Hi everyone!
Dr Shervin here from Artistic Dental Studio. I am so pumped today because I want to cover a very useful topic for you. I want to show you 5 pointers on how you can make sure you can take good care of your baby’s teeth, so they can enjoy a healthy and beautiful smile for the rest of their lives.
let’s jump in straight away:
The first one is a myth: people usually think baby teeth are not important and will be replaced by permanent ones, so there is no point worrying about them and if they make problems, they could be easily taken out. That is completely wrong! Baby teeth hold up the space for their permanent successors, so they will have enough space to grow. If lost prematurely, chances are the permanent ones get crooked down the track.
The second one is cleaning them: baby teeth normally begin to come through around six months of age, and this is when cleaning should start. A wet piece of gauze is all needed to clean them for the first six months, but after that around one year of age, baby molar teeth begin to grow, and this is when brushing should commence. You need to assist your child while brushing. Always use baby toothpastes (just a pea size) and try to make it as fun as possible. After completion of eruption of baby teeth around two and half years, you should begin assisted flossing gradually.
The third pointer is to begin taking the child to a dentist when they are two and half years old. Besides providing a solid baseline for their dental health, they get used to the dentist and it prevents future anxiety and fear which could linger on for their whole lives. Your dentist is trained on how to make your baby’s experience as pleasant as possible.
Pointer #4: Try to stop nocturnal (nightly) feeding after six months. It is very important and of course hard to do. Also discontinue pacifiers and thumb sucking after the age of four. The first (nocturnal feeding) could cause rampant tooth decay and the second and third would cause unwanted changes to the alignment of teeth and form of jaws.
Finally, there is some dietary advice: limit the frequency of sweets and fizzy drinks as much as you can. Besides helping your child get a better body shape in the future, it could help improve oral health by reducing the incidence of tooth decay drastically.
I hope this was quite helpful for you guys. Please check the other topics in the same place (news section) of our website.
Thanks for your attention!
Enjoy the rest of your day!
