Dental Health Children

Care Of Children’s Teeth

Many parents fail to recognize that is their child has a tooth, it needs brushing, even if there is only one. As soon as that first tooth becomes visible, you need to start brushing your child’s teeth or tooth twice a day.

These days it is much easier for parents, as there is a vast array of children’s toothbrushes, in every size, color and shape, as well as brightly decorated power toothbrushes designed specifically for children’s oral needs.

Likewise, there are many children’s toothpastes on the market, which are usually fruit flavored rather than the traditional mint flavor of adult toothpaste. So there is really no obstacle to good oral health from the very start.

You simply need to choose an age appropriate brush for your child and start brushing. Babies and small children do tend to swallow a lot of toothpaste, which starts to raise concerns about overdosing on fluoride.

For this reason, ensure you only use a blob of toothpaste the size of a match head for babies and toddlers, and no more than a peanut sized blob for older children.

The ideal oral health routine is twice daily brushing, but that is not always possible, as children have minds of their own and may be resistant to having their teeth brushed.

Avoid letting your child sleep with a bottle, or serve only water or unsweetened milk if he can not fall asleep without it.

If you can only muster up the courage to brush his teeth once a day therefore, make sure it is last thing at night, just before he goes to sleep.

This cuts down on plaque activity at night, you really do not want him to sleep with food and bacteria all over his teeth, as this essentially gives the plaque about twelve hours of uninterrupted time to do its damage.