It is never too early to establish a good oral care routine, gently wiping your baby’s gums with a clean washcloth or damp gauze. Once their first tooth comes through, you can begin to carefully clean it using a baby toothbrush.
Start Dental Care Early
At this time, it is a good idea to schedule a dental visit to Tsawwassen Place Dental, as our dentists Dr. Sarah Harland or Dr. Tom Greene can advise you on how much toothpaste to use and which toothpaste is best for such a young child. You only need a tiny smear because at this age your child doesn’t have the ability to spit out excess toothpaste. By age 2 or 3, you can begin using a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste, teaching your child how to spit out any excess paste.
The Advantages of Regular Professional Dental Care
By the time they have their baby teeth, your child will hopefully be regularly seeing a dentist. Tsawwassen Place Dental welcomes families and especially very young children and we will go out of our way to make them feel safe and comfortable. Early dental care has many advantages, not least because your child will grow up viewing dental visits as just a routine part of life. Our dentists will closely monitor your child’s teeth and jaws to make sure they are developing correctly and to ensure that any possible dental problems such as tooth decay are quickly detected and treated.
Our dental team can also advise you on how to brush and floss a reluctant child’s teeth, and as they get older we can work with your child, teaching them the correct techniques for brushing and flossing.
Ensuring Your Child Has a Tooth Friendly Diet
As a parent, you probably do everything you can to ensure your child has a healthy diet that is packed full of all the nutrients they need to grow and develop. Despite this tooth decay is still a common problem for young children, even for kids whose parents make sure they eat healthily.
As always, sugar remains the enemy because the longer young teeth are exposed to sugar, the greater the risk of cavities. Sometimes it’s blatantly obvious which foods are sugar-laden, for example, candies, caramel, toffee is and chocolate.
Be Aware of Hidden Sugars
One of the problems with today’s healthy foods is that they can be high in hidden sugars and dried fruit is a good example while granola is another. Even though these foods contain plenty of good things, they aren’t the best choice for healthy teeth and it is worth reading the labels to see exactly how much sugar they contain.
However, persuading a young child to eat healthily is tricky. Almost everybody appreciates sweet things, but you can guide their food choices through providing a diet consisting primarily of more nutritious foods that won’t promote tooth decay. Stocking up on healthy, low-sugar foods can help to train young taste buds, making them less susceptible to the temptation of sugary and carbohydrate-rich foods that could harm their teeth.
Preventative Dental Care Treatments
As your child gets older, Tsawwassen Place Dental can provide suitable preventative dental care treatments including professional fluoride applications and dental sealants. Fluoride is important because it increases the resistance of tooth enamel against tooth decay. Dental sealants can be particularly useful in protecting the large chewing surfaces of back teeth. All these preventative dental care treatments are quick and non-invasive and can be very effective.
With the right preventative dental care, hopefully, your little one will grow up with strong and healthy teeth and will be blissfully unaware of the pain of toothache. Use our convenient online form to request an appointment.
* Source: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research nidcr.nih.gov
