Is dental health genetic, or can I help prevent issues? Can I pass cavity-causing bacteria to my child? When should my child stop using a pacifier or bottle? Does mouth breathing affect dental health?

This week, I welcome Dr. Ashley Lerman, a board-certified pediatric dentist, to answer all these dental questions and more. Throughout our discussion she encourages a balanced, judgement-free approach focusing on progress over perfection.

She joins me to discuss:

• The importance of early oral care and developing good habits
• How genetic factors and parents’ dental health affects children
• Tips on brushing, flossing, prolonged bottle use and limiting sugar.

 

To connect with Dr. Ashley Lerman follow her on Instagram @pediatric.dentist.mom and check out all her resources on https://yourfirstgrin.com/.

 

Ask Doctor Mona: Toddler Tooth-brushing Battles

 

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00;00;00;00 – 00;00;18;03

Dr. Ashley Lerman

And we hear a lot about candy. We hear a lot about sodas, sticky things that we want to avoid. But what it comes down to is actually just anything that breaks down to a simple carbohydrate. So that might be crackers, pretzels, salty things too, that we may not stereotypically think of and then want to, you know, even further than that, it’s more about frequency.

 

00;00;18;03 – 00;00;40;11

Dr. Ashley Lerman

If we’re eating and snacking through the day, the mouth doesn’t have a chance to buffer. So ideally, in an ideal world, you want to have organized meals, not snacking frequently. And then choosing, you know, let’s say fresh, not processed foods. Is that realistic for parents on the go? It may be expensive. There’s so many other factors that we need to consider.

 

00;00;40;13 – 00;00;50;20

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Again, we could talk about ideal versus realistic. And I think that’s what we need to, you know, have this conversation. A lot of parents just don’t know these things.

 

00;00;50;23 – 00;01;14;28

Dr. Mona

Welcome to the show. It’s me, Doctor Mona, your trusted doctor, confidante and mom friend here to support you through every twist and turn of parenting. You’re listening to the doctor podcast, where I host conversations that empower your parenting journey. Whether this is your first episode or you’re a long time listener, I promise you’ll get plenty of insights. And don’t forget to subscribe, download episodes, and check out more so you’ll never miss a beat.

 

00;01;15;00 – 00;01;41;13

Dr. Mona

Okay? Think you know what’s ruining your kid’s teeth? Think again. It’s not just candy. It’s not just avoiding brushing. And here’s a shocker. Crackers and pretzels might be just as bad for your child’s teeth as sugary treats, but it doesn’t stop there. Cavities aren’t just about what your child eats. It’s about how often they eat, the way their mouth processes food, and even how your dental health as a parent could be influencing theirs.

 

00;01;41;20 – 00;02;03;18

Dr. Mona

Today, I’m joined by Doctor Ashley Lehrman, a board certified pediatric dentist who’s here to uncover the surprising and often overlooked factors that impact your child’s oral health. From genetics to snack habits. Mouth breathing to seltzer water. I’m a fan that’s on the list who were busting myths and giving you practical tips to protect your child’s teeth in a way that actually makes sense for real life parenting.

 

00;02;03;23 – 00;02;13;01

Dr. Mona

By the end of the episode, you’ll never look at your child’s dental care the same way again. Let’s get into it.

 

00;02;13;04 – 00;02;15;28

Dr. Mona

Thank you so much for joining me today, Doctor Ashley.

 

00;02;16;05 – 00;02;27;06

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Thank you so much for having me. Your page presents. Every social media has helped me so much with my current almost 16 month old. And you know, I know it will be helpful for my next child too. Who’s doing a couple of months.

 

00;02;27;13 – 00;02;48;07

Dr. Mona

Yes. Well, I, you know, likewise. I love meeting colleagues on social media that, you know, share this sort of love for education. And obviously, as a pediatric dentist, you are very much needed for me as well, because all of my patients need a strong pediatric dentist to educate them. And tell us a little bit more about yourself. For anyone who may not be familiar with who you are.

 

00;02;48;14 – 00;03;09;28

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Definitely. So I’m a board certified pediatric dentist. I came out of residency, went to my first job of seeing between 60 and 80 patients a day. Oh, I saw this massive, massive pain point. It was wild. It felt like I was a broken record for repeating the same things. And a lot of parents were disheartened seeing, you know, their 3 or 4 year old having cavities.

