Why Dental Health is
Important for your Little One
I think it’s really important to discuss the importance of keeping
a baby’s teeth healthy. After all having healthy teeth is the foundation of
being able to eat and obtain the nutrients we need.
A week ago my little guy turned 1 so he is now officially a
toddler! Now that he is 1 I felt that it
was important to make his first dentist appointment to in order to introduce
him to the dental checkup routine. I
have been using the advice of my pediatrician and other references in order to
care for my baby’s teeth and I have summarized it below for you.
It’s important that you begin dental care early on even if
teeth have not yet emerged. You should
start by wiping the baby’s gums with a wash cloth a few times a day. Once teeth emerge you should use baby tooth
brushes to being brushing the teeth. I
found that the baby tooth brush was only slightly effective and I also made
sure to use a washcloth to rub it against the baby’s teeth. There are special baby tooth pastes that you
can use but be sure to avoid toothpastes with fluoride for the first 2 years as
babies will swallow the toothpaste. You’ll
want to check with your pediatrician and dentist about their recommendations
for fluoride for your baby but most babies do not need supplementation as most
drinking water contains adequate amounts of fluoride (check your local water
department for levels). See below for
daily recommendations for fluoride. If
you have a well or suspect you have low levels of fluoride you need to discuss
this with your doctor.
Here are some tips to
keep teeth healthy:
1. Kids should see begin seeing a dentist between 6-12
months of age
2. Do not allow your child to fall asleep with a bottle in
the mouth as the liquid can pool in the mouth and promote plaque buildup
3. Avoid putting juices and sugared drinks in bottles and
instead use cups
4. Being cleaning baby’s gums and teeth with washcloth and
toothbrush
Hi Angelene, I love that your blog is so personal to your experience with your 1-year-old. Congratulations on his 1st birthday! I found your tips to be very helpful, and it's interesting that baby toothpastes don't contain fluoride - I didn't know that! - Jessie Shafer
ReplyDeleteAngelene, I like that you provided simple but very important tips for keeping young children's teeth healthy. I had never thought about wiping the gums before the teeth coming in but is makes perfect sense. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete