Lunch w/ Leaders: The Importance of Understanding and Educating the Community on Proper Childhood Dental Health

Membership in the Junior League of Columbia has many benefits.  One that is most important to me is the opportunity for life-long learning.  This week’s Lunch With Leaders is a great example of how the League works to educate and inspire our members about important issues in the community.

As many of you know, children’s dental care is now a priority for the League as part of our community focus area.  A panel of community leaders specializing in children’s dental health shared their knowledge with League members during this session. Panelists included a representative from Healthy Learners (who is also a former school nurse), a dental hygienist, a representative from DHEC’s division of Oral Health, a pediatrician from Palmetto Health, a pediatric dentist, as well as a Junior League of Columbia member who is a dentist (thank you, Dr. Erin Causey). This group did an incredible job of presenting some of the many challenges facing children in SC in regard to oral health. 

The information was intriguing and eye-opening to me. Some of it was just plain sad – especially when learning that prevention is truly the key to solving this crisis which is affecting countless numbers of children in our community.  My fingers were flying to capture this information. Here are some of the highlights.

Parental education is critical.  Every child should have a “dental home” by age 1.  Juice and chocolate milk in “sippy cups” are major contributors to tooth decay in young children.  Water is the only thing that should ever be in a” sippy cup”! The PH level in drinks (acid) is also harmful to teeth.  The frequency that a child drinks sugar is what causes cavities – not just how much sugar is in a single drink.  Baby teeth are important (apparently there are baby tooth root canals – yikes). “Mountain Dew Disease” is terrible. One of the panelists said he could tell a Mountain Dew drinker almost immediately by looking at his or her teeth.

What are the repercussions of poor oral health in children? There are a lot.  School attendance declines, children cannot focus in the classroom when they are in pain, self-esteem is negatively affected and serious health problems can occur when infections go untreated.  It is well-documented that children who suffer from poor oral health do not succeed as well as their healthy peers and, later in life, there is a downward spiral in future employment situations.

As League members we, of course, wanted to know, “What can we do to help?” Fortunately, there are a number of ways the League could make an impact in this area.  We can serve as advocates in the community to bring this issue to the spotlight, and we can include educational materials and other resources at our events and incorporate them in our existing projects and activities.  There are probably endless opportunities for the JLC to help address this epidemic, and I feel certain we will rise to this exciting challenge.  Stay tuned!

On a closing note, I have to take this opportunity to remind everyone that poor oral health doesn’t only affect children who live in poverty.  If you have children, be sure you are heading advice for keeping their mouths healthy.  I bought some cool, neon-colored child-size “flossers” yesterday for my son and have vowed to make sure they are used! I hope we can all work together to bring lots of healthy smiles to our community and look forward to the JLC putting its efforts behind this worthy cause.

Post by: Carla Moore, President Elect