It’s not too soon to start baby dental care!
The time to begin to take care of your baby’s teeth is before he or she develops them. Even though these “milk” teeth will not be around for a long time, it is essential to take care of them to ensure the health of your baby’s gums and those permanent teeth they’ll be cutting before long.
Here are some practical baby dental care tips to follow:
- Start to clean your child’s mouth even before teeth develop. Swab the child’s gums after each feeding with a soft, wet washcloth, or a piece of wet gauze wrapped around your finger. Be sure to wash your hand first!
- Baby teeth preserve the spacing for the permanent teeth. Milk teeth also allow baby to chew and even to talk. Their care is important to avoid gingivitis which can cause crooked spacing of permanent teeth.
- Baby teeth can develop cavities! Many parents put their children to sleep with a bottle of milk or juice which causes cavities. Watch for discoloration and pitting in baby teeth – it is a sign of cavity formation.
- Follow your baby’s meals with a drink of water. This will remove harmful sugars and prevent plaque formation. Your child will be brushing by 18 months of age (without toothpaste), but get them started early by wiping their teeth and mouth as stated in the first bullet.
- Introduce toothpaste when your child is two, but do not use a fluoridated paste until the child is three. Just use a pea-sized amount of paste at first to avoid a choking hazard.
If you do not have dental insurance, quality dental care and coverage for every member of the family is more affordable than you might think! EDP Dental Plans are not dental insurance. However we offer discounted dental services that anyone can afford. As we attract the top practitioners, your current dentist may already be a participating practitioner! Call us today for more information: (800) 777-1085.
