Dr. Suhas

Parents are always concerned about their child's physical health, but often ignore their mental health. Along with physical well-being, your child's mental well-being is also equally important.

The following are eight tips to improve your child's mental well-being:

1. Adequate sleep- Sufficient amount of sleep is required for a child to stay mentally fit. Parents often engage their children with various classes and activities and compromise on their sleeping hours. This in turn affects the child's mental state. Therefore, as a parent, you must take care not to compromise on your child's sleeping hours.

2. Allowing them to play- Nowadays, children are overburdened with studies and other learning activities. They do not get to play quite often. But as a parent, you must take care of your child's schedule, so that he/she can have proper playtime too. Playing involves physical activity as well as creativity in certain cases. This helps to improve mental health.

3. Learning to share and care- You must take care to inculcate in your child the values of sharing and caring. These little things can also help improve your child's mental health. Learning how to share with others and caring for others will help them to stay happy.

4. Regular exercise- Encouraging your child to regularly exercise will not only help improve his/her physical health, but also mental health. It will also help them to reduce stress and maintain a good mood as well.

5. Listen to them- Parents often ignore when children are speaking on less important matters; may be about a new friend or a strict teacher in school. But as a parent, you must take out some time from your daily schedule to listen out to their stories. Listening to them attentively will make them feel important, increase their confidence and hence, improve their mental well-being.

6. Encourage them to make friends- Encouraging your child to make new friends will help them to socialize better. They will feel confident about themselves and also open up. This can boost up their mental well-being.

7. Good nourishment- Proper nourishment is not only essential for being physically fit, but also mentally fit. Good nourishment will help them stay healthy physically and increase their energy levels. This in turn will positively affect their mental health.

8. Make them feel safe- Children need to feel safe in order to stay mentally fit. Try and spend some time with them every day. As a parent, always make your children realize that you are right beside them. Listen to their problems and help them find solutions to solve those instead of scolding them. Help them to relax and feel secure to stay mentally fit.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

A sparkling set of shiny white teeth can make a smile more appealing and infectious. Yellow teeth can be extremely embarrassing and annoying. The important dental tissues that make up a tooth include the Enamel, Dentin, Cementum and the Pulp, of these four tissues, the enamel (the white and hard teeth surface) and the dentin (pale brown) are responsible for the tooth colour. Any damage to these two tissues bring about teeth discolouration and factors that contribute significantly towards yellowing of teeth include:

1. Poor dental care and hygiene like improper and inadequate flossing and brushing techniques.
2. Unhealthy lifestyle habits like chewing of tobacco and betel nuts, smoking, excessive consumption of alcohol, tea and coffee.
3. Certain medical conditions and treatments (chemotherapy and radiation) can adversely affect the dentin and the enamel. Antihistamines are also known to stain the teeth. It is best to avoid mouth washes containing Cetylpyridinium Chloride.
4. With age, the enamel tends to thin naturally exposing the dentin that lies underneath it.
5. Fluoride intake in excess can stain and discolour the teeth.
6. Yellow or discoloured teeth can also be genetic.

Yellow teeth, though frustrating, can be fully treated. The mode and success of the treatment is largely influenced by the extent of the teeth discolouration.

1. Avoid smoking and chewing of tobacco as much as possible. Control the intake of drinks and foods that can stain and discolour your teeth.
2. Practice healthy dental hygiene. Brush your teeth twice daily.
3. Some whitening agents (over-the-counter) can be effectively used to treat yellow teeth.
4. Dental veneers are a great way to deal with yellow teeth.
5. For a healthy set of white teeth with pearly shine, consult a dentist every six months.

In addition, several natural and homemade remedies can also prove to be beneficial

1. Nothing can treat yellow teeth more effectively than baking soda. Brushing your teeth with toothpaste mixed with baking soda (about a quarter teaspoon) can do the yellow teeth a world of good. Using a mixture of baking soda with vinegar (white), lemon juice and hydrogen peroxide is an effective natural remedy.
2. A healthy practice to get rid of yellow teeth is to rub the teeth with orange peel every night.
3. Rubbing the teeth with Strawberry paste will help to reduce the yellow stain greatly.
4. The benefits of lemon are known to all. Brush your teeth with a mixture of lemon juice and salt. Wash it off after a few minutes and the yellow tinge will be a thing of the past.
5. Charcoal, Apples and Basil leaves are powerful natural ingredients to treat yellow teeth.

Your smile is precious! Do not lose it to yellow teeth.

Deafness in children is not an uncommon phenomenon. 1-3 infants per 1000 birth is born with congenital sensory disorder. This is much higher when conductive hearing losses both congenital and acquired are taken into account. There is lack of awareness about the gravity of the problem among general population and medical fraternity.

• Children learn to communicate by imitating the sounds they hear. Deafness in the early months of life in a child deprives this valuable sensory input. This results in non development of speech or delayed speech/language development, social problems and academic difficulties.
• The goal of early intervention is to integrate the deaf child into the family and into society, to ensure development of normal/near normal speech and to enable the growth and development of a healthy confident child.
• Universal neonatal hearing screening (UNHS) can diagnose babies born with deafness. They can be treated with hearing aid or cochlear implant to restore their hearing and subsequently speech language therapy started as soon as possible.
• Early intervention results in normal or near normal speech and the affected child can be integrated into the society.
• The parents, doctors and the society should come together and work hand in hand for achieving this goal.