Back-to-School Dental Health: 7 Things Your Child’s Mouth Can Tell You

Back-to-school season has a way of putting routines under a microscope. Bedtimes get earlier. Breakfast matters again. Sports start. Lunches get packed. And suddenly, you may notice things that were easier to overlook during summer.

Your child is snoring. They always seem to have their mouth open. They’re grinding their teeth. Their new teeth look crowded. They’re tired in the morning even though they went to bed on time.

These may seem unrelated to a dental visit, but the mouth can give us important clues about breathing, sleep, oral function and development.

At Dental Healing Arts, we take a broader view of children’s dental health. Of course, we’re looking for cavities and checking the gums and teeth. We’re also paying attention to how a child breathes, how the tongue functions, how the bite is developing and what may be happening with the airway.

Here are seven things worth watching as your child heads back to school.

1. Is Your Child Breathing Through Their Mouth?

Notice your child when they’re doing homework, watching TV or sleeping. Are their lips comfortably closed, or is their mouth frequently open?

Occasional mouth breathing is normal, especially with a cold or congestion. Frequent mouth breathing is worth a closer look.

There can be many reasons for it, including nasal congestion, allergies, enlarged tonsils or adenoids, tongue position and other airway factors. Because children are still growing, breathing patterns can also be part of the bigger picture when we look at facial, jaw and dental development.

At Dental Healing Arts, we can evaluate the mouth, bite and oral structures with the airway in mind and determine whether further evaluation may be appropriate.

2. Are They Snoring, Grinding Their Teeth or Sleeping Restlessly?

A child can spend nine or ten hours in bed and still not get consistently restorative sleep.

Parents may notice snoring, teeth grinding, frequent waking, tossing and turning, unusual sleeping positions or difficulty getting up for school.

Teeth grinding is especially interesting from a dental perspective because we can sometimes see evidence of it directly on the teeth.

When sleep or breathing concerns are present, we look beyond the individual tooth and consider the airway, oral anatomy, bite and other factors that could be contributing. Depending on what we find, we may recommend additional evaluation or discuss airway-focused therapies when appropriate.

3. What Is Their Tongue Doing?

Most of us don’t think much about where the tongue rests, but tongue posture and function can matter during childhood development.

The tongue is involved in chewing, swallowing, speech and oral function. We look at how it rests, how a child swallows and whether oral habits or restrictions may be affecting normal function.

For some children, myofunctional therapy may be helpful. Myofunctional therapy uses specific exercises and techniques to work on patterns involving the tongue, lips, cheeks, swallowing and breathing.

This is one reason we don’t look at crowded or developing teeth in isolation. Function matters, too.

4. Are Their Teeth Getting Crowded?

Children’s mouths can change dramatically in a single school year.

Baby teeth fall out. Permanent teeth erupt. Jaws continue to develop. A smile that looked perfectly straight last year can suddenly look crowded.

Rather than waiting until all of the permanent teeth are in, we can monitor how the teeth, jaws and bite are developing as your child grows.

An orthodontic evaluation isn’t necessarily a recommendation for immediate treatment. In many cases, the most useful thing we can do is identify what’s happening early, monitor development and determine the right time to intervene if treatment becomes necessary.

When orthodontic treatment is appropriate, our goal is to consider the smile as a whole, including function, bite, facial balance and long-term oral health.

5. What Is Happening Between Dental Visits?

Back-to-school schedules can be tough on teeth.

There may be breakfast on the run, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, sports drinks at practice and another snack after school. It’s not only the amount of sugar that matters. Frequent exposure to carbohydrates, sugars and acids throughout the day can also affect the oral environment.

Crackers, dried fruit, granola bars, juice and sports drinks are some of the common culprits parents may not immediately associate with dental problems.

Water is one of the easiest changes you can make. Encourage children to drink water throughout the day and especially after meals and snacks when brushing isn’t practical.

We also talk with families about home care, brushing technique, appropriate dental products and other ways to support a healthier oral environment between visits.

6. Is It Time for a Different Kind of Cleaning?

A dental cleaning should be more than a quick polish followed by a cavity check.

At Dental Healing Arts, our biologic approach to dental hygiene considers the health of the gums, teeth and oral environment. Depending on the patient’s individual needs, we may incorporate technologies such as ozone as part of our approach to oral care.

We also want children to understand why taking care of their mouths matters.

The goal is to help establish habits they can carry into adulthood, rather than making dentistry something that only happens twice a year in the dental chair.

7. Do We Need a Better Look?

Most children don’t need advanced imaging simply because it’s back-to-school season.

But when we need more information about dental development, anatomy or other specific concerns, 3D CBCT imaging can give us a much more detailed view than we can get from a visual examination alone.

At Dental Healing Arts, advanced imaging is used when clinically appropriate. The technology allows us to gather more information when it’s needed and make treatment decisions based on a clearer understanding of an individual patient’s anatomy.

A Back-to-School Dental Visit That Looks at the Whole Child

A child’s mouth is constantly changing, and those changes don’t happen independently from the rest of the body.

That’s why our Whole Smile Approach™ goes beyond looking for cavities.

Depending on your child’s age and individual needs, we may look at the teeth, gums, bite, jaw development, breathing patterns, airway and tongue function. Our approach can include biologic dental care, ozone, myofunctional therapy, orthodontic evaluation, airway-focused assessment and advanced imaging when appropriate.

Back-to-school season is a natural time to get everyone back into healthy routines and take another look at how your child’s smile is developing.

Schedule your child’s back-to-school visit with Dental Healing Arts in Jupiter or Juno Beach, Florida.