appearance so ensuring their mouth is clean and healthy can help give their self-confidence a valuable boost.
We know it can sometimes be difficult to fit in dental appointments with both school and after-school commitments, which is why we’ve launched a Saturday dental hygiene session aimed for ten to sixteen year olds, from 10 to 3, at our central London dental clinic, with no need for an initial dentist’s referral.
At 76 Harley Street we have brought together a team of very experienced and qualified dentists and hygienists, all highly skilled in their particular fields. Leading our Saturday dental hygiene session is award-winning dental hygienist and therapist Tracy Tang.
Tracy is passionate about educating children and young adults in the important lessons of dental self-care and she has won many awards, recognising this commitment. Even more importantly, Tracy is friendly, approachable and has a fantastic manner with children and teens making them feel comfortable while at the same time instilling in them these important life lessons.
To book your appointment with Tracy or one of the team, call 020 7631 3276 or email [email protected].