4 Foods That Strengthen Your Child’s Teeth

Kids have a mind of their own when it comes to food. The unhealthier it is, the more they tend to like it. Most taste driven or sweet foods are harmful for your child’s oral hygiene. However not all foods that your children like to eat are as bad for their oral health, some even help strengthen their teeth.

Here are 4 foods that your children can have for healthy teeth and gums.

1) Sugarless Gum - It helps loosen plaque and increase the number of natural antibodies in the mouth. It also keeps the gums hydrated. While too much of anything is not good, these gums are good once in a while.

2)  Crispy Vegetables  - These might not be popular with children but can be made yummy with interesting dips to go with them. Raw carrots, celery, cauliflower, and green beans are chewing foods which clean the child's teeth and gums.

3) Natural Sugar - Sugar from milk, yoghurt and cheese are rich in vitamin D, phosphate and calcium. When consumed, they raise the pH level of the mouth which lowers the level of acids, hence reducing risk of tooth decay.

4) Vitamin C Rich Foods - Fruits like oranges, kiwis, strawberries, papayas and limes help kill bacteria that can cause gingivitis. They also aid a good supply of collagen in the child's gums. However, parents need to remember that one can eat citrus foods only after thirty minutes from brushing their teeth. This is because the citric acid in these foods can weaken the tooth enamel temporarily.


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4 Foods That Strengthen Your Child’s Teeth

Tonsillitis is an affliction that plagues a fair share of people. Located at the back of your throat, tonsils are essentially two small glands, which contain white blood cells to defend your body against infection. However, on account of germ attacks, sometimes the tonsils get infected and this results in the swelling of the tonsil glands, which in turn causes sore throat and aligned maladies. 

Tonsillitis may be cured through surgical procedures. However, an isolated case of the inflammation of the tonsils need not warrant a surgery. Tonsillectomy or the surgical method of curing tonsillitis is only recommended for extreme cases of tonsillitis. Only the frequent sufferers of tonsillitis take recourse to tonsillectomy for a durable and effective solution. Surgeries are only done on those who have had at least seven bouts of strep throats within a span of a year. 

Tonsillectomies essentially involve surgical removal of the tonsils either using a scalpel or burning the tissues in the tonsils with the use of ultrasound vibrations. Usually performed under anesthesia, it is a fairly painless and a non-hazardous procedure. Tonsillectomies generally last for about an hour. However, the recovery period sometimes entail a few physical discomforts. Sore throat, difficulty in swallowing, pain in the jaws and ears are common symptoms of post tonsillectomy conditions. While there are palliative medicines available in the markets, adequate rest and proper diet speeds up the recovery. 

Tonsillectomy generally leaves no side effects and the success rate of this surgery is quite heartening. Tonsillectomy has also known to cure several other associated health problems in the likes of breathing troubles, sleep apnea, bleeding of the tonsil glands or cancerous developments in the tonsil glands. That aside, tonsillectomy is only performed on acute cases of tonsillitis and often regarded as the lender of last resort when medicines stop according any relief to the patient.

When to go for a Tonsil Surgery?

What causes hearing loss? + How to ensure you can help it as you age

The partial or total inability to hear is known as hearing impairment or hearing loss. It can be present at birth, or develop later in life.

There are a number of factors, which may cause hearing loss

1. Age - Age is the biggest factor when it comes to the loss of hearing, and you may lose the ability to hear as you age. This condition is known as presbycusis. It becomes difficult to understand high-frequency sounds like that of a child or a woman when you get old.

2. Noise - When you are exposed to loud noises for a prolonged period of time, it damages your ears. This leads to loss of hearing. 5% of the total population of the world is affected by noise (the degree of suffering varies). It may be a result of continuous exposure to loud music or a sudden exposure to a loud noise like an explosion.

3. Hereditary disorders - Hearing disorder may be inherited by the dominant or recessive genes of parents in the child. 70-80% of these cases inherit from the recessive genes, whereas 20-25% inherit hearing loss from the dominant genes.

4. Trauma - Serious injuries of the head/ears may cause loss of hearing, which may be either temporary or permanent. When damage is caused to the brain, the brain fails to process the message conveyed by the ears. So even if the ears are totally functional, a person may face the problem in hearing.

5. Perinatal problems - The ototoxic effects on the fetus due to excess intake of alcohol during pregnancy lead to hearing the loss in about 64% of the infants born to alcoholic mothers.

Also, premature birth can be associated with hearing loss due to high risk of being exposed to noise in neonatal units.

Knowing about the causes of hearing loss can lead you a step closer to preventing this disorder as you age.

Here are some useful tips that can help prevent hearing loss:

1. Be more aware - You should be diligent and aware of the situations, which may risk your hearing ability and should try to avoid such situations as much as possible. Limit your exposure to sources of hazardous noises like firearms, firecrackers, concerts and clubs.

2. Take precautionary measures - If your occupation calls for working at an environment of loud noises, use earplugs or earmuffs to block out the excessive noise. Also, make sure that you work in a place where employers take all the necessary measures of noise control under the federal or state regulations.

3. Monitor your use of gadgets - Monitor and control the use of hearing devices, and try to reduce the use of headphones/ earphones as much as possible.



What causes hearing loss? + How to ensure you can help it as you age

Seasonal changes can be very exciting for most people. Each season brings with it a new set of colours and nature takes a new turn. However, for people with seasonal allergies, a seasonal change also comes with a set of allergies. From skin rashes to wheezing to breathing difficulties, the list of symptoms can be quite long. Asthma is the most common problem, and the attacks can be quite bothersome with wheezing attacks and breathing troubles.

