As parents, we sometimes spend a lot of money in making our homes beautiful. Many of these designs do not put into consideration the safety of the children. Children are very active, many of whom have very short attention span and so can’t sit still in a place for too long. They run around the house at every given opportunity and are prone to having domestic accidents. One of such domestic accidents is slipping from a wet tiled floor while running around the house. This fall may lead to the child hitting his/her mouth on objects around or on the hard floor. This then leads to the child having a cut on the lip or injury to the tooth/teeth ranging from a small part of the tooth chipping off to a large portion of the tooth breaking off which can ultimately lead to death of the tooth; sometimes the whole tooth may fall off. Sometimes, there might be no visible evidence of the injury to the tooth until years later when the tooth changes its colour and becomes darker than the adjacent ones.
There should be a degree of sacrifice in making the home a safe place for the children to play. Below are some recommendations to ensure a safe environment for your children.
1. Consider placing carpets instead of slippery tiles on the floors: this is because water may pour on tiles which may make the unsuspecting child slip/fall. Even parents are not exempted from falling from wet floors.
2. Get rid of glass stools: these glass stools are dangerous because they can cause great harm when they fall and break.
3. Remove cabinets and any furniture which may cause obstruction to movement.
4. Ensure there are no toys on the staircase which could make them fall off the staircase.
5. Keep an eye on your children while they play and encourage them not to push one another.
Finally, in case of a domestic accident leading to injury to the lips, tongue or teeth, please see the dentist immediately or visit the emergency unit.
Photo credit: HGTV