Care for a Child's Teeth/pediatric dentistry

children dentistry

When to Start Caring for Your Baby's Teeth               

It's a good idea to get in the habit of cleaning your baby's gums even before teeth emerge.

To clean your baby's mouth:Lay your baby in your lap with his head close to your chest.Gently, but firmly, rub a clean and damp piece of gauze or soft cloth along both the upper and lower gum pads.Clean the gums at least two times a day.Even better clean  baby's gums after every feeding.

What Is Teething?

Teething refers to the time when baby teeth appear. Generally, teething first occurs between 6 months to 24 months of age. While this process is uneventful in some children; for others, it causes quite a bit of discomfort and irritability.

teething ring
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Symptoms of Teething

• Placing objects or fingers in the mouth and biting down on them
• Increased irritability
• Increased saliva or drooling
• Loss of appetite or becoming choosy about foods
• Tender and swollen gums
• Rash on cheeks or redness in the area of the cheeks near the affected gums
• Restlessness
• Ear pulling, which may be a sign of teething or possibly an ear infection (make an appointment to have your child seen by your doctor or pediatrician)
• Teething does not result in fever, vomiting, or diarrhea. If your child experiences these problems, contact your doctor.

Teething Pain:Massage your child's gums with a clean finger or the back of a small cold spoon.Allow your child to bite down teething ring.Try an over-the-counter teething ointment to numb the gums. Ask your dentist or doctor for some product recommendations.

When to  start brushing baby's teeth?

It's a good idea to start cleaning y baby's teeth twice a day as soon as you see a tooth emerging. If you start early, your baby will get used to having his teeth cleaned, and hopefully you'll avoid problems later on.It's best to carry on brushing your child's teeth for him until he's at least seven. By that age, he should be able to do it properly for himself.

cleaning baby's gum with wet muslin or gauze
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Tooth brush for baby:At first, you may find it easier to clean your baby's teeth using a piece of clean gauze or muslin. Wrap it around your finger, put a tiny smear of toothpaste on it, and rub around your baby's teeth.later on   when the baby is 1 1/2 to 2 years old, purchase a child-size toothbrush.pick soft, round-ended bristles of differing lengths, and a small, angled head tooth brush. This will allow you to reach all parts of baby's mouth easily and comfortably. Look at the packaging to see what age range the brush is designed for.At least once a day  preferably before bedtime you should brush your child's teeth. Several other times during the day preferably after meals -let your child try to brush her own teeth; this will consist mainly of her chewing on the toothbrush. At this age, make no attempt to try to teach your child toothbrushing techniques. It is more important to establish a pattern of dental care, and even chewing on a toothbrush helps clean the teeth.Replace your baby's toothbrush after three months, or sooner if the bristles have started to spread out

 Tooth paste for a baby:Fluroride is the active ingredient in toothpaste which helps prevent tooth decay. Too much of it, though, can be harmful. When choosing a toothpaste, check the packaging for fluoride levels:

Under-threes should use a lower-fluoride toothpaste. This is one containing about 1000ppm (parts per million) of fluoride.

Brushinh
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Over-threes can use an ordinary toothpaste, provided it contains no more than between 1350ppm and 1500ppm of fluoride.

Use a pea-sized dab of an ADA-accepted fluoride toothpaste. Take care your child don’t swallow it.

Use the recommended small amounts and encourage spitting out as your baby grows. If you follow these guidelines, lower fluoride and ordinary toothpastes are safe to use even in areas where fluoride has been added to the water.

 Brushing Techniques for Child:

You may want to supervise your children until they get the hang of these simple steps:

• Use a pea-sized dab of an ADA-accepted fluoride toothpaste. Take care that your child does not swallow the toothpaste.
• Using a soft-bristled toothbrush, brush the inside surface of each tooth first, where plaque may accumulate most. Brush gently back and forth.
• Clean the outer surfaces of each tooth. Angle the brush along the outer gumline. Gently brush back and forth.
• Brush the chewing surface of each tooth. Gently brush back and forth.
• Use the tip of the brush to clean behind each front tooth, both top and bottom.
• you should also clean the tounge.

How to protect baby's teeth

Never give your baby a bottle of milk, juice, or a sweetened beverage when you put her to bed, and never put honey, syrup, or another sweetening agent on your baby's pacifier. These practices can cause severe destruction of your baby's teeth. Tooth decay, or nursing decay syndrome, can result from such practices. When your baby sucks on a bottle when she is awake, the liquid is rapidly diluted with saliva and swallowed. However, if your baby falls asleep while nursing and swallows less often, the bacteria normally present in her mouth have time to turn the sugars in these liquids into acids that attack the tooth enamel. Sweetening agents on a pacifier also permit the sugars to remain in the mouth too long. The teeth most severely damaged are the upper incisors, and it has been necessary to remove teeth destroyed by this type of decay in children as young as 18 months old.

children dentistry

Taking a Child to a Dentist

Your child may be initially afraid of the dentist, just as children usually fear strangers.You should begin taking your child to the dentist no later than by the age of two years.Usually all the primary teeth have erupted by the time your child is between two and three years of age. Most children three years of age or younger have no or few dental problems, and the first visit to the dentist can consist primarily of an examination and probably a cleaning.