The key to helping your child have a healthy mouth, teeth, and gums is to start early. You should be cleaning your infant’s mouth starting a few days after he is born. Even though newborns don’t have any teeth, bacteria still Explaining Dental Insurance To Patients builds up in their mouths, and the health of their gums is very important to the future health of their teeth. Each evening, with a damp baby washcloth, gently clean around the infant’s gums, tongue, and roof of the mouth.
As your infant begins to grow teeth, you can continue using a damp washcloth at first, or you can use a Q-tip to clean the individual teeth as they grow in. This will likely begin around 6 months of age. If you have been cleaning your child’s gums regularly, this will probably not bother him. However, if you have been remiss, and your child’s teeth and gums have not been cleaned or checked by you by the time he is 2 years old, chances are good that he’s got a decent amount of plaque build-up.
After the age of 2, your child will have a full set of baby teeth, and will be eating solid foods. Now his teeth need to be brushed twice a day to effectively remove plaque and bacteria. You can brush them with a child’s toothbrush and water at first, then graduate to a toddler toothpaste that will not harm your child if swallowed. Use this time to teach him that after you brush his teeth, he will be expected to spit out the toothpaste and rinse. At first, this will not be easy for him to do, and that is why you begin with toddler toothpaste. If some (or all) of it gets swallowed, it will not make him sick.
Around the age of 3-4, have your child brush his own teeth first, followed by a good brushing by you. Don’t forget to brush his tongue! The tongue is a breeding Blogs On Dental Health ground for bacteria and is often neglected, causing bad breath and tooth decay. By the age of 4, all children should have had a primary dental check up as well.
By the age of 5-6, your child should be brushing primarily on his own, with periodic checks and follow ups by you to ensure that he is indeed cleaning his teeth effectively. You might consider simply watching, or actually following up with a parent cleaning 2-3 times a week.
