IS IT LIKE PULLING TEETH JUST TO GET YOUR KIDS TO BRUSH EACH DAY? IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS DR. BENJAMIN ROSENBERG SEES THOUSANDS OF AREA KIDS FOR CAVITIES EACH YEAR. DR. ROSENBERG IS ONE OF FEW AREA DENTISTS WHO JUST TREAT CHILDREN. TONIGHT IN OUR FAMILY FIRST SEGMENT, WE SHOW YOU HOW HE HAS DEDICATED HIS CAREER TO TEACHING CHILDREN THE IMPORTANCE OF DENTAL HEALTH. "I'll see 8 or 10 new patients a day with cavities so it's significantly bad to me." MULTIPLY THAT TIMES 365 AND THAT'S MORE THAN THREE THOUSAND KIDS EACH YEAR THAT PEDIATRIC DENTIST DR. BENJAMIN ROSENBERG TREATS. AND FOR A PROBLEM HE SAYS CAN BE EASILY PREVENTED. "How do you not have cavities? You have to have three things…teeth, no teeth no cavities, plaque and we ask you brush that off your teeth and sugar, the more often you put sugar in your mouth the more cavities." DR. ROSENBERG SAYS TEACHING CHILDREN THE IMPORTANCE OF DENTAL HEALTH NEEDS TO BE A TOP PRIORITY FOR PARENTS. "They need to control the sugar intake and juice is one of the worst." "Dental health is very important we had a child in Chicago die just in the last year because of a lack of dental care." THAT'S WHY DR. ROSENBERG IS DEDICATED TO HELPING PATIENTS LIKE NASHINA BLALOCK UNDERSTAND JUST HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO BRUSH. "If you don't have your teeth you have to get fake teeth and then you have to yank em out all the time which I don't think would be that fun." AND WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE, NASHINA IS ALSO HELPING HER SIBLINGS MAINTAIN A HEALTHY SMILE. "I have to help my youngest brother because he just likes to eat the toothpaste so he has a lot of caps." DR. ROSENBERG SAYS CHILDREN ARE SUCH A JOY TO WORK WITH AND THAT'S WHY HE'S HAD HIS JOPLIN PRACTICE FOR 41 YEARS. BUT HE SAYS IT CAN ALSO BE QUITE CHALLENGING. "I do an awful lot of work with kids completely asleep. We spend a fair amount at the hospital where they put them completely out." AND THEN THERE ARE THE PATIENTS WHO AREN'T AS EXCITED TO SEE HIM AS HE IS TO SEE THEM. "I had one this morning that wouldn't open their mouth and left." WHILE OTHERS HAVE NO PROBLEM OPENING UP. "Well kids will tell you all their parents personal life if you care to listen to it, they're eager to talk and tell, children are eager to be heard." DR. ROSENBERG SAYS ONE OF THE WORST THINGS YOU CAN DO AS A PARENT IS PUT A CHILD TO BED AT NIGHT WITH A BOTTLE. HE RECOMMENDS BEGINNING A BRUSHING ROUTINE WITH YOUR CHILD AS SOON AS THEY START GETTING TEETH. AND HAVE THEM BRUSH AFTER EVERY MEAL. IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA FOR OUR FAMILY FIRST SEGMENT, PLEASE E-MAIL THEM TO ME…JUST LOG ONTO FOURSTATES HOME PAGE DOT COM.