Screen Times and SmartPhones for Children – Best Practices – IC061

Why should Dentists be talking about screen time with parents? Are smartphones even safe for children? What is the right age to give a child their first phone? Laura Spells and Arabella Skinner join Jaz in this thought-provoking episode to tackle one of today’s biggest parenting challenges: smartphones and social media in young hands. Together they explore the impact of early phone use on children’s health, development, and mental wellbeing—and why healthcare professionals should be paying close attention. https://youtu.be/7RUJZqtEr18 Watch IC061 on YouTube  Protrusive Dental Pearl: Live by your values—not your profession, spouse, or children. Don’t sacrifice for them; choose what aligns with you, so love never turns into resentment. Need to Read it? Check out the Full Episode Transcript below! Key Takeaways Screen time is a significant public health concern. Mental health issues are rising due to social media exposure. Early childhood screen time has long-term effects. Parents need clear guidance on screen time limits. Community support is essential for children's well-being. Health professionals must ask about screen time in assessments. Regulatory changes are needed for safer screen use. The impact of social media on self-esteem is profound. Misinformation about health trends can lead to dangerous practices among youth. Dentists play a crucial role in educating patients about safe health practices. Parents should engage in conversations about social media with their children. Creating a family digital plan can help manage screen time effectively. Collaboration among health professionals needs to raise awareness about the dangers of unregulated products. Empowering parents with knowledge is essential for effective parenting in the digital age. Role modeling healthy behaviors is important for parents. Highlights of this episode: 00:00  TEASER 01:18  INTRO 03:13 PROTRUSIVE DENTAL PEARL 04:54 Introducing Our Guests: Arabella and Laura Spells 09:24 Statistics and Scale of the Problem 18:09 Early Years and Screen Time 22:27 Safer Alternatives and Regulation 27:08 MIDROLL 30:29 Safer Alternatives and Regulation 30:53 Ideal Guidelines for Screen Usage 34:01 The Role of Dentists in Addressing Social Media Issues 44:59 Parental Guidance and Digital Plans 53:53 Final Thoughts and Resources 56:06 OUTRO ✅ Action Steps 🔹Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey for habits that support balanced parenting and leadership.🔹 Kindred Squared School Readiness Survey on how early screen use impacts child development. 🔹 Follow Health Professionals for Safer Screens for practical tips to share with families, and on their Instagram for bite-sized advice🔹 Support the Smartphone-Free Childhood Campaign to delay smartphone use in children. If this episode gave you new insights, you’ll definitely benefit from Parenthood and Dentistry (Even if You’re Not a Parent!) – IC025 #InterferenceCast #BeyondDentistry #Communication This episode is eligible for 0.75 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance.  This episode meets GDC Outcomes A and B. AGD Subject Code: 550 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT AND HUMAN RELATIONS Aim: To provide dental professionals with an understanding of the health risks of early smartphone and social media use in children, and how dentists can play a role in safeguarding and guiding families toward safer digital habits. Dentists will be able to - Recognize the health and developmental impacts of early and excessive screen use. Identify how social media contributes to anxiety, body image concerns, and misinformation (including dental-related fads). Discuss practical strategies that families can use to create healthier digital habits. Click below for full episode transcript: Teaser: We have to address the issue in early years because if you've had your child sitting on a screen from day one, by the time they get to eight or nine and they want a smartphone, which is the ubiquity in their pocket, it's really hard to explain to them why they can't have it. Teaser:What is the right age for a smartphone? Yeah. We would say that smartphones with full internet connectivity and everything involved and social media, it's- This smartphone usage has become almost the norm for every teenager across the country. And of course what a smartphone does is allow people 24 hours to access to the internet, to social media, to all the unfettered things that we need to, they can see. If you think about whole child health, and that's how we should be approaching health for our children. Obesity's gone up. There's huge linkages between the seditary behavior of being on screens, but not just the seditary behavior. Because actually if you are sitting on social media or you're sitting on gaming, you are targeted by fast food manufacturers in a way, way more than you would be on TV. You could have a big argument about the quality of what children are doing on screens when they're 15, 16. Or they learning to make music. Are they revising and doing things, but for a two, three, 4-year-old, there are no benefits of being exposed.  