How to Take Care of Your Baby's Teeth

Healthy dental hygiene habits start early. In fact, most experts agree that the best time to begin teaching your child these important habits is when she is just a small newborn. Most believe that wiping baby's gums with a piece of clean gauze or a clean soft cloth is important, long before you ever see that first shiny tooth. After all, milk has sugar in it, and that sugar being left in baby's mouth isn't good for her.

It's important that you take good care of your young child's teeth for several reasons. It's not only important for the baby teeth that are actually there, but also the teeth that haven't come in yet. Children with bad baby teeth are more likely to also have bad adult teeth. The baby teeth act as a place holder for the permanent teeth. If one is missing or decayed, it can ruin the proper spacing for the permanent teeth.

Another reason that it is so important to take care of those baby teeth is because they play an important role in your baby's self confidence. A preschooler with bad teeth might get made fun of by other children. She could also have trouble pronouncing certain words due to her missing or decaying teeth, leading to more problems with her classmates and her confidence in her own abilities.

One last problem with not taking care of your child's teeth is that it can hinder their development in other ways. A child needs teeth to bite and chew up their food. While it's no problem to chop everything into tiny bites for your one year old, do you really want to be doing that for your five year old? Taking care of her teeth will help them remain healthy and allow her to learn how to bite and chew her food from an early age.

One benefit of starting your baby's dental hygiene early is that besides it being healthy for her, it also gets her into the habit from an early age. She won't be nearly as likely to fight you over it when she becomes a toddler if she is already used to it. It will just be something that she expects to happen. Especially if you do it as part of the routine after she eats, and/or in the morning right after she wakes up and again before she goes to bed. It won't seem scary for her like it might if you wait until she has several teeth before you start caring for them.

When taking care of your child's teeth and gums, be gentle. Brush baby's teeth, gums and tongue softly, so it doesn't hurt her. Talk to her about what you are doing. Toothpaste isn't necessary when your child is small. If you decide to use it, make sure and use one designed for infants and toddlers. Babies don't understand the need to spit out the toothpaste, so it's important that you use one that doesn't contain fluoride.

When your baby has a few teeth, it will be time to introduce an infant tooth brush. Make sure to get one that is soft and made especially for babies. You can use it to gently brush baby's teeth, gums and tongue, just like you used the cloth before. Baby might be a little curious about it at first, but she will understand quickly that you are still doing the same thing, but with something new.

Usually around the same time that she starts holding her own spoon, your child will probably want to start brushing her teeth. A good way to let her have some independence and do this, is to brush her teeth for a minute, making sure to get them clean, and then letting her take over for another minute or two. If she insists on having the first turn, that's okay, too. As long as you get a chance to make sure they are getting clean. If she is really adamant about brushing her own teeth instead of you brushing them for her, you might try letting her brush yours. Tell her she only gets to brush Mommy's (or Daddy's) teeth if you get to brush hers, too. Most kids will agree to this.

Start early and make it fun, and most likely you will have a child that always takes good care of her teeth. This will save you lots of headaches (not to mention money on braces and fillings) in the long run.