With advancements in the field of medicine, there is a lot of relief for asthma patients. A little understanding on how asthma attacks happen will help in understanding how to control it. Asthma is an allergic reaction caused by narrowing of the airway with thick mucus, which makes breathing difficult. During an attack, the person can have a dry cough, face shortness of breath and wheezing.

Asthma is often triggered or worsened by some factors, and being aware of these can help prevent or manage an attack:

Common allergens like pollen, mites, ticks, furs of animals, bird feathers, specific foods (peanuts, milk products, eggs, etc.) and mold spores appear during change of season.
Environmental chemicals like cigarette smoke, car fumes, dust, etc., can also trigger an attack.
Attacks of cold or flu can lead to an asthma attack.
Workout during cold weather can be problematic, but exercise can also help control asthma attacks. Lung function improves sufficiently, but an exercise regime should be drawn up for the patient based on his condition.
Stressful emotions like anger and anxiety can also lead to an attack or make it worse.
Some medications like aspirin, beta blockers, glaucoma drops can aggravate attacks of asthma.
Once you know the triggers, here are some common measures that can help prevent and relieve the wheezing.

The preventers reduce the inflammation in the airway tube and the swelling. While they do not provide immediate relief during an attack, using these in the long term helps avoid attacks. These are low-dose inhaled corticosteroids such as beclomethasone, fluticasone, and budesonide. Doctors would advise their usage even when there are no symptoms, as asthma attacks can be triggered when they are not taking these medications for a while. Newer drugs include leukotriene antagonists like montelukast and zafirlukast. Relievers are used for symptom relief and include Salbutamol (short acting) and Salmeterol/Formoterol (long acting). Peak flow meter may be useful in acute attacks, wherein the peak flow rates can be reduced.
A good strategy is to use preventers regularly and rely on relievers during an attack. The first one helps build resistance and so reduces the incidence of attacks. Reach out to a doctor if a severe attack ensues (lasts more than 3 hours).


Tips to Control Allergy Driven Wheezing this Season

Tonsillitis, in the easiest terms, is the swelling of tonsils in our throat that is accompanied by symptoms like throat pain, difficulty in swallowing/ drinking, altered voice and fever etc.

As in the case of most infections, the occurrence of tonsillitis is more common in children due to relatively lower immunity and habits that invite infections. Let's take a look at the first line of defence when you have a cranky child with swollen tonsils.

1. Make your child gargle with salty warm water: This treatment is most helpful in any infection in the mouth. Add half teaspoonful of salt to a glass of warm water and make the child gargle with the mixture as many times in the day as possible (to a maximum of 5 times). Continue till the condition prevails.

Make sure the child spits out the water and not drinks it.

2. Antibiotics: Consult the ent specialist and have the antibiotics if it is a bacterial cause as per the doctor. Take the alternative treatment prescribed in case of other causes. The entire course of medication should be completed even if the kid gets better sooner to eliminate all traces of bacteria.

3. Painkiller/numbing lozenges: Painkillers that are prescribed by the doctor can be given to ease the pain. Same is the case with lozenges but care should be taken that he/she should not have too many of these.

4. Allow him/her to take rest: It does help in a betterment of the condition!

5. Give warm (not hot) soothing food: Soup, ginger honey mixture, ginger tea can help soothe the inflamed tonsils in most cases. The condition, more often than not, gets better within 7-10 days.


Best Ways to Deal With Tonsillitis in Kids

If your child has recently been diagnosed with autism, you must be feeling baffled and disheartened. It is surely upsetting to learn that your beloved child has a serious developmental disorder. Learning about the disorder, and where to seek help may ease your confusion. Autism is a major developmental disorder, which develops in early childhood. Autism primarily impairs a child s ability to interact and communicate.
Struggles of an autistic child-

Social withdrawal
Repetitive, rigid behavior
Difficulty communicating verbally/non-verbally
Learning disability
Being autistic or artistic-
Despite such problems, most parents of autistic children hold high hopes of wanting to unleash the one talent their child must be gifted with. Most often, the gifted talent is  art . Studies show that in about 90% cases, autistic children possess artistic, creative skills. The finding may be surprising to others, as they can barely imagine how a child with the above traits could possibly be creative.

To quote a parent whose child suffers from autism since age 5-  My son Sam, who is now 15 years old, forced me into rethinking creativity years ago. He was hardly six years old, when I realized he could envision things that I would never imagine. During playtime, I once drew one or two curves on a paper and handed it back to him. I had really expected Sam to scribble a few lines or maybe a disoriented picture. But what my son came up with left me spellbound. Sam had drawn a picture of a bowlful of cereal with a spoon, and a hand pouring milk from a carton. For most people this would probably not mean anything. But being a mother to an autistic child, I was completely in awe of my son s artistic skills. 

How to nurture your child s  hidden talent ?
The question remains - Can such creative skills be discovered in your child too? The answer to the question is  Yes!  Here is how you too can help your child cope with autism-

Don t limit your child: Allow your child to express his thoughts through creativity, art, music. His/her imagination should know no bounds. Sit by their side and watch them learn using different colors, shapes, and forms.
Let your child thrive: Holding back your child will not help him/her come out of their shell. Your child may have difficulty learning things in school, or going through books. But he/she may have a knack for paintings, or solving puzzles. Encourage their artistic skills, and watch them grow.
Intent healing for your child: A couple of sessions of Intent Healing for both the parent and the child can help manage autism. Ideally, 6 sessions of this therapy for the child and 2 sessions for the mother is recommended.
More than conventional treatment, autistic children need the support and affection of their parents. By adopting the above measures, you can assure your child s speedy recovery.

How To Nurture Passion In Autistic Child?

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