 

00;03;10;00 – 00;03;30;19

Dr. Ashley Lerman

So I felt, you know, pressure, especially in this day and age, with the access of internet and outreach to create a better solution. So I started my company First Green, which is a public health initiative, for maternal and childhood outreach, to try to solve the problem of cavities. I was a huge problem. Kids, a number one chronic disease sets the stage for adult teeth.

 

00;03;30;22 – 00;03;38;28

Dr. Ashley Lerman

But really just making these, you know, routines, tips and information tangible early on. So I do that alongside some clinical work as well.

 

00;03;39;01 – 00;03;59;28

Dr. Mona

I love it. And I think it’s so important, like I said, and what we’re talking about today are surprising factors that impact your child’s oral health. I know you just mentioned, you know, you started first. Grant came out of being over overworked, seeing so many things. The broken record. I have so much relatability to that because that’s why I started Pedes Doc Talk.

 

00;04;00;02 – 00;04;24;29

Dr. Mona

And so when you think and educate families, I’m sure we’ll go over some of these broken record things. But some people may not know that there can be an impact to their child’s oral health. The things that they do, the things maybe the genetics that they have. So let’s first talk about genetics in a little bit. How much of a child’s oral health, so their predisposition to cavities or just oral health in general is determined by genetics.

 

00;04;24;29 – 00;04;29;26

Dr. Mona

And are there factors that make some children more prone to cavities than others?

 

00;04;29;29 – 00;04;48;25

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah, I think that’s an amazing question. Just to highlight your point, a lot of people aren’t told these things early on enough. So that’s our goal. I think what you do is public health as well, and just making that information digestible. So when it comes to genetics, there is a large component of cavities, that is genetic. So if our parents have cavities, we might have a stronger likelihood of that.

 

00;04;48;28 – 00;05;07;27

Dr. Ashley Lerman

There are a lot of twin studies that show there’s a strong genetic component as well. And then aside from just genetics, if we have other, you know, systemic things going on like acid reflux or bulimia later in teenage hood, we have to think about the rest of the body and what’s going on. So if we have an acidic mouth, we may be more likely to have cavities.

 

00;05;07;27 – 00;05;27;12

Dr. Ashley Lerman

So making sure we have that full, rounded perspective and knowing that cavities can be secondary to other things going on in the mouth is really, really important. But again, early on in childhood there is a genetic component, but we want to try to counteract that with what we can, what we can control, which are the habits, diet, behavior, nutrition, those kinds of things.

 

00;05;27;14 – 00;05;54;00

Dr. Mona

The reason why this was an important conversation to me is that I had posted a photo of me going to the dentist, and I’ve been cavity free for my entire life. So at the time of this recording, I’m 38 years old and I do well with dental hygiene, meaning I brush, I floss. My husband, on the other hand, is like always brushing his teeth like he will brush his teeth after every meal he’s using flossing.

 

00;05;54;00 – 00;06;12;12

Dr. Mona

He doesn’t really use a lot of heat, maybe some mouthwash, but he’s much more on top of oral hygiene, even though I am as well. And he has a history of a lot of cavities. So the conversation came up. On my stories that I was like, you know, I there is this genetic component there, and there is some reality that some people can do so much.

 

00;06;12;12 – 00;06;29;17

Dr. Mona

But I love that we’re going to be able to dive into, you know, what it is that we can do to create these amazing oral health for our children. But in terms of, one of the big questions that came up on my social was this truth of the idea that can cavities be contagious or passed from parent to child?

 

00;06;29;17 – 00;06;41;24

Dr. Mona

And what does this mean about sharing cups or utensils with kids? Should we not do it? Does it really just depend on our own predisposition to cavities? Or how would you approach that in education for families?

 

00;06;41;27 – 00;07;03;17

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah, I love that. And I think, you know, I get asked that all the time as well. There are a lot of studies that show primary caregiver. So let’s say mom, in this case, if she has that cavity causing bacteria, it can be passed down to the child through kissing, through utensil sharing, through spoon sharing. Sometimes if a pacifier falls in the ground, a parent will pop it in their mouth and put it in their child’s mouth.

 

00;07;03;24 – 00;07;23;22

Dr. Ashley Lerman

There are a lot of cultural components as well. But that is true. So what we want to do as parents and caregivers is be aware of our active disease in our mouth, making sure we’re staying on top of it. Because cavities aren’t binary. It’s not yes or no. There’s a range. And if we can control that bad bacteria in our mouths, we can decrease the likelihood of passing that down to our kids.

