Teeth hygiene

Teaching and modelling good teeth hygiene early will help develop long term good oral hygiene habits.

Helping children develop good teeth hygiene practices is key in dental hygiene and overall hygiene practices.

These practices established early can be followed throughout their life.

It is important to keep babies teeth clean.

Keeping baby’s teeth clean aids in prevention of infections, cavities and potential pain.

It is key to ensuring that the permanent teeth underneath are not affected. Decaying baby teeth will impact and damage the permanent teeth.

Brushing is important from the get go.

In the beginning you can use a toothbrush with water or run your fingers over with a soft wet washcloth.

If you have tried to clean your baby’s teeth you may know that it is not always welcomed by them.

Promoting good oral hygiene is particularly important from an early age as baby teeth have a thinner enamel than the enamel of permanent teeth and this makes the baby teeth look whiter.

The consequences of the thinner enamel is that it means they are more likely to get tooth decay.

Baby teeth can start to decay as soon as they appear.

Therefore, practicing good oral hygiene is key.

• When your baby starts solids you can wash your baby’s gums with a wet cloth after every feed.
• As soon as teeth come through you can ‘clean’ them with a wet cloth or a soft toothbrush with a little water.
• When your child will ‘tolerate’ a toothbrush introduce one. If they will not, leave it and try again later.
• Replace toothbrushes every 3 months.
• Toothpaste need not be introduced until around 18 months- 2 years old. This is a pea sized amount of toothpaste only. Use a child toothpaste or low flouride toothpaste until around 6 yrs old unless you live in an area without fluoride in the water.
• Try to encourage brushing twice a day from early on.
• Encourage a child not to swallow the toothpaste.
• Encourage rinsing after brushing.
• Teach them how to brush properly as soon as possible with a side-to-side and round-and-round action.
• If they only brush once a day then before bed is the better and is more important.
• Water is best as the main drink, or then milk, but without any added sweeteners.
• It’ s recommended adults brush a child’s teeth until they are about 6-8 years for a reliable brush.
• Teach children to brush correctly and for at least 2 minutes.
• Supervise a child when they are brushing their teeth as they get older.

• Promote rinsing after eating.
• Never coat a babies dummy in honey, sugar or anything similar.
• Restrict the amount of juices and sugary drinks. All juices should be diluted 50:50 with water.
• Ensure your baby’s dummy is clean.
• Once baby teeth have appeared visit a dentist every 12 months.