Jaz's Introduction:What a time to be alive as a parent. Back when I was a kid, I would go and play football for hours. My parents, they kind of knew where I was, but there was no way to reach me. And the other thing I remember is that when I was a kid, I wanna go to cinema. And then so you agree with your friends that, look, I'm gonna see you at 11:00 AM, at the cinema on Saturday. And there was none of this like texting and WhatsApp and Snapchat and that kind of stuff, and you would just show up at 11:00 AM on Saturday, and that's a simple life that we lived. But now with smart phones and social media, I really worry for our children, which is why I brought some experts on to discuss phone use in children and best practices for screen time and smartphones. And so you are thinking Jaz, what has this got to do with dentistry? Well, we have an active role to play as healthcare professionals. Early smartphone usage and social media is absolutely detrimental to the health of our children. And as healthcare professionals, we have a duty to know about this and to spread the good word. And many of you, like me, are parents, and we need to hear this stuff. We need training. We need guidance, and that's exactly what we bring you today. You're gonna love our guest, Arabella and Laura. But I wanna say thank you to Protrusive community member, Lydia, Dr. Lydia Roulston. It's been so nice to chat to you on the app, give each other book recommendations, and you are part of this very organization that's helping schools and communities to realize the dangers of having smartphones in young hands. Dental Pearl:I'm so grateful that you're part of our nice and geeky community. Now, this is an Interference Cast, which is like the nonclinical arm of the podcast, and I usually reserve my Protrusive Pearls for the actual PDP episodes. And as many of you know, I actually struggle when it comes time. I freeze up when it comes time to give a pearl, 'cause I've given like 300 in the past. I'm kind of running out of nuggets. Like obviously there's an endless amount of dental nuggets and gems out there, but to suddenly pull one out can be a bit tricky. But you know what? I've got one from the heart. So even though it's an icy, I still want to give a pearl. And it's like from the heart as a parent. In the book, I think it was Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. It talks about being value centered and not being like a profession centered, like your entire world shouldn't be about being a dentist. Your number plate shouldn't be dentist. You shouldn't introduce yourself to, hey, I'm Jaz, I'm a dentist. Like, your identity should not be your profession. The world also shouldn't revolve around your spouse, nor should your world revolve around your children. Your world should revolve around your values. And how I'm linking it even more to this theme of parenthood is that, I have a 6-year-old and we go through all the tantrums and behavior issues that all parents do. It's very normal. And I love talking about being a parent to my patients. I learn a lot from my patients. I do have an elderly patient base, and so I do get to benefit from their wisdom. And one thing I've come to conclude over time is that if you want to do something for your children, don't do it for them. For example, if you're making career sacrifices, make sure you are clear that you're not doing it for them. Or if you are not going to the gym because you can't fit in because everything you're doing, you're prioritizing your children and you're doing it for them, then I'm gonna suggest you're doing it for the wrong reasons. Don't do it for them, do it for yourself. Whatever you want to do for your children, do it because you want to do it. Because when the messy times come in, any family dynamic and they start answering back and you have an argument and it gets be heated, you don't wanna be like, oh, that little s*** can't believe how much I sacrifice for my son or daughter, and that kind of stuff. You don't wanna feel like that. They don't owe you anything. Any sacrifice you do, anything you do, do it because you wanted to do it. Not for them. I hope that made sense. It just came from the heart, was totally unscripted, spontaneous, and for those on Protrusive Guidance particularly, I wanna know what you felt about that. Anyway, hope you enjoy the main interview. I catch you in the outro. Main Episode:Laura and Arabella, welcome to the Protrusive Dental Podcast. I'm so, as a father of two boys, i'm so excited. I read books like Anxious Generation and I follow so much, and I wanna thank Lydia for connecting us. There's so much I wanna speak to you about,