 

00;07;23;28 – 00;07;38;04

Dr. Mona

And you mentioned, obviously, that bad bacteria can be, increased by acidity in the mouth. Right. You mentioned like, acid reflux and all that. Are there any other things that can increase that bacteria presence in the mouth besides acidity?

 

00;07;38;06 – 00;07;56;03

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah. So there are a couple of things when it comes to acidity in the mouth. Our mouth actually gets acidic after every time we eat or drink anything besides plain water. So something that I think every parent should know is early on when we’re having milk constantly through the day and the teeth come in, it increases our likelihood of cavities.

 

00;07;56;06 – 00;08;15;05

Dr. Ashley Lerman

So what we can do to try to combat that? Give some water afterwards, wipe the teeth afterwards, especially after that nighttime feeding. So that’s why you may hear, you know, ideally, don’t put a baby to bed with milk. You know, be realistic about it. If you are exhausted. We want to have a balanced approach, not have any judgment when it comes to that as well.

 

00;08;15;07 – 00;08;21;00

Dr. Ashley Lerman

But just know that long term it can damage the teeth. If if teeth are constantly exposed to sugars, anything besides plain water.

 

00;08;21;00 – 00;08;45;04

Dr. Mona

Well, I love that you just mentioned that this is not a judgment zone, right? I mean, all of this is education and trying to really make the best outcomes for the family. And I really do find that sometimes when, you know, you sort of perfectly whenever we try to educate and say, hey, maybe be more mindful about the bottle propping or the, you know, the feeds right before bed, it really is just to look out for the best interest of oral health and the health of a child.

 

00;08;45;04 – 00;08;54;28

Dr. Mona

And like you said beautifully, sometimes you’re going to forget. And it’s not the one off, it’s the is this a consistent thing? And so that’s that’s exactly how it is for me too, as a pediatrician.

 

00;08;55;00 – 00;09;10;15

Dr. Ashley Lerman

I mean, I think that’s so important, like the balanced approach. You talk about it all the time with parenting. And we have parents come all the time saying they felt shamed by their previous provider. Yeah, that’s not my goal whatsoever. It’s to give you the tools to use them how you see fit. You know, fit best with your kids, you know your family the best.

 

00;09;10;17 – 00;09;19;25

Dr. Ashley Lerman

And like you said, a lot of parents don’t know these things when it comes to dental oral health. So that’s my goal to make it non-judgmental, non shameful and, you know, approachable and practical.

 

00;09;19;27 – 00;09;36;14

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And going into that area that can feel shameful is diet and nutrition. Right. So you talked about obviously milk and bottles before bed. But how do diet and nutrition impact a child’s or oral health. And are there specific foods that are better or worse for teeth. And how so.

 

00;09;36;16 – 00;09;55;21

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah. So I think that’s an amazing question. Diet nutrition play a huge role. We hear a lot about candy. We hear a lot about sodas, sticky things that we want to avoid. But what it comes down to is actually just anything that breaks down to a simple carbohydrate. So that might be crackers, pretzels, salty things to that we may not stereotypically think of.

 

00;09;55;24 – 00;10;17;20

Dr. Ashley Lerman

And then want to, you know, even further than that, it’s more about frequency. If we’re eating and snacking through the day, the mouth doesn’t have a chance to buffer, so I do. In an ideal world, you want to have organized meals, not snacking frequently. And then choosing, you know, let’s say fresh, not processed foods. Is that realistic for parents on the go?

 

00;10;17;23 – 00;10;29;12

Dr. Ashley Lerman

It may be expensive. There’s so many other factors that we need to consider. Again, we could talk about ideal versus realistic. And I think that’s what we need to, you know, have this conversation. A lot of parents just don’t know these things.

 

00;10;29;14 – 00;10;57;09

Dr. Mona

Yeah. You’re right. And the other thing that, people often get concerned about are there’s a lot of confusion about is thumb sucking or pacifier use. Right. Like the how does that impact oral development? Obviously that’s not cavity prevention. Or can it impact cavity prevent, cavity formation? Now let’s take a quick break to hear from our sponsors who support helps us keep bringing you this show.

 

00;10;57;11 – 00;11;23;10

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah. So we hear a lot about, you know, habits like thumb sucking, using the pacifier. My son loves the pacifier as if he still sees it. Yeah. Guidelines say ideally to stop it before age three, but we even say start weaning around six months, trying to take it away fully by 18 months. Again, with a balanced approach if you need to use it in emergency situations, if you have it on hand.

