Every February the American Dental Association (ADA) sponsors National Children’s Dental Health Month. The goal is, unsurprisingly, to raise awareness about the importance of kids’ oral health.
We all know that it’s critical to take good care of our children’s teeth, and teach them how to keep their smiles strong and beautiful. But any parent who has wearily tried to convince a toddler to brush their teeth for the recommended two minutes also knows, it can be hard to engage the little ones in their dental care chores. Sometimes we even wonder whether it’s worth all the fuss to care for teeth that will soon fall out and be replaced with a permanent set.
But those baby teeth matter. Experts say that if kids lose their teeth prematurely, their permanent teeth can come in crooked or otherwise compromised. Kids who have cavities in their baby teeth will almost certainly have decay in their permanent teeth.
Your teeth are important in many ways. If you take care of them, they'll help take care of you. Strong, healthy teeth help you chew the right foods to help you grow. They help you speak clearly. And yes, they help you look your best when you say "cheese" for the camera!
Why Healthy Teeth Are Important
How does taking care of your teeth help with all those things? Taking care of your teeth helps prevent plaque (say: PLAK), which is a clear film of bacteria (say: bak-TEER-ee-uh) that sticks to your teeth.
After you eat, bacteria go crazy over the sugar on your teeth, like ants at a picnic. The bacteria break it down into acids that eat away tooth enamel, causing holes called cavities. Plaque also causes gingivitis (say: jin-juh-VY-tis), which is gum disease that can make your gums red, swollen, and sore. Your gums are those soft pink tissues in your mouth that hold your teeth in place.
If you don't take care of your teeth, cavities and unhealthy gums will make your mouth very, very sore. Eating meals will be difficult. And you won't feel like smiling so much.
Baby Teeth Timeline: How They Grow
As every baby teeth guide will tell you, no two babies are alike. That’s especial true for growing teeth. Some children get their baby teeth when they’re only 3 months old, while others don’t grow their first pearly white until age 14 months. The average is somewhere in the middle. Most kids start teething at 6 months; the exact age depends on several factors, including when the parents got their first teeth and whether the child was born prematurely.
It can take weeks from when the baby first starts to demonstrate symptoms of teething to when the tiny tooth pops through. It’s important that parents be aware of these symptoms and respond quickly to help ease the baby’s pain. Signs of soon-to-pop teeth may include sore, puffy, red gums; drooling; changes in eating habits; fussiness; and pulling on the ear. Pain may be eased by massaging the gums; offering the baby something cold and thick to chew on, like a frozen washcloth; and giving the infant a dose of acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
The baby teeth schedule may vary, but generally the teeth come in at these ages:
Baby Teeth Guide: Doctors and Home Remedies
Although these baby teeth will not stay with your child for long, it’s important to clean and care for them just as you would adult teeth, to ensure that your child is developing proper oral hygiene for kids and laying the ground for healthy adult teeth. Even babies need to have a set daily cleaning schedule.
One thing that’s important to the early care of infants’ teeth and gums is to forego old home remedies for relieving your baby’s teething pain, such as offering him or her hard foods (to apply counterpressure on puffy gums) or rubbing a bit of alcohol on the sore places. In fact, both of these practices could actually put your child in danger. Chunks of hard foods like frozen bananas could break off and become a choking hazard, and even a small amount of alcohol, such as brandy, applied to the gums could be lethal for a baby.
Instead, concentrate on using proven methods to console your teething children and care for their teeth. If you think something’s really wrong, such as a low-grade fever while teething that won’t go away or weeks of teething symptoms without any actual teeth, consult a doctor about your child’s symptoms and how they fit into the baby teeth schedule.
Caring For Baby Teeth
Once your baby’s first tooth has poked through, it’s time to add another responsibility to your day: cleaning that tooth. Up until the first tooth sprouts, you should be cleaning your baby’s gums twice a day with a moist cloth.
Wiping away residue after eating will help keep the gums clear of bacteria, though the most damaging strain of bacteria, Streptococcus Mutans (also called S. Mutans), generally doesn’t appear in a child’s mouth until age 3. Because this bacteria is present in adults’ oral cavities, make sure the child’s mouth does not come in contact with saliva from an adult’s mouth. Don’t kiss your baby on the mouth or share silverware, or your baby’s mouth will become infected with this bacteria.
Once your baby has teeth, it’s time to introduce the toothbrush. It should have a handle large enough that you can comfortably maneuver it but a head small enough to fit comfortably in the baby’s mouth. Initially it’s not necessary to use toothpaste when caring for baby teeth; simply wet the brush with water and clean the teeth after feedings.
After the child turns 1, the baby teeth guide recommends using a dab of nonfluoride toothpaste for these cleanings. Brush the front and the back teeth at least twice a day. As the child ages, you can move to fluoride toothpaste, but make sure your child can rinse and spit out.
Baby Teeth Schedule: When to Go to the Dentist
Many people mistakenly think that the first dentist visit shouldn’t be scheduled until all of the child’s teeth have come in. In fact, most dentists recommend the first trip take place at age 1. That’s because it’s important to set a baseline for children’s dental health. The dentist should get an early look at your child’s mouth to see how it is developing and advise on the proper oral hygiene for kids.
The dentist can also discuss ways to care for your baby while teething and whether your baby will need added fluoride in his or her diet to help avoid tooth decay in children. Plus, if your child is a thumb sucker, the dentist can offer tips on how to end this damaging habit and explain what sort of impact it may have on your baby’s growing teeth.
