The Tooth Fairy is tightening her purse strings! The “market price” for a tooth in America is $3.40, an 8% drop from the 2013 average ($3.70), according to a new nationwide survey conducted by Visa Inc.(1) To help parents determine the amount to leave under their kids' pillows, Visa launched the free smartphone app Tooth Fairy Calculator available for iOS phones and iPads. How cute is that!
On a serious note, with back-to-school last month, and September being Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, there is a new app titled “Kids Making Healthy Choices.”(2) Other resources include: an Internet calculator for determining Body Mass Index (BMI) for children and teens; online quizzes; interactive games; videos; and more.(3,4,5,6) These resources are helpful throughout the year.
In related news, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) continues to recommend the use of fluoride in pediatric patients in the forms of fluoride-containing toothpaste, fluoride supplemented tap water, and fluoride supplements as well as topical fluoride treatment in appropriate populations.(7) Also read Changes in the Oral Health of US Children and Adolescents and Dental Public Health Infrastructure since the Release of the Healthy People 2010 Objectives.(8)
A prospective controlled clinical trial investigated the effectiveness of a novel anti-caries agent, nanosilver fluoride (NSF), applied once a year to arrest caries in children.(9) It was found to be effective and not stain teeth, and was proven to be effective in arresting caries in children in poor communities.
Regarding toothbrushing, a study finds wide disagreement among dental professionals on the best way to brush ones teeth.(10) Opinions and recommendations vary widely, according to the study. Six different methods of toothbrushing, mostly involving recommended brush angles and preferred brushing motions, are proposed by dental associations and individual dentists, often in direct conflict with each other. The authors concluded that the large diversity in recommendations on the proper toothbrushing method should be of concern to oral health care professionals. Higher grades of evidence of effectiveness of toothbrushing techniques are required to advise professional bodies that develop guidelines on toothbrushing.
Healthy Grid has launched an anti-decay candy with xylitol.(11) Xylitol denies pathogenic oral bacteria the sucrose required for them to thrive. The xylitol candy is called Loloz with Cavity Block and comes in three flavors: strawberry, orange, and berry.(12) Directions say to use two Loloz lollipops or lozenges for 10 consecutive days, once in the morning and once in the evening, two to four times a year.
Good idea for Halloween too, which is right around the corner!
In November, join the National Children’s Oral Health Foundation: America’s ToothFairy (NCOHF) for a Virtual ToothFairy Ball and Silent Auction. The NCOHF is dedicated to eliminating children’s preventable suffering from pediatric dental disease by providing programs and comprehensive resources to deliver community-based critical preventive, educational and treatment services.(13) Let’s help children in need!!
References
- http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/resources/toothfairy2014.php.
- https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/upward-bound-inc./id897782275.
- http://nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/.
- http://health.howstuffworks.com/pregnancy-and-parenting/childhood-conditions/childhood-obesity-quiz.htm.
- http://www.kidnetic.com/.
- https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=childhood+obesity&sm=3.
- Clark MB and Slayton RL. Fluoride Use in Caries Prevention in the Primary Care Setting. PEDIATRICS Vol. 134 No. 3 September 1, 2014, pp. 626 -633. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/3/626.
- Tomar SL and Reeves AF. Changes in the Oral Health of US Children and Adolescents and Dental Public Health Infrastructure Since the Release of the Healthy People 2010 Objectives. Academic Pediatrics Volume 9, Number 6, Nov-Dec 2009; 388–95.
- dos Santos VE, Filho AV, Targino AGR, et al. A New ‘‘Silver-Bullet’’ to treat caries in children – Nano Silver Fluoride: A randomised clinical trial. Journal of Dentistry 42 (2014), 945–951.
- Wainwright J and Sheiham A. An analysis of methods of toothbrushing recommended by dental associations, toothpaste and toothbrush companies and in dental texts. British Dental Journal 217, E5 (2014). Published online: 8 August 2014 | doi:10.1038/sj.bdj.2014.651.
- http://www.healthygrid.com/.
- http://www.loloz.com/.
- http://www.ncohf.org/get-involved/toothfairy-ball.
