Help Your Immune System By Simply Brushing Teeth for 2 Minutes
Virginia Berman
How can oral health boost our immune system? Learn how simple habits like brushing teeth well can be our first defense and help fend off disease.
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Invent Boston™, Home of the Two Minute Turtle Timer™
Invent Boston™ blog offers tips and stories by parents, for parents of children ages 4-12 to make toothbrushing and other healthy habits at home, more fun. We write about simple tactics to help kids do what they like to do-touch, seeing, play games and strive for independence. We recommend products to help stay healthy while being kids. We share stories to transform daily healthy habits from something kids resist (for example, toothbrushing, handwashing, toilet training, organizing, taking time-out or pausing, yoga, and taking turns) into something children are motivated to do independently, without parents’ reminders. The original physical product Invent Boston has designed for families is the new light-up Two Minute Turtle Timer, an analog, interval toothbrush timer to make brushing teeth fun for kids. Kids like to press the button, follow the flippers and brush until all the lights blink—the Victory Lap signals to brush the tongue.
Filtering by Category: oral health
When Was Your Last Visit to the Dentist?
Virginia Berman
During this pandemic one piece of good news is many of us have more time to take care of our daily healthy habits, like toothbrushing. And that’s all the more important when dentists are only just opening up. How are your teeth feeling? Have you been to the dentist yet? I went.
Are you taking the 2 minutes to brush each time you brush? We can do this. It is important now more than ever to brush well because brushing teeth, keeping cavities away, helps to keep our immune system strong. A healthy mouth is one way to maintain a healthy immune system—keeping bad bacteria from growing in the mouth.
I still like that feeling of having my teeth cleaned and then to hear “no cavities”. What a relief! I did got to the dentist since Corona and I got that good news, “no cavities!”. I say it’s partly thanks to my Two Minute Turtle Timer I use every time I brush. Now you’re never too old to enjoy a new, useful timer. Get yourself or your parents the gift of a healthy mouth.
The Two Minute Turtle Timer is on sale on our website, and Etsy and Amazon.
Shop on InventBoston.com to get the last of these homemade adorable, 5-star gettin, Two Minute Turtle Timers.
Read MoreLesson #9: The Truth Behind Caring for Your Child's Oral Health
Virginia Berman
Lesson # 9: Oral Health Helps Overall Health
Why is oral health so important for kids? It’s worth reminding ourselves why there’s so much fuss about our teeth. Healthy teeth give our beautiful children gorgeous smiles. Healthy teeth help them get nourished by thoroughly chewing their food. Healthy teeth do not cause pain. Imagine a child managing rotten teeth or a steady toothache! Kids with a constant toothache cannot eat properly and have trouble paying attention. And yet, 1 in 10 disadvantaged children are in pain because of toothaches. Did you know the most common reason children miss going to school is tooth problems?! As I write kids are in a rare place, having school from home because of the Corona Virus Pandemic.
Singing about Brushing
Kids like to move, touch,follow-the Turtle Timer is tactile!
Taking Care of Teeth so Our Whole Community Will Smile
Cavities are completely preventable but they are still so common in America, not to mention the rest of the world:
18% of American children ages 2-5 have them.
45% of American kids ages 6-11 have cavities.
25% of all American adults have tooth decay.
Healthy teeth even have an impact on our economic prospects. Try to get a job without a good smile. I’ve heard that at least one restaurant forbids people missing their front teeth to work with the customers.
Oral health is connected to overall health. In early childhood, kids establish healthy habits they will have for the rest of their lives. Teenagers benefit from well-ingrained habits since they tend to neglect their health, eat more junk food, and may be less open to advice (written by a mom of 2 teenagers). A well established routine at age 5 will keep on giving. 25% of people in the US walk around with untreated decay. Cavities, left untreated for too long, will get worse and then be more difficult to treat.
Make brushing fun and establish a strong brushing habit. Here’s to staying healthy with continuing good dental hygiene!
Give Kids
healthy habits and smiles
Lesson #7: The Truth Behind Caring for Your Child's Oral Health. Get Sealants
Virginia Berman
Lesson #7: When First Molars Come in, Ask Your Dentist About For Sealants for your Child
One way to prevent 80% of cavities in children is...getting sealants.
When the child gets her first molars, ask the dentist about sealants. Maybe you already know about them. If so, good! I wish we had heard about sealants. Sealants get applied by dentists to cover the child’s teeth, like a rain coat, to keep food from getting stuck in the deep natural crevices of young, groovy teeth. Sealants get applied by the hygienist the time when a child’s molars come in, around age 6. And sealants get applied again when the 2nd set of molars come in, at around age 12.
Just do it. Get Sealants for Your Children’s Teeth. Sealants are so effective at cavity-prevention that most dental insurances in America cover 100% of the expense, including CHIP and Medicaid. For most children between ages 3 and 13 sealants are a smart option. School-age children without sealants have almost 3 times more cavities than children with sealants. It’s worth noting that, even when insurance covers 100% of the cost of the sealant and kids benefit from them, just 30% of children who see the dentist get sealants.
This is a reminder that oral health requires parents’ attention, asking questions and staying involved. The evidence that sealants prevent tooth decay is overwhelming.
what works?
Sealants and Two Minute Turtle Timer
Lesson #6 The Truth Behind Caring for Your Child's Oral Health
Virginia Berman
Lesson #6: Should you Wait Before Filling A Cavity?
This is possible: reversible tooth decay.
Sometimes Waiting is Best.
A scenario: Our dentist sees a small cavity. She gives me the option of filling the cavity or waiting. My instinct was to fill it as soon as a cavity was spotted so it doesn’t get any larger.
Not all cavities need filling. In fact, at their earliest stages, cavities can be stopped so they don’t advance beyond the outer layer of the tooth Cavities on our teeth may actually “remineralize”, disappear on their own, with good oral care. The first layer to wear away is the enamel. It can take 4 years from the first lesion til the cavity progresses to the next layer of the tooth and needs to be filled.
How to stop a cavity? Be a Cavity Cop--and arrest it! When a child brushes twice a day with fluoride, for 2 minutes, and is not high risk on the risk assessment, the cavity may never progress. So when a dentist “keeps an eye on the cavity for the next few visits”, this is another key time to be diligent toothbrushers and flouride -rinse users and to avoid sugary foods. Sometimes waiting is best.
For more great reading on this hopeful topic of oral health care go to the new oral health report:
http://www.dentaquest.com/pdfs/reports/reversible-decay.pdf/
Sometimes being passive -waiting and watching -really is the best policy. Take a lesson from adorable sheep.