How to take care of teeth for young children

Author: Peter Berry
Date Of Creation: 13 February 2021
Update Date: 26 June 2024
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Why do We Brush Our Teeth? | Health for Kids | SciShow Kids
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Content

Although all baby teeth will eventually be replaced with other teeth, caring for the baby's teeth is always a necessity. This ensures the child's teeth are healthy until they are replaced with permanent teeth. The correct oral care will also help children form a habit of oral hygiene when growing up.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Take care of a child's mouth before and during teething

  1. Check if your water source is fluoridated. Fluoride is beneficial for a child's teeth even before they grow. In general, fluoride helps to strengthen tooth enamel. Most cities add fluoride to domestic water sources. If your water supply contains fluoride, then you are in luck and need nothing extra. However, if your water supply is not fluoridated, talk to your doctor or dentist about adding fluoride to your baby's diet.
    • To find out if drinking water contains fluoride, you can check it out on the municipal government website or call directly to ask them.
    • If you live in a remote area and use well water for domestic use, the water will probably not be fluoridated unless you install a treatment system. However, most water sources have some degree of naturally occurring fluoride, so you should have your well water tested to determine the amount of fluoride in the water.

  2. Clean the baby's gums daily. Before your baby's first tooth pops up and during teething, you should use a clean, damp cloth to clean your baby's gums daily. Wrap the cloth around your index finger and carefully wipe the baby's gums.
    • You can also use a small, soft baby toothbrush for good hygiene. Don't use toothpaste, just water is enough.

  3. Use a baby toothbrush to brush your child's teeth every day. When your baby's first baby tooth comes in, you can start brushing your baby's teeth once a day. This stage only requires a very small amount of toothpaste (about a grain of rice) and water.
    • Use an infant or young child's fluoride toothpaste. Look for a fluoride toothpaste with the American Dental Association (ADA) or the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) stamp on the packaging.
    • Continue to wipe the gums between the teeth that are growing for your baby.

  4. Floss your child's teeth. Once your baby's teeth have grown close together, you can begin to floss your baby's teeth regularly.
  5. Learn child brushing techniques in the best way. One of the easiest ways to brush your baby's teeth is to sit on your lap, their face facing forward. This will rest your baby's head against your chest. You and your child will be in a position like you are brushing your own teeth, so the job will be much easier.
    • Brush your child's teeth in small circles.
    • When your baby is older and can no longer sit on your lap, you can let your baby stand in front of you (stand in a chair if needed). Your child should raise their head a little so that you can see all of their teeth.
  6. Remove the bottle from the baby's mouth while the baby is asleep. While it may be convenient, you should not put your baby to bed with a bottle. The sugar in milk or juice can harm a child's enamel.
    • This condition is also known as mouth to drink bottle.
    • A clear sign of the "bottle-feeding mouth" is that the baby's front teeth have holes in holes or discoloration.
    • In the case of a heavy "bottle mouth", the child may have to extract the baby teeth before the teeth fall out naturally.
    • In general, it's best not to bottle-feed your baby with juice, and you should also limit the amount of juice your baby consumes.
  7. Take your baby to the dentist when the first tooth pops up. In general, you can wait until your baby is one year old or when the first tooth comes in before taking him to the dentist, whichever comes first. Your doctor will advise you on the care and protection of your child's teeth to ensure your baby has permanently strong teeth. advertisement

Method 2 of 3: Keep baby's teeth healthy for a lifetime

  1. Soothe your baby's painful gums while they are teething. Most babies will have their first tooth at about 6 months of age (although there are many very large differences in the age of teething). Usually babies will grow two lower premolars first, followed by two upper premolars. When teething, children will drool, want to bite hard objects, uncomfortable or painful gums. There are a few things you can do to help ease your child's discomfort:
    • Use your fingers to rub and press on the baby's gums. Pressing can provide short-term pain relief. Make sure to wash your hands well before rubbing and pressing them.
    • The cold sometimes also helps relieve teething pain. You can give your child something cool to bite or suck on to relieve the pain. Cooled teething towels, spoon, or mouth rings are best. Make sure items are only cool, not frozen.
    • Try having your baby chew foods that are relatively hard and cool during teething. A cool cucumber or carrot works very well. You should put food in a mesh bag designed for this purpose, or watch the baby so that the food does not become a choking hazard.
    • Depending on how much pain your baby has when teething, you can try giving it to your baby. Children's acetaminophen and ibuprofen can help relieve pain. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you are unsure about how much to take your baby. Ibuprofen is only used for children over 6 months old.
  2. Start brushing your baby's teeth twice a day. Once your baby's baby teeth are fully grown, you can switch to brushing your baby's teeth twice a day. During the time that your child does not know how to spit out toothpaste on his own, you should only use a grain of rice toothpaste.
  3. Stop sucking when your permanent teeth start to grow. Sucking on fingers, nipples or other objects is perfectly natural for young children. However, sucking a finger after a permanent tooth starts to erupt can cause permanent damage to mouth development, tooth arrangement and shape of the palate.
    • Talking about the long-term damage to teeth and teeth, nipples are no better than fingers.
    • It's best to encourage your child to stop sucking their fingers (or nipples) before their permanent teeth erupt. One way to do this is to praise your child for not sucking their fingers. You can also give your child something like a stuffed animal or a blanket to play with when he is bored or wants to suck on his fingers or a pacifier.
    • Sucking on the finger is often caused by a feeling of insecurity or discomfort. So one of the best ways for your child to stop sucking fingers is to address the underlying cause. If your child feels uncomfortable or uncomfortable, address the cause first, and the sucking will stop when he feels better and more comfortable.
    • If you're having trouble getting your child to stop sucking fingers, you can consult your dentist for other options, even medications, if they are effective.
  4. Teach your child to pull out toothpaste when they are starting to be a toddler. When your baby is about two years old, you can start teaching them this. Encourage your child to spit out the toothpaste instead of swallowing it.
    • Although it is easier for children to spit the cream out when using water, the feeling of water in the mouth actually makes them want to swallow. Moreover, rinsing with water after brushing also makes fluoride which is beneficial for teeth to wash away.
  5. Set a good example for good oral hygiene by having your child watch you brush your teeth. Children learn a lot from observing their parents' actions. To teach your child that brushing and flossing are good habits to learn, allow them to watch you do them. You can even have your child imitate when you brush and floss your teeth.
  6. Increase the amount of toothpaste. Once your child knows how to pull the toothpaste out, you can increase the amount of toothpaste to the size of a pea, usually when your child is about three years old.
  7. Supervise when children brush their teeth. Even if your child is old enough to brush his / her own teeth, you should continue to supervise at least until the baby is six years old. The main reason is to make sure the child doesn't overuse or swallow toothpaste. advertisement

