5 Dental Health Tips for Babies & Toddlers

By Karen Ward, 1300SMILES Townsville, Upper Ross - Begian Gardens - Woodlands.

1. To soothe the irritation of teething, give your baby a teething ring to chew on.

2. Don’t give sweetened drinks from the bottle as they can cause decay. Establish regular bottle feeds and, if your baby needs a drink between feeds, use cool boiled water.

3. After feeding to prevent tooth decay, wipe your baby’s teeth with a moist cloth. At about eight months, start your infant drinking from a cup as this reduces the time that decay-producing sugars are in contact with the teeth.

4. Introduce your infant to tooth cleaning as soon as the teeth appear. As infants are unable to control swallowing, a small smear of low strength fluoride toothpaste (or no toothpaste at all) should be used.

5. At about eighteen months, take your child to the family dentist for a check-up to become accustomed to regular dental visits.

Editor: For more information or to make an appointment with Karen (in Townsville) please call 1300SMILES (1300 764 537). Karen also visits schools and day care centres to educate young children on dental health. Go here for details.

Comments

[Dentist Milpitas CA]

Just because your children's teeth are only temporary and will "fall out anyway" it's still necessary to prevent cavities because oral problems can cause them a lot of pain. Also, cavities or tooth decay are said to affect children's incoming teeth as well.