Teeth Care for your child
With Easter Sunday just around the corner. My youngsters will be feasting on Easter eggs and lots of other Easter goodies. I feel that it is a good time to talk about the importance of dental care.
It is very important to take care of your child’s baby teeth and ensure that he has good oral hygiene. Although their baby teeth do eventually fall out and make way for permanent teeth it is still important to ensure that they are brushed twice daily.
If their teeth are not taken care properly they may suffer from one or more of these problems
- Tooth loss
- Ear and speech problems
- Crooked permanent teeth
- Severe pain
- Poor self-image
- Tooth decay
Cavities are the bane of poor oral hygiene. I do personally know of toddlers that suffer from swollen gums and had even to undergo costly dental surgery to remedy the situation. I definitely do not want my children to suffer teeth woes due to my negligence in ensuring his proper oral care. Therefore I make extra effort to be pro-active in advocating good oral hygiene practices in them from young.
Many websites mention that one should start when the 1st tooth appear. However, for my boys, I believe in starting from birth.
When they were barely a month old I started using the rubber finger tooth brush to clean milk residue on their tongue before bathing them.It is much easier to use then the traditional washcloth method that has been passed down from the older generations. I did that as I wanted them to get used to a oral cleaning regime and not be resistant to cleaning their mouth after feeds.
When their 1st tooth appeared around 6months old I started using fluoride free toothpaste with the finger brush.
First Teeth toothpaste is what I recommend. I am still using this toothpaste for my younger boy.
It is about SG$12 per tube and lasts and extremely long time.
I also changed to a kid’s toothbrush as he started ‘munching down’ on the finger brush. OUCH!!
I have used a few different types of toothbrushes for my elder boy,Ryan.
- Oral B First Stage
- Colgate Kids Toothbrush
- Kodomo Kids Toothbrush
I recommend the Kodomo Kids toothbrush as it is really value for money at SG$1.45
The Colgate kids toothbrush is approx SG$2 and Oral B First Stage toothbrush is nearly SG $3.
Do note that it is recommended to change your kids toothbrush every 3 months as they may fray more easily as most kids like to chew down on them.
When your child does know how to spit it is advisable to change to using toothpaste that does have fluoride to prevent decay.
Also do bring them for dental check up every 6months.
I schedule Ryan’s dental check-up together with mine so that we can go to the dentist together and he gets accustomed to the dental check-up routine. He used to be afraid of the dental chair but now is able to sit there and let the dentist polish his teeth without much hassle.
Colgate does have an interesting Kids Website which has many games relating to dental care. It is definitely worth checking it out.