Caring for your children’s teeth

Good oral health habits introduced from an early age increases the chance of a healthy mouth in later years.  It’s a good idea to begin cleaning your baby’s gums, even before their baby teeth begin to emerge.

To do this, lay your baby on your lap with their head close to your chest, then gently rub a clean and damp piece of gauze or flannel along the gums. It’s best to do this after breakfast and after the last feed of the day.

Generally, teething occurs when your child is between the age of 6 months and 24 months old. When your child’s first teeth begin to appear, it is recommended to clean their teeth twice per day using an infant toothbrush  and a small smear of toothpaste (we recommend the oral b children’s range).

As soon as your baby begins teething it is recommended to see the dentist. Encourage frequent checkups with the dentist, as this will get them used to the equipment, smells and feeling of being in the surgery, which should reassure them that visiting the dentist really isn’t a big deal.

Children should begin to brush their own teeth by the age of four. If you have a reluctant brusher, it may be a good idea to buy a novelty tooth brush with their favourite character or one which plays a tune for example to make the experience more fun.

You can drastically reduce the risk of tooth decay in your child by limiting their intake of sweets, sugary foods and drinks. Supposedly ‘healthy’ snacks such as fruit juice and dried fruit can cause problems, as they can attack your child’s teeth. It is best to limit these kinds of foods to meal times rather than giving them as snacks throughout the day. This is because frequency rather than quantity,  it has been found, is the most damaging to children’s teeth long term.

Healthy eating and good oral health habits can be set very early in life, so from the first stages of your children’s development of teeth, it is important to introduce a good oral health routine and favour savoury flavours rather than sweet.

If you would like more information about caring for your child’s teeth please call us on 01202 673037.

No Comments

No comments yet.

Deprecated: Function comments_rss_link is deprecated since version 2.5.0! Use post_comments_feed_link() instead. in /home/sites/dentistry68.co.uk/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 5383
RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.