 

00;11;23;10 – 00;11;46;14

Dr. Ashley Lerman

I know my husband and I were traveling and we got massively delayed right around naptime. My son was losing his mind. I always keep an emergency pacifier on hand. And it was. It was perfect. It worked really well. So I think to give parents those tools is important. It can affect the teeth long term in terms of shifting the teeth forward, pushing them out, making the palate a little narrow on top.

 

00;11;46;16 – 00;12;03;03

Dr. Ashley Lerman

What that can do with the adult teeth is actually increase trauma risk to the adult teeth to long term. So there may be these early habits early on that may have resounding effects. But it’s one of those things where I don’t want parents to drive themselves crazy. If your child needs it to soothe, then I’m all for it.

 

00;12;03;05 – 00;12;18;23

Dr. Mona

Yeah, and I love the approach of the six months and 18 months. That’s exactly. Obviously, I’m happy to hear that a pediatric dentist is saying exactly what I was saying because, I, I do know sometimes we say, okay, it can be two, two and a half. And I get it, like you said, that there may be some cases that you’re like, I just I can’t let it go.

 

00;12;18;23 – 00;12;34;02

Dr. Mona

And I’m like, I know we can do this. I know we can get it off by 18 months. And especially starting the process at six months with like going to sleep time is very possible. And if you wait longer, it’s harder to remove things that they get accustomed to, as we know with all children.

 

00;12;34;04 – 00;12;47;17

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah. Finally. And I also think there’s a lot of parental fear involved too, because we have almost like this use that always works and can sue them. And then kids end up being a lot more resilient than we may give them credit for. So I completely agree with you.

 

00;12;47;19 – 00;13;10;13

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And, you know, going back to the milk comment you mentioned, obviously bottles versus cups, right. Explain to maybe parents why prolong bottle use may be more harmful than prolonged cup use of milk like I mean obviously we talked about brushing after because the milk in general, that stays on the teeth. But what about the prolonged actual physical use of a bottle?

 

00;13;10;16 – 00;13;28;15

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah. So there are a couple of things with, you know, sucking on the bottle. It’s going to have a similar effect as a pacifier in terms of narrowing the jar, things like that. But there are also studies that show that there may be increased cavity risk too, because with the bottle, we may pull the milk around the top teeth, especially for longer periods of time.

 

00;13;28;18 – 00;13;39;27

Dr. Ashley Lerman

So you want to do is introduce an open rim cup or a straw cup around six months, gradually keep keep increasing it and then wean from the bottle, at least from a pediatric dental standpoint between like 12 to 15 months.

 

00;13;40;00 – 00;13;55;09

Dr. Mona

Yeah. Love that. And I think thank you so much for adding that on because I think sometimes I am seeing two year olds still using bottles and I am like, I know. And the comment that comes again is, well, they’re not going to be a baby forever. And I’m like, I get it. I know they’re not going to be a baby forever.

 

00;13;55;09 – 00;14;11;03

Dr. Mona

I know you’re not going to have a four year old walking around with the bottle, but I would love to get you to a point where we can really balance this oral health. And I know that they can do it. And a lot of it is, like you said, parental fear with the with the pacifier too, is that, well, they’re going to be upset about it.

 

00;14;11;03 – 00;14;34;16

Dr. Mona

I’m like, well, you know, you don’t have to do a cold turkey if you don’t want to. It can be gradual, but we’re trying to do what’s best overall for the child. And I know every child is capable of drinking out of a cup and it becomes a comfort thing, of course. Right. Like we have kids who will take all other liquids from a straw cup or an open cup, but they’re holding on to dear life for that milk in a bottle only right before bed.

 

00;14;34;16 – 00;14;41;00

Dr. Mona

And it’s like I know they can do it. We just have to remind them that they can do it, because sometimes they just don’t want to do it.

 

00;14;41;02 – 00;14;45;03

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Definitely. We hear that all the time, word for word, everything you just said.

 

00;14;45;05 – 00;14;52;25

Dr. Mona

And the other thing I wanted to go over is mouth breathing, is that does that have a negative impact on oral health and if so, how?

 

00;14;52;27 – 00;15;15;29

Dr. Ashley Lerman

It’s such a hot topic right now, especially on social media. You see it left and right. For young kids, there could be so many reason a child is mouth breathing. We want to consider adenoids. If the child has a cold post nasal drip when it comes to the mouth, mouth posture and tongue posture can affect ultimately, the way the jaws develop and grow as well as it can secondarily affect dry mouth.

