In the early teenage years your child may well need a refresher course on brushing and flossing techniques. Because of all this, routine visits to our office are more important than ever. Also, teenagers will often take advice to heart much more readily from a health professional than from a parent. But as a parent, you must practise what you preach, and by example maintain good oral care habits. Braces, oral piercing, and mouthguards can also cause conflict.
Many teens reject braces.
Here again, we can be of help. Oral piercing, to be blunt, is a really terrible idea. Piercing of the tongue, lips, cheek, or other oral sites carries serious risk of infection. Other effects can be bone exposure from rubbing contact, nerve damage, prolonged or permanent drooling, altered speech, even toxic shock or stroke. If you r teen can't live without it, the one thing you must ensure is that the piercing is done under scrupulously clean circumstances, and maintained that way as well.