Teeth First! Teeth First!
TeethFirst!

Health Care Providers

Progress in the Fight Against Dental Decay

As dental or health care professional who cares for children, you encourage early dental visits, connect children with a dental home, and work to promote tooth-healthy behaviors at home. But are your efforts working? A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control suggests that progress is being made, but there's still a long way to go.

A TeethFirst! Video: Why Early Dental Visits Matter

Doctors, dentists, and other health care providers suggest that babies see a dentist by age one.

To help families understand why they make this recommendation, TeethFirst! asked some Rhode Island dentists and dental hygienists to explain why they think it is important for very young children to see a dentist.

Watch the video and learn why very early dental visits are a great idea. 

Preventing Early Childhood Caries: Learning from New York State’s ECC Simulation Model

Written by: Melitzi Torres

A new Policy Brief by the Children’s Dental Health Project (CDHP) describes several efforts that New York State has enacted to prevent and manage early childhood caries (or ECC, which is tooth decay in children from birth through age five).

TeethFirst! Turns 1 - Thank You for Your Support!

Can you believe it? TeethFirst! launched a year ago!

As part of TeethFirst!, free educational materials (brochures, posters, and PDFs) are available on our website. Anyone can access these materials, and order free hard copies. Thank you to the following practices and organizations that have shared our materials with their staff, patients, and clients over the past year!

Task Force Recommends Doctors Give Fluoride Treatments to Young Children

Recently, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a set of recommendations for primary care doctors, encouraging them to take a more prominent role in the dental care of children.

The Task Force suggests that primary care physicians prescribe oral fluoride supplements (like drops, tablets, or lozenges) for children ages six months or older who do not have adequate fluoride in their water supply.

Free Dental Care for Rhode Islanders - Rhode Island Mission of Mercy to Be Held on May 31-June 1, 2014

Written by: Deborah Fuller, DMD, MS

Regular dental visits provide a chance for early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of oral diseases for people of all ages. Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to see a dentist, whether it’s because of a lack of dental insurance, the ability to time off from work, or simply not understanding that a healthy mouth is important to a healthy body. 

Oral health literacy: 3 key questions to ask

This guest blog post was authored by Jennifer S. Holtzman, D.D.S., Assistant Researcher at UCLA's School of Dentistry, Public Health and Community Dentistry Division. This blog post was written for the Children's Dental Health Project blog: Teeth Matter and is shared with permission.
 

Free In-office Lunch and Learn Provided By From the First Tooth

Oral health is integral to a child’s overall health and well-being and physicians have the rare opportunity to provide a major line of defense against future oral disease. Although it is recommended that a child’s first dental visit occur at the eruption of the first tooth and no later than 12 months of age, most parents do not know this or do not have a relationship with a dentist who will see a child that young.  Due to these barriers, a child’s primary care provider is often the first clinician to examine a child’s mouth. 

Creating Healthy Brushing Habits: Advice From a Dental Hygienist

Written by: Cynthia Johnson CDA,RDH,BS,MA

 
“It‘s time to brush your teeth!”  This daily routine can be fun, yet challenging at the same time. 
 
Many parents and caregivers know how hard it can be to get kids to brush their teeth. Here are some ways that you can make daily brushing and flossing an easy and fun habit!
 

Pages

TeethFirst! Creating healthy smiles for a lifetime.