 

00;15;15;29 – 00;15;33;05

Dr. Ashley Lerman

And when you have a mouth that’s dry, you don’t have saliva to buffer inside there, so you may have an increased cavity risk. If you’re ever concerned about mouth breathing, definitely talk to your pediatrician or a pediatric dentist. We may make a referral to ENT these kinds of things. We want to get the full picture and realize what what the actual causes.

 

00;15;33;08 – 00;15;39;10

Dr. Ashley Lerman

I will say there’s a lot of stuff on social media about, mouth taping I don’t recommend whatsoever.

 

00;15;39;10 – 00;15;39;27

Dr. Mona

You are.

 

00;15;40;03 – 00;15;41;28

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Dangerous. Yeah, yeah.

 

00;15;42;00 – 00;15;47;24

Dr. Mona

Can you go over if anyone. Yeah, if anyone’s not familiar what you’re talking about. What is what is mouth taping like? Look.

 

00;15;48;00 – 00;16;09;06

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah, sure. So mouth taping is essentially what it sounds like. It’s putting a piece of tape over your mouth to encourage breathing through your nose overnight. There is. And that could be really dangerous is if you have obstructed your nose, you could potentially suffocate. You just never want to put a child in that situation. The grand scheme of things, the risks far, far, far outweigh the benefits.

 

00;16;09;13 – 00;16;12;22

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Talk to your providers about this if you’re concerned about it.

 

00;16;12;25 – 00;16;28;14

Dr. Mona

Yeah, I saw a video not necessarily mouth taping, but a, you know, a video of a child whose mouth is open. Right? And then the, the video said, you know, if you see a child like that, make sure you close it. Right. So then I actually was like, no, this isn’t let me, let me talk about this.

 

00;16;28;14 – 00;16;49;00

Dr. Mona

So I stitched it. I did like a stitch of a video. And I said, let’s talk about mouth breathing. But the problem then was happening is that parents are going to be so overstressed looking at their child sleeping to make sure that they’re not mouth breathing, to close it when they actually are just going to open it back up rather than just going to get the mouth breathing evaluated and discussed with their pediatrician or pediatric dentist.

 

00;16;49;00 – 00;17;06;23

Dr. Mona

And so I love the way you phrased all of this, in that you were like, it could be. It may be because not it’s not like an immediate red flag for us. It’s a big picture. Like you said, it’s how is the child sleeping? What is the I don’t know, is tonsils looking like what is like, what’s the nose looking like?

 

00;17;06;23 – 00;17;23;19

Dr. Mona

It’s not a red flag all the way, but it’s a curiosity pink flag, if you will. It’s like, let’s take a look and discuss. And so I really appreciate the way you approach that, in the way you talked about that today, because that is something that I often get panicked parents about because of social media videos.

 

00;17;23;21 – 00;17;34;28

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Exactly, exactly. It’s the nature of the beast at this point. But I, you know, like you said, encourage the questions, the curiosity. But like you said, if you see something, it’s not necessarily an automatic diagnosis.

 

00;17;35;00 – 00;17;50;04

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And did I miss anything else or, about the diet, nutrition aspect or anything else that you feel like you’re telling families as that broken record of ways that, you know, habits that they’re doing can negatively impact oral health, that we may have missed?

 

00;17;50;06 – 00;18;09;22

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah, I think when it comes to diet nutrition, the main thing is the frequency aspect. That’s you know, people just don’t realize that. But also for, let’s say a little bit older kids, something that’s often overlooked is the fact of seltzer. So seltzer can also make the mouth acidic. It has carbonic acid. That’s what makes it bubbly so it can make them out the soda.

 

00;18;09;24 – 00;18;27;01

Dr. Ashley Lerman

So treat it just like anything, any, anything else other than water. So have a plain rinse of water afterwards. Be cognizant of not sipping it through the day. I know I’m so guilty of that. Before learning about this whole concept in dental school. And it really could put your teeth, at risk. So this can be helpful for parents as well.

 

00;18;27;03 – 00;18;47;20

Dr. Mona

Exactly. I was going to say I was like, maybe I should rephrase this to say not just for kids, but for us. What should I be doing differently? Are you, you know, as a pediatric dentist, I know even during pregnancy our oral health changes. Is there anything that you change when you’re, you know, since you’ve been pregnant, with your oral health or are you noticing, like, more sensitive gums or anything in general in your pregnancy.

