Kid's Tooth Guide

Starting your child early with good oral hygiene habits is the best insurance to maintain a cavity free mouth.  Parents often ask us what has caused their children’s cavities or what can they do to prevent them.  Here is a list of some simple ways to help care for your child’s mouth.

Do not put your child to bed with a bottle filled with anything but water.  Going to bed with milk or juice on their teeth is one of the major reasons children need dental work at a young age.  Teeth should be brushed right before bed and kids shouldn’t have anything to eat or drink after, except for water.  We produce less saliva at night time, so sugars sit on teeth for longer causing more damage than at other times.

Juices should be limited to meal times.  Having a child walking around all day with a sippy cup full of juice or milk is constantly feeding oral bacteria.  These bacteria then produce acid which wears away at teeth, causing cavities.

Children should not constantly eat through the day. Just like with juice, constantly hitting the teeth with sugar makes it hard for the body to control all of the acids produced.  We always want to feed our children, and giving snacks at once is fine.  The problem is when we leave a bowl of cereal or other snacks sitting on the table and the child takes a handful every 10-15 minutes.

Start visiting the dentist early.  The guidelines for a first visit are by age one or within 6 months getting your first tooth.  Regular checkups catch problems early making then much easier fixes for children and easier on mom and dad’s wallets.

Brush right away.  As soon as teeth start showing they should be brushed twice a day using a children’s toothbrush. Although kids can practice brushing their own teeth, parents should be the main brushers up until age 7.

Look around while you are brushing.  Some cavities are quite obvious in a child’s mouth.  If you see anything that looks suspicious it is better to take your child to a dentist earlier to take care of the problem before it gets any worse.

Choose the right toothpaste.  Until children learn to swish and spit well they should be using children’s toothpastes that have little or no fluoride.  Once a child has mastered spitting, they should be switched over to adult type toothpaste because the fluoride is good at preventing cavities.

Floss teeth that touch. Many children start off with spaces between their teeth.  If the toothbrush bristles can get between the teeth, flossing is not necessary.  Wherever teeth are touching flossing should be done daily.

Fix cavities/decay.  Many people think that “they are just baby teeth, they will fall out.”  It is true, they will eventually fall out, but while they are in they can cause health issues.  Front baby teeth start falling out around age 6, but back baby molars fall out at 12 years.  Baby teeth that have significant decay can cause pain, swellings and abscesses.  These infections can be the cause of hospital stays, they can damage the permanent teeth underneath or worse of all the infections can cause damage to other organs in the body.

Fix your own decay.  While children are just getting their first teeth, they are developing their own oral bacteria.  So, if parents have active cavities and they share a glass or spoon with their child the chances of the child getting “bad” bacteria is greater.

Parents can save their children a lot of headaches and save themselves a lot of money if they follow these preventative techniques.  Prevention is much easier than cure.

Children’s Dental World Winnipeg