Tonsil stones are an annoying infection. With their discomforting symptoms and difficult removal, they can make your day much more stressful than it needs to be. And the same goes for your children.
Depending on their age, the feeling of having something at the back of their throat can be pretty distracting. They’ll likely be left there poking around their mouth trying to find a solution (to no avail) and taking their attention away from their school work.
Which can result in poorer test scores and grades – and frustration on the part of you, the parent.
So to save you all this hassle, I’ve outlined some of the main causes of tonsil stones in this article. Once you’re aware of them you’ll be much better equipped to handle the infection and prevent your child from ever getting it.
Poor Oral Hygiene
This is the root cause of almost all oral infections and it is no different for tonsil stones. If your kid isn’t taking good care of their oral health then they are going to experience problems.
In the case for tonsil stones, old food debris and bad bacteria can make their way into the crypts found around your tonsils and can remain there for long periods of time. This is how the infection develops and is why it’s so important for your child sticks to a good oral hygiene routine.
I know this is a difficult thing to do but it just needs to be done to prevent tonsil stones. You could maybe incorporate incentives to encourage your daughter/son to brush and floss their teeth properly each day.
This could be giving them a tasty snack (not too high in sugar, we are trying to promote better oral health after all), giving them more time to watch TV each day or letting them go to bed later. It can be anything really as long as it pushes them to maintain better oral hygiene.
Not Drinking Enough Water
When you don’t drink enough water, your levels of salvia drop. And when this happens your chances of catching an infection increase.
Many people don’t know this but as well as lubricating your food, your salvia is also responsible for keeping bacteria, fungi, and other harmful organisms at bay in your mouth. This is most likely why you don’t experience a recurring infection each and every day.
Therefore, you need to make sure you get your child drinking enough each and every day. Again, I understand this will be difficult so it could help to begin incorporating slightly healthier drinks into their diet to make this transition easier.
Fruits juices tend to have a higher amount of water in them than sodas and cola drinks so they’re probably a good place to start.
Having a Poor Diet
Due to the lack of nutritional value in junk food, they are probably the worst thing to feed your child when trying to prevent oral infection. Not only does this food not fuel their immune system, it also incorporates newer, more harmful bacteria into their mouth just ready to cause infection.
Now I know how good all junk food tastes (I love a KFC myself), and I’d imagine your child do too, but you just have to limit how much they’re eating it. If you don’t then you’re opening them up to a whole range of different health problems, not just tonsil stones.
So like trying to get them to drink more water, you need to incorporate healthier meals into their diet. Now that may sound difficult but I think it’s pretty easy – it’s definitely easier than doing those above.
With Facebook, YouTube and Google, it shouldn’t be difficult to find healthier meals that you and your children will enjoy. It just might take some experimentation to find the perfect ones.
Final Words
So now that you know what causes tonsil stones, you will be more than prepared to prevent your child from getting them. It may take a little hard work at first but once you get through it, you’ll realize it was more than worth it.