 

00;18;47;23 – 00;19;07;03

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah. So for maternal oral health, obviously a huge passion of mine goes hand in hand with first as well. There are unique challenges with hormonal changes. Your gums may bleed more. Previous fillings may be more sensitive. One thing I want to make super clear and super important is going to the dentist for your routine checkup and preventive visit is so important.

 

00;19;07;05 – 00;19;31;09

Dr. Ashley Lerman

There have been studies that show possible correlation between maternal or mom’s gum health and baby’s outcomes. So fetal outcomes as well. So low birth weight preeclampsia because ultimately comes back to inflammation or you know bacterial overload in the mouth. So we want to make sure that’s handled again full body care is what I’m so passionate about. Comprehensive care rather than looking at system by system.

 

00;19;31;12 – 00;19;52;19

Dr. Ashley Lerman

So you know, being pregnant now I just make sure to floss a lot. I went to my dental checkup. And then for, you know, parents who are pregnant right now and wondering, it’s safe at any trimester to go get your dental routine checkup and cleaning. Other than that, usually if you do have dental needs, it’s generally recommended to get it done in the second trimester.

 

00;19;52;21 – 00;20;08;18

Dr. Mona

Awesome. No, I, I remember when I was pregnant with both children how sensitive I was. My, my gums were just very sensitive and I would never really bleed or anything like that, but it was just very much more sensitive, and I’m going to admit. And so let’s all be real here. I do not go see a dentist.

 

00;20;08;18 – 00;20;26;00

Dr. Mona

With my second pregnancy, I have been very vocal about being not a good rule follower and a good example. And so don’t be like me and make sure you go see your dentist, because I did not go in the pandemic and then I didn’t go for four years. And I’m ashamed to admit that thankfully I was fine.

 

00;20;26;00 – 00;20;41;03

Dr. Mona

But going back to the luck of the draw with genetics, I do not want to take that chance. So go see your dentist, take your children to go see their dentist. It’s really important and I will not make that mistake again. But I wanted to put that disclaimer because I did not follow what I did, not practice what I preached.

 

00;20;41;03 – 00;20;43;04

Dr. Mona

As for myself.

 

00;20;43;06 – 00;20;57;03

Dr. Ashley Lerman

I love that and that’s fair. And it’s like it’s everything that we do. I put my baby to bed without brushing his teeth too. I was like, it’s okay, zero judgment. And also I bow down to you for being so low risk and I’m so impressed and blown away by that.

 

00;20;57;05 – 00;21;10;21

Dr. Mona

Listen, I was so funny. They did it. They did an X-ray, and I was like, they said that they thought they saw a cavity on the X-ray and I can’t remember the term he ended up using. So the, the, the person, I think it was the, hygienist before. So she saw it and I was like, okay.

 

00;21;10;21 – 00;21;24;23

Dr. Mona

And then I was like, oh, my streak is over all. And then the dentist came in and I cannot remember the term. I’ll slap my head. He’s like, oh, it’s not a cavity, it’s something else. Nothing to be concerned about. And I was like, oh, amazing. So I’m like, my my streak is still there. He’s like, yes, your streak is still there.

 

00;21;24;23 – 00;21;46;04

Dr. Mona

And I was like, yes, that’s incredible. You actually deserve a medal for that. That’s one of my fun facts at parties. I mean, it sounds really love, but it’s a fun fact. I mean, it’s really rare to be 38 and have no cavities your entire life. And obviously, I do take care of my teeth, but not like obsessive, like my husband who looks at me out of the corner of his eye, I’m sure, and is like, why?

 

00;21;46;08 – 00;22;01;18

Dr. Mona

Why do you have this guy dying? Yeah, and I don’t. So, you know, what are the most important things parents can do at home to ensure their child’s oral health? And I know you already discussed obviously some food, but maybe just kind of summarize the big take homes, that parents should do.

 

00;22;01;25 – 00;22;22;25

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Big take home is I always aim and say this is progress over perfection. I like starting early with young kids, wiping those gums, brushing as soon as that first tooth comes in. It sets a stage earlier for desensitizing your child to getting used to it as part of the routine. But I have a toddler now, and he fights me with brushing his teeth and we still do it.

