Dental Care For Kids – A Quick Guide

It can be really hard being a parent. Suddenly you are expected to fulfil a number of roles such as cleaner, carer, teacher, nurse, DIY expert, cook, waiter/ waitress, hairdresser, fashion coordinator, dentist… and many more over the years.

It can be especially difficult trying to keep track of all the tasks which you are expected to undertake, let alone be an expert at when and how we should be carrying out said tasks. To make things a little easier for you, I have put together a quick guide on Infant Dental Care to help you along the way…

1. Parents should begin cleaning their children’s teeth from the moment that they have a tooth come though (teeth break through the skin anywhere from birth onwards). It is important that we therefore check our babies mouths and gums for impending teeth.
2. Ensure that you make an appointment with your child’s Dentist (this also means registering them with a dentist of your choice) once their teeth have started to come through. This can be done from the moment their first tooth arrives.
3. Most Dentists ask that appointments are to be made regularly every six months for your child.
4. Infants/ children’s teeth should be cleaned twice a day (usually once every morning and once every evening before bed time).
5. Toothpaste and toothbrushes should be purchased according to your child’s age. It is always handy purchasing a babies first toothbrush and first toothpaste as soon as they are born so you have it ready. There are a range of toothbrush sizes and toothpaste types which are appropriate for specific age groups. These are widely available from supermarkets UK wide.
6. Avoid purchasing fruity based toothpastes, as whilst these are widely available for infants and toddlers, once your child begins getting older fruity flavours aren’t readily available. It is therefore wide to get your child accustomed to the minty flavours from an early age as its what they will be using once they are older. There is also the chance that if your child is to use a fruity flavour when they are younger, they may take a disliking to the minty flavours at a later stage and this can cause tooth brushing aversions.
7. You should change your child’s toothbrush every month or so for hygiene reasons.
8. Most children acquire their first tooth between the age of six to twelve months. However, many children are either born with teeth or acquire them shortly after.
9. Your child will most likely have their full set of milk teeth by the time that they reach the age of three. This usually consists of ten top teeth and ten bottom teeth.
10. If your child uses a dummy/ pacifier then you should try to get them out of this habit by the time they are three years old to avoid any future dental damage.
11. In order to make cleaning easier for child and parent, it is best to face your child away from you and tip their head into your arms. From this angle you should be able to gain easy access to your child’s teeth as well as a good view for better cleaning.
12. If your child becomes anxious whilst having their teeth cleaned and keeping their mouth open to clean their teeth becomes difficult then try to use distraction techniques. A good strategy is to use a story based upon a house with an upstairs and a downstairs (top and bottom teeth), you can either tell them they you are hoovering the lounge, sweeping the kitchen, mopping the bathroom etc or even create a story where there is a chase around the house into each room, move the brush accordingly. By making teeth cleaning a fun activity it is less likely that you will have any future anxiety problems, providing your child with a positive association towards cleaning their teeth.

I hope that you find this quick guide helpful and that you are really able to ‘get your teeth into’ ensuring that your child maintains good dental health.

This isn’t a sponsored post nor does it contain any form of advertisement, it’s simply a little guide from one parent to another xxx