Briarfield Dental - January /February 2019

Gaming With Your Kids

Why You Should Pick up That Controller

Video games are present in an increasing number of American households. The Entertainment Software Association found that in 2018, 70 percent of parents reported that games were a positive activity in their children’s lives, and 67 percent even play alongside their child at least once a week. Some of you may already be regularly gaming with your kids, but for the rest of you, here are some things to keep in mind.

inexhaustible list of games to choose from, and some are more child- friendly than others. At the very least, research the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s (ESRB) rating of a game to make sure its content is age-appropriate.

Why Gaming Together Matters

When choosing a game, it’s a good idea to keep your child’s interests in mind. Do they enjoy creating things? Games like “Minecraft,” “Super Mario Maker,” and “Scribblenauts Remix” can act as a great sandbox for you and your child’s imaginations to run wild. Does your child love to solve puzzles? “Snail Bob 2,” “Snipperclips,” and “Portal 2” will have you and your child thinking outside the box for hours. Want to engage in a little friendly competition? “Mario Kart,” “FIFA,” and “Bam Fu” are all excellent choices.

Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and UC Berkeley have shown that video games can have many positive effects on a child, from encouraging critical thinking and social skills to imparting the value of perseverance. Beyond these life skills, video games can also be a way for you to better connect with your child. As game designer and New York Times bestselling author Jane McGonigal, Ph.D., writes, “Games make it easy to build stronger social bonds with our friends and family. Studies show that we like and trust someone better after we play a game with them— even if they beat us.”

Going Beyond Screen Time

Whether you pick up a controller yourself or just watch your children play games, the most supportive thing you can do as a parent is reinforce the skills they are learning. Understanding that the same creativity and determination that gets them to the end of a level can be applied in the real world is be a powerful thing for a child’s development.

Find the Right Game

Finding the right game to play with your child can be a challenge. Regardless of what platform your child plays on, there’s a nearly

HealthyStart Today, 9 out of 10 children suffer from one or more symptoms related to sleep disordered breathing. Surprisingly, tooth correction is an essential part of maintaining an open airway for life. If your child suffers from snoring, restless sleep, mouth breathing, delayed growth, world breathe better and get deeper rest at night. HealthyStart’s appliances are BPA-, silicone-, and latex-free,

and it’s FDA approved. The best part about HealthyStart is that it’s pain-free, safe, and noninvasive.

allergies, daytime sleepiness, dark circles under the eyes, bed wetting, inability to concentrate, hyperactivity, or difficulty in school, you may want to consider the HealthyStart system. HealthyStart helps your child avoid problems that come with poor sleep through a series of oral appliances. In addition to promoting proper nasal breathing, HealthyStart also helps the growth and alignment of the lower jaw and ensures that permanent teeth have enough room to come in straight.

and expands your child’s arches to prepare for incoming adult teeth. This phase of treatment is extremely important because, as your child’s permanent teeth come in, HealthyStart works to ensure that the teeth erupt into proper alignment, often times eliminating or reducing the time needed for orthodontics. If you have noticed that your child has problems sleeping or has tooth alignment issues and are looking for a noninvasive and safe treatment, ask us about HealthyStart today by calling 419- 866-6985 ! We’ll get your child sleeping soundly again in no time!

Depending on the age of your child, we use a series of appliances. The first appliance, if needed, is a habit-corrector that eliminates current oral habits like thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, and speech problems. Your child wears the habit-corrector at night for one to five months during sleep. During the next phase, your child receives a series of appliances that are customized to their mouth. The appliances help the incoming teeth find their proper places, corrects jaw relations,

HealthyStart is based on 50 years of research and has helped 3 million children all over the

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