 

00;22;22;25 – 00;22;43;18

Dr. Ashley Lerman

And I hear all the time parents come in, they’re concerned about, you know, stressing bodily autonomy, and they want to make sure their child feels safe and they’re fighting them. So they have this push pull. And I think you might have mentioned it once, but I see it all the time, too, on social media, where we as parents have to set the stage for some non-negotiables when it comes to how this comes to safety, right?

 

00;22;43;21 – 00;22;58;23

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Changing a diaper. Your child might be doing the alligator roll, but we still have to do it right. Putting them in a car seat. They might be fighting kicking, but we still have to do it. So for us to reframe dental health, oral health that way can be helpful for us as the adults in the room as well.

 

00;22;58;26 – 00;23;17;14

Dr. Mona

Absolutely. I mean, there was a video of another pediatric dentist or a dentist who was putting their child in the hold where you’re sitting on the ground and your legs are lightly covering, you know, over the child’s arms, which is a very good hold. I, I’m sure I actually have it in one of my, one of my courses is how I had to brush Ryan’s teeth.

 

00;23;17;14 – 00;23;42;09

Dr. Mona

My son, because he was a fidgety little boy. And I mean now he brushes his teeth happily. But yeah, we had to sing songs, put him in that hold, talk to him while I have his hand in my, you know, my my, his head in my hands, brushing, brushing, brushing. And my daughters, by all the luck in the world, will literally just walk to the bathroom, get on the stool and stand there and wait and open her mouth for me to put the brush in.

 

00;23;42;11 – 00;24;00;14

Dr. Mona

I mean, you’re always getting it, I guess one of each, but but I have been there, right? I have been there. That okay. I’ll try. The more easy way. I’ll. I’ll get them in. But you said it beautifully that hygiene and safety. These are non-negotiable boundaries. Like I use the example of handwashing. There is no I don’t want to wash my hands.

 

00;24;00;14 – 00;24;17;13

Dr. Mona

It’s going to happen. So the options are you can either go there yourself or I’m going to help you there. And same thing with brushing, right? I, I’m going to have to help you. And I know you’ve, you’ve mentioned this to like children. Even if they say they can do it, they don’t have the dexterity to get back into their back teeth until they’re like eight years old.

 

00;24;17;13 – 00;24;32;10

Dr. Mona

So you’re going to have to follow up even if you’re a strong willed four year old, like I do it. I do it all. I’m like, I know you can do it, sweetie, but I’m going to help you and look at I’m gonna take a look and see how good you did. That’s kind of what I say. And then I get back into those back teeth and make sure that he did a good job, you know?

 

00;24;32;12 – 00;24;48;04

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Exactly. Taking turns. And by the way, just to mention my son is the same way we do that exact hold. I saw that it was, you know, the real you referred to claiming that it was a traumatic position. Yeah. Traumatic. It just giving you the best view and you could take turns. Lots of praise, positive reinforcement, those kinds of things.

 

00;24;48;06 – 00;25;06;03

Dr. Ashley Lerman

But I totally agree. And one last note to add on the same goes for flossing using floss pickers too. I know parents look at me like I’m out of my mind because brushing can be a rodeo in itself. Yeah, but often between the teeth is where cavities start. And the toothbrush is just too big to clean in between those nooks and crannies.

 

00;25;06;03 – 00;25;15;13

Dr. Ashley Lerman

So that position as well can help you, especially flossing the back molars, which are in the mouth between 9 to 13 years old. And we see cavities start there all the time. All the time.

 

00;25;15;15 – 00;25;25;07

Dr. Mona

Yeah, flossing. You’re right. It’s one of those things that you’re like, you spent the two minutes or whatever brushing, and then you’re like, really? I know I now need to, I now need to get into a fine crevice to put this in out.

 

00;25;25;08 – 00;25;42;09

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Clearly not now. I figure it’s time I do with my son. I’m like, what are we doing right now? And so again, forgo it if you can’t handle it that day. But again, yes, progress over perfection. Consistency. Don’t drive yourself crazy and think in this like binary way. If I don’t do it, it’s the end of the world.

 

00;25;42;09 – 00;25;44;23

Dr. Ashley Lerman

It’s not just, you know, small habits over time and.

 

00;25;44;23 – 00;25;55;16

Dr. Mona

Then I know we could do a whole episode on fluoride, but in terms of toothpaste choices, I know you recommend like a fluoridated toothpaste for when you’re showing a brush. Or what’s your kind of recommendation on fluoride toothpaste?

