Dental hygiene is a year-round job, but October is Dental Hygiene Month, highlighting good dental care.
“We always recommend brushing twice a day anyway, always brush before the child goes to bed, or adults,” Dr. William Parker said. “If you do it twice a day, that will be helpful, whether it’s Halloween or not.”
Dr. Parker is the dentist at Covenant’s Community Outreach Dental Services.
He said make sure you get to the dentist at least once a year.
“If you get established, they would probably want you to come in twice a year, just heads off potential problems that can happen in 6 months,” Dr. Parker said. “Things can happen quickly in the mouth.”
Part of the community outreach is a mobile dental unit.
“It serves four sites in the area of Lubbock, there’s one site here in Lubbock and we have three in the surrounding cities, including Levelland, Littlefield, and Lamesa,” Dr. Parker said. More information about the mobile dental unit can be found here, on the Covenant website.
“It’s just a way that we can get out there and help the community and be a true outreach community, which is part of our name,” Dr. Parker said.
Dr. Parker said to make sure you’re being proactive when it comes to any problems with your teeth.
“Don’t let it go too long if you notice any kind of swelling, any redness, any excessive bleeding, then yes you need to take care of it, because the sooner it’s taken care of, the sooner it can be corrected possibly without a lot of intervention,” Dr. Parker said.
With Halloween not too far away, Dr. Parker also had some advice for parents.
“The main thing is for parents to be mindful they need to let the kids have it moderation, watch out for the sticky candies, they’re the worst,” Dr. Parker said. “And just make sure that the kids actually do get their teeth cleaned and don’t let them go to bed without having done that because that’s when all the problems will occur, at night, when they’re sleeping.”