Parent News November-December 2000. All about Healthy Smiles Parent News for November-December 2000 Of Interest All about Healthy Smiles by Dr. Fred Ferguson Our guest author, Dr. Fred Ferguson, is a professor of pediatric dentistry at the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Dental Medicine, and associate professor in the Department of Pediatric Medicine of University Hospital at Stony Brook. Everyone is talking about health. However, we take our oral health for granted until there is a problem.
Oral problems are the most common health problems that children and adults suffer.
Increasingly, we are finding that the health of our mouths is directly related to general health, fitness, and self-esteem. Parents have little understanding about what s really happening in their child s oral health and development. In my 25 years of education and practice, I have found that parents ask the same questions. To create a life of oral health and happiness for your child, the basics are very simple. Parents must know that only they determine whether their child will have a healthy smile, not the dentist.