Dental Care for your Baby

Taking care of the teeth is as essential as caring for the other parts of our body. Proper dental care helps our teeth to remain healthy and strong. We can also avoid a number of problems that plague the teeth as well as the oral cavity by keeping our teeth and gums infection free.

The age old adage of prevention is better than cure applies for the teeth as well. It is important to start early. You must help your bundle of joy to keep his/her teeth shinning and strong too. So when should you really begin to take care of your infant’s teeth and gums? Read through to find out all about it.

Oral Care for Infants- The young infants need round the clock attention as you might have found out by now. However, be sure to include the tiny oral cavity in your list of things to be taken care of too. A daily regime for cleaning the mouth cavity is absolutely essential in order to prevent infection and irritation. One of the commonest problems that an infant faces is the Thrush which is caused by  Candida or yeast infection. This occurs due to the small tears in the delicate tissue due to constant sucking on the feeding bottle or pacifier. Babies can also suffer from Thrush if breastfed for  long hours at a time. The torn tissue needs to be removed gently and carefully from within the interior of the oral cavity if you do not want to see your little one suffer.

Baby Teeth Care-  The actual time for the appearance of the first teeth may differ widely with some babies beginning to teeth as early as 3 months while others may stay toothless until they are 6 or 7 months old. However, a small child of 3 years usually sports a complete set of 20 milk teeth. Teaching your child the basics of brushing is important as they learn to take care of their teeth themselves and have fun doing so. However, you need to ensure that you have picked up the right sized toothbrush for your young child. Fluoride in the toothpaste may be harmful as is the swallowing of the paste during the act of brushing. It is a good idea to use a gum cleanser for your baby if you want to discourage the baby from eating the toothpaste.