There are so many good reasons to keep your baby’s teeth and gums healthy.
- Chewing food for healthy nutrition.
- Speech and pronunciation
- Happy sparkling smiles
- Preventing decay in baby teeth early will ensure a positive dental experience later.
Here’s how to care for those little chompers
- Oral hygiene for baby’s
Your baby’s oral hygiene should begin just after birth. Following each feed, take a warm, moist, soft washer and wipe your baby’s gums free of any residual milk. Once your baby’s primary teeth start to erupt around the age of 6 months you may choose to switch to a baby’s soft bristle toothbrush, brushing with water only.
- When should your child start using toothpaste?
Around the age of 2, introduce a low fluoride infant’s toothpaste. Use a pea size amount under supervision. At this age your child should learn how to spit, avoid giving water to swish and spit because this might make swallowing toothpaste more likely.
- Avoid sharing saliva with your baby
The environment of an adult’s mouth is very different to that of a baby’s mouth. Sharing spoons to taste baby food, or sucking dummies to clean them, can transfer decay causing bacteria to your child. Try to keep a separate baby spoon available and wash a dropped dummy under water.
- Preventing cavities
Cavities happen when bacteria and food are left on teeth after eating and are not brushed away. Acid collects on a tooth, softening its enamel until a hole or cavity forms. Here’s how to keep cavities away!
- Start good oral hygiene habits early
- Low sugar diet
- Avoid regular snacking
- Get enough fluoride to strengthen the enamel. Ask your dental professional.
- Regular visits to the dentist.
- Visiting the dentist for the first time
Its recommended that children see a dentist by their first birthday. At this first visit, its all about familiarising your child with dental surroundings and promoting a positive experience. At this age a dental chair ride, a cuddle with some of our soft toys and a bag of goodies would be a great start. Come in and see us at Dentists @ Pymble so we can start looking after your children’s dental health.
Written by our hygienist Leah Gardiner.
