Oral Hygiene From the Start – Caring For Your Baby or Toddler’s Teeth
Kingston Beach Dental recommends the first dental visit between 12 months and 2 years old when the first teeth start coming through. This is a great opportunity to get advice from our Oral Health Therapists as well as creating a positive dental experience and routine for your child. We have overhead TV screens and your child can choose their favourite program to watch. The goodie bags we give out also make it a fun and rewarding. The aim of the first visit is to make a new experience fun, to create familiarity and to establish a positive attitude. Avoid saying things like “it won’t be scary” before they come. Children have no concept of what a dental visit is like unless they hear it from adults who may impose their own fears on their children.
Establishing good brushing routines early helps create good oral hygiene practices for life. By the age of about 3 your child has a full set of baby teeth. Although these teeth will eventually fall out, it is important to keep them healthy until the adult teeth come through. Decay can occur once the teeth are in the mouth. It is really important to start cleaning the gums before the baby teeth appear because bacteria still grows in the mouth that can contribute to decay. This can be done with a clean cloth and water, twice a day. From 18 months start using a children’s fluoride toothpaste until about age 6. Spit – don’t rinse the toothpaste to keep the fluoride on the teeth to help protect them further. If you notice any chalky white areas or brown/black spots on your child’s teeth that you cannot clean off it is important to contact a dental professional for advice.
Even if your child is uncooperative, it is important to persevere with cleaning their teeth the best that you can and to try and make it enjoyable. Brushing to their favourite song and using a timer can be helpful to make it a game. Night time brushing is perhaps the most important time of the day to ensure clean teeth to prevent plaque growing overnight. If the teeth aren’t cleaned before sleeping, the bacteria in the mouth produce acid, resulting in decay. It is really important to avoid sweet things in night time bottles for this reason.
Make oral hygiene in your children’s teeth a priority! Check out some of these links for further information or make an appointment with us today to see our oral health therapists 😊
https://www.ada.org.au/Your-Dental-Health/Children-0-11
https://www.colgate.com.au/oral-health/life-stages/infant-oral-care
https://www.colgate.com.au/oral-health/life-stages/childrens-oral-care