MetLife Study Finds Parents Have Limited Awareness of Recommended Pediatric Dental Care
February 06 2012 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
While 97% of parents of children ages five and under, with
dental insurance, would rate their child’s oral health as excellent
or good, many may actually be overly optimistic. A MetLife Study
released today reveals many parents are not following recommended
guidelines for brushing, flossing, and other habits for optimal
pediatric oral health. Nearly a quarter of surveyed parents, 23%,
have been told by a dentist or hygienist that their child was at
risk for tooth decay.
About half (47%) of the parents surveyed have not spoken to
their pediatrician about their child’s teeth and may not be making
the connection between their child’s oral health and their overall
health. “According to the office of the Surgeon General, tooth
decay is the single most common childhood disease—five times more
common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever.
Parents should be speaking to their pediatricians to learn more
about how their child’s oral health can affect their overall
health,” said Dr. David Guarrera, DDS, vice president, MetLife
Dental Products. “With the help of their dentist, parents can take
a few simple steps to introduce healthy oral hygiene habits at an
early age and to make sure their children’s teeth are
protected.”
Practicing Healthy Oral
Hygiene
According to the study, 42% of respondents report that their
child’s teeth or gums are brushed once a day or less, and nearly
half, 45%, say their child’s teeth are never flossed.
“Children should be introduced to the concept of teeth cleaning
and brushing at an early age. Once a tooth appears, parents should
brush children’s teeth twice a day with a child’s toothbrush and
water,” notes Dr. Guarrera. “According to the American Dental
Association, parents should start using floss on their children’s
teeth as soon as any two teeth touch, to remove plaque where a
toothbrush cannot reach.”
Over half of parents, 60%, say their kids are eating sugary
foods at least once a day. Eating sugary foods can cause damaging
acids to form in the mouth. These acids can affect teeth for at
least 20 minutes before they are neutralized and chewy sweets stick
to the surface of the teeth, spending more time in the mouth and
potentially causing more damage. Because of this, parents should
consider how often their children are eating sugary snacks and the
type of snacks their children are consuming. Also, if parents
cannot brush their child’s teeth after eating a sugary snack, it is
very important to rinse at the very least.
Working with Your
Dentist
Nearly 25% of respondents have not taken their child to the
dentist in the past year for a dental exam. When asked about how
often their child should visit the dentist, about one-third (35%)
responded that a child 5 years-old or younger should visit a
dentist less frequently than twice a year or were unsure.
“It is recommended that a child is taken to see a dentist within
six months from when the first tooth appears, but no later than his
or her first birthday,” notes Dr. Guarrera. “But two-thirds of
parents in the study said that their child was two- to
three-years-old when he or she had the first dental check-up. This
is troubling because, while 72% of respondents added their child to
their dental insurance policy between their birth and their first
birthday, only 16% of parents actually took their child for their
first dental check-up.”
Only 46% of respondents say their child has received fluoride
treatment from a dentist or dental hygienist within the past year.
Sixty-one percent of respondents report fluoride is in their tap
water and 39% indicate there is either no fluoride in their tap
water or they are not sure. Fluoride is extremely important for the
prevention of tooth decay. According to the Office of the Surgeon
General, people who live in communities with naturally fluoridated
drinking water have far less tooth decay than people in comparable
communities without fluoride in their water supply. Parents should
speak to their child’s dentist about fluoride treatments,
particularly if the family lives in a community that does not
contain fluoride in the water supply.
MetLife, celebrating 50 years of healthier smiles in 2012,
continues to enhance its online Oral Health Library. For tips about
maintaining and improving the oral health habits of children,
download a copy of Parental Oral Health Literacy: Equipping Parents
with Important Information about Children’s Oral Health by
accessing the library at www.metlife.com/dental.
MetLife, which today is a leading provider of dental plan
administration for nearly 20 million people, provided its first
dental benefits for families in 1962.
Methodology
MetLife commissioned IBOPE Zogby International to conduct the
MetLife Dental Insurance Literacy Study. The survey sample
consisted of 500 telephone interviews of parents of children ages
five and under with dental insurance.
About MetLife
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) is a subsidiary of
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), a leading global provider of insurance,
annuities and employee benefit programs, serving 90 million
customers in over 50 countries. Through its subsidiaries and
affiliates, MetLife holds leading market positions in the United
States, Japan, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle
East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.
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