They say it takes a village to raise a child and Dr Jaslyn Patrick, from The Dental Surgery, Newstead agrees. 

A mum of three herself, she puts a heavy focus on paediatric dentistry and educating both parents and kids about the importance of oral health. 

“I like pediatric dentistry, when kids come in they are putting a lot of trust in you, and it is a precious thing you don’t want to break that trust,” she said. 

“ You aren’t just treating that child you are treating the whole family so we have to think about how we can help that family support each other. 

“Educating kids on the importance of oral health, the dentist and brushing their teeth is a community effort and involves education from parents, schools and the dentist.” 

Research into children’s decay rates offers a scary outlook with 55 per cent of six year old’s having experienced decay in their baby teeth. 

Dr Patrick believes that making the dentist a normal part of a child’s life is key to achieving better oral health care and ensuring children are not afraid or anxious about the dentist. 

“What we want to do is to make the dentist and dentistry as normal a part of a child’s life as it is to start school,” she said. 

“A lot of dentist fear that children experience is because they don’t know what to expect, there are a lot of sounds and things happening that can appear scary and very often a child’s first visit to a dentist is because they are already in pain, so its not nice for the parents or child.” 

“ Parents should be making their child’s first dentist appointment within six months of their first tooth erupting,  not so much for the child but the parents so they can feel orientated to a dentist and a care team that will listen to them advise them about their child’s dental health.” 

While the dentist is an essential part of long-term oral health care, there are plenty of things that parents can be doing at home to ensure their kids are taking care of their pearly whites. 

“Prevention begins at home, and it begins with the parents being aware of their dental health,” Dr Jaslyn said. 

“Showing a positive attitude towards your oral health will impact upon your child, placing it as a priority as you would teaching them how to walk and tie their shoelaces. 

“Make sure you make brushing their teeth fun and part of a routine,  kids can start to brush their teeth if they can tie their shoelaces, but every child is different. 

“Diet also plays a big role and making sure kids aren’t consuming too much sugar, keeping an eye on hidden sugars in food that are marketed as healthy, such as dried fruit, roll-ups and muesli bars.”