It’s never too soon to introduce children to the importance of teeth and mouth care. By setting a good example and establishing a routine early on you will be laying the foundations for a lifetime of good oral health.
By educating your child and encouraging good habits at an early age your child will look forward to a lifetime of a healthy mouth, teeth and gums.
Baby teeth can start to appear as early as four months. Some parents may think care of baby teeth isn’t too important as they will eventually be replaced with adult teeth. However, adult teeth are already developing in the jaw and baby teeth preserve the spacing for adult teeth. If first teeth aren’t cared for tooth decay and gum disease could occur and cause problems later on.
This is also the weaning stage when babies move from a milk only diet towards solid food and other kinds of drinks. Now is the time to start good habits by ensuring that your baby or toddler isn’t eating sugary foods; bottles and cups containing fruit juice, soft or fizzy drinks are a definite no no.
Follow these tips to take care of baby teeth as soon as they emerge –
By the age of three all baby teeth should be present. Children don’t find the co-ordination to brush their own teeth until the age of about 7 or 8 so you will still need to brush your child’s teeth.
From the age of about seven or eight children should be able to brush their own teeth. You may need to help at first by holding the brush in their hand and showing them what to do and then they will need to be supervised for a while afterwards too.
Hopefully by educating your child and encouraging good habits at an early age your child will look forward to a lifetime of a healthy mouth, teeth and gums.
If you’ve enjoyed this blog and would like more tips and advice on keeping your family’s mouth healthy and everyone smiling please follow Smile Concepts on Facebook and Twitter.