 

00;25;55;18 – 00;26;17;17

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Yeah, absolutely. Got this question all the time. So you can introduce a rice or smear size amount a fluoride toothpaste. As soon as that first tooth comes in, you could bump it up to a pea size amount once a child turns three. This a fact that re mineralized the teeth is going to help, especially if we are eating solids liquids, and just protect those teeth ultimately from cavities.

 

00;26;17;19 – 00;26;35;19

Dr. Mona

I am feeling like really nice teeth health right now. I am loving this conversation. I really appreciate this. And I really loved, you know, my biggest take home that you said to me, which was about the snacking, right? I the fact that when you’re snacking a lot, you’re not giving your mouth a time to reset. That was so valuable.

 

00;26;35;19 – 00;26;55;18

Dr. Mona

And I think with children, sometimes we can get caught up in that, especially because a lot of their snacks can be frequent if we’re not setting kind of routine and the choices of snacks, like you said, like, you know, carbohydrates, sugars, all of that. But the snacking comment is such a good one. So thank you for all the wisdom you share today about, you know, setting a great foundation for, for teeth and all these unknown things.

 

00;26;55;18 – 00;26;59;17

Dr. Mona

And maybe parents that know about that can impact their child’s oral health, of course.

 

00;26;59;17 – 00;27;12;13

Dr. Ashley Lerman

And if anyone has any questions, pop over. I’m so open and receptive and again, non-judgmental because trust me, I’ve heard it all and I want to make sure you feel comfortable with these questions. It’s better to ask and know than just wonder.

 

00;27;12;15 – 00;27;15;09

Dr. Mona

Yeah, and where can everyone find you to stay connected?

 

00;27;15;11 – 00;27;22;05

Dr. Ashley Lerman

So my social media is at Pediatric Dentist mom, and you can also follow along. At first Grand for that preventive oral health information.

 

00;27;22;10 – 00;27;46;08

Dr. Mona

And I will be linking that information on our show notes so everyone can follow Doctor Ashley along and get her information and all of her resources as well. And what I like to do on the show is ask all of our guests a final, uplifting, positive message for everyone listening today. And this is so that we can always leave the conversations feeling better about ourselves as parents and feeling more motivated to tackle all of all the challenges we do.

 

00;27;46;08 – 00;27;49;24

Dr. Mona

So what would be your final uplifting message for everyone on the show today?

 

00;27;49;26 – 00;28;19;22

Dr. Ashley Lerman

I love it and I mentioned it a few times already, but I just think progress over perfection, not just when it comes to dental health. As a parent in your career, in your day to day life, keep moving forward. Some days are really, really hard. Trust me, I get it. Be kind, be understanding. And I really, really feel like with your channel and being a mom, a parent, gathering resources and sharing that wealth of information is making everything a better place, a little bit easier for everyone.

 

00;28;19;22 – 00;28;23;09

Dr. Ashley Lerman

So I’m glad to help contribute it in that small way that I can.

 

00;28;23;12 – 00;28;35;26

Dr. Mona

I love that part of the show. I love when I feel so motivated when I hear my guests, share that. And it’s so true. And I love that progress over perfection in every aspect of parenting. Thank you so much, Doctor Ashley, for joining me today.

 

00;28;35;28 – 00;28;40;02

Dr. Ashley Lerman

Thank you for having me. Really appreciate it.

 

00;28;40;04 – 00;28;57;26

Dr. Mona

Don’t you love nerding out on this information on the show? I’m so grateful that Doctor Ashley shared all of this information. I don’t know about you, but I also learned so much about my own dental habits and what I can do differently for my kids. My biggest takeaway it’s not just about what they eat, it’s when and how often they are eating certain foods.

 

00;28;57;26 – 00;29;15;01

Dr. Mona

And here’s what I want you to do next. For the next week, I want you to cut down on those frequent snack times and see if it makes a difference. That’s it. Just try organizing meals instead of grazing all day and DM me what happens. And if the episode change the way you think about oral health, please don’t keep it to yourself.

 

00;29;15;03 – 00;29;37;20

Dr. Mona

Share it on stories, tag PedsDocTalk and at Pediatric Dentist Mom and tell me your biggest takeaway because when parents start sharing the right information, we break the cycle of outdated, fear based advice and set our kids up for success. Thank you for being open to growth and for being such a vital part of our podcast community. Have a wonderful week ahead and I can’t wait to connect with you all again.

 

00;29;37;20 – 00;29;38;29

Dr. Mona

Next time, stay well.