Method 3 of 3: Give your child proper food to prevent tooth decay

  1. Breastfeeding up to six months of age. Breast milk is the best food for babies. Even after starting solids at around 6 months of age, babies can continue to breastfeed or drink formula. As long as you clean your baby's teeth and gums after a feed, breast milk won't have any negative effects on your baby's oral health.
  2. Eat a healthy, balanced diet. When you breastfeed, everything you eat can affect your baby. Therefore, friend Eat a healthy and balanced diet for both mother and baby to be healthy.
    • Calcium is an essential mineral for teeth and bone development. So you need to make sure you get enough calcium for both you and your baby while you are breastfeeding.
  3. Start to offer solids when your baby is six months old. Babies need to start solid foods around six months of age. Ideally, baby solid foods are fortified with iron and with no added sugar.
    • Mixed cereals with milk will help reduce the impact of sugar on children's teeth.
    • You should not offer sugary cereal snacks between meals. Long-term exposure to sugar is more harmful than just eating it sweet for a while.
  4. Avoid cow's milk until your baby is one year old. To prevent iron deficiency anemia, cow's milk is not recommended, at least until the baby is one year old. If you want to feed your baby mixed cereal, you should use breastmilk or infant formula, not cow's milk. When your baby is one to two years old, you can start offering cow's milk, but be limited to 700 ml per day.
  5. Switch from a bottle to a practice cup when your baby is six months old. To make sure the baby doesn't get the condition mouth to drink bottleYou can switch your baby from bottle to cup at six months of age. Bottle-feeding can actually damage a baby's mouth, so switching to a safe drinking cup is a good idea.
  6. Reduce your child's sugar intake. Sugar can cause tooth decay in both adults and children. If your baby eats sweet every day, he or she is at higher risk of tooth decay. Lower your child's sugar intake - including sugary drinks - to prevent any dental intervention.
    • Tooth decay and damage can also be caused by acidic drinks, such as juices.
    • Primarily give babies milk and water instead of soft drinks or juices.
    • Check the amount of sugar in baby foods and choose the one with the least amount of sugar.
    • Dilute the juice by adding 10 times more water than the juice.
    • Use objects like stickers, etc. as a reward for your child instead of candy.
    • If your baby needs medication, ask your doctor to prescribe a sugar-free medicine.
  7. Be wary of juices. Juices contain a lot of sugar, so babies should not drink more than 120-180 ml of juice per day. Children should only drink juice during the day, not drink before bed.
    • You should offer mashed fruit or whole fruit prepared at home. Unfortunately, many baby fruit purees have added sugar. If you can't prepare fruit for your child yourself, look for brands that have little or no sugar.
    • When giving juices to your baby, you need to let your baby drink it all in a short time. The longer they are in contact with the sugar, the stronger their teeth will be impacted.
    • The juice advice also applies to soft drinks and any drinks containing sugar (eg Kool-Aid).
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Advice

  • For more information on the average time when a child's teeth start to appear (or sprout), see the chart on the following website - http://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/az-topics / e / eruption-charts.
  • For detailed information on dental care for children, see the following PDF on the website of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry - http://www.aapd.org/assets/1/7 /FastFacts.pdf.
  • Newborn babies do not have bacteria that cause tooth decay. But parents or other children can pass dangerous bacteria to their babies by sharing spoons, bottles or pacifiers.
  • Symptoms that indicate a teething baby may include: drooling, biting hands or other objects, loss of appetite, swelling of the gums, fussy crying or irritability.