Caring for Your Baby's Teeth

Generally, people are still not sincere about baby teeth. But healthy baby teeth will pave the way to have good and healthy adult teeth. When their baby’s teeth are on their way in, this is the right time to start taking care of their teeth. When your baby is born, a set of 20 primary teeth are already present under the gums. When the teeth starts to appear in between 6 to 12 months, make sure that you are taking the best care of your baby’s teeth.

The Importance of Primary Teeth:

Primary teeth are very important for your kid’s dental health as well as overall health. Here are the major functions of primary teeth.

• It helps to chew properly that promotes good nutrition.

• With good primary teeth your child can speak or pronounce clearly.

• A good oral health with beautiful smile can grow your children’s self esteem. Taking good care of your baby’s teeth can help your kid to interact with more people.

• Painless healthy teeth will always help you to concentrate on studies or other curricular activities.

• Healthy primary teeth have a size (height & width) that they look straighter and beautiful.

• A bad unhealthy oral condition can lead to a bad health. As the decayed primary teeth can create infections of teeth, gum and underlying bone. So, the infection can easily spread into the bloodstream and can affect the other organs of the body.

The dentists of American Dental Association recommend taking your child to the dentist after every 6 months. In that way your dentist can observe the timing of the appearance of teeth and he will also guide your child to know about the proper dental care routine.

Early Dental Care:

Cavities and tooth decay are most common between the infants. Naturally, the upper front part of the teeth is more likely to get affected with the attack of the tooth decay due to bottle feeding. But, you can protect your children’s teeth by maintaining proper dental care.

Dental care according to the baby’s age:

First six months: clean your baby’s mouth after feeding him/her by using a moist gauze pad or washcloths.

• 6-24 months: When your baby’s primary teeth starts to get appear, this is the right time to start brushing his/her teeth by using a soft bristled child-sized toothbrush and water.

• Toddler Years: When your child is more than two years old, you should start brushing him/her by using the children’s toothbrush and toothpaste that contains fluoride. Make sure that they are not swallowing the toothpaste.

• Early Childhood:  When you think that your child is ready to take care of his/her teeth, you can teach them how to do brushing by them by using a soft bristled brush and a small amount of fluoride toothpaste. It will be better to visit your dentist and take suggestion from him about the right procedure of brushing the primary teeth and the best suitable toothpaste according to your child’s dental condition.

Remember, if you take proper care of your baby’s first pearly white sets, then there are the biggest chances of establishing healthy and beautiful adult teeth with a beautiful smile. You may schedule your appointment today with one of our Wimbledon dentists for your baby.