Every parent wants their kid to have a beautiful smile on their kid’s face all the time because it gives them happiness too. To keep that precious smile intact parents, need to take proper care of their baby’s teeth. Babies grow very quickly and the same concept applies to their little teeth as well. Keeping their teeth strong and healthy is a great step towards a healthy life. Although those initial teeth fall out one day, the importance of making sure the teeth are strong is still utmost. Let’s now understand a little more about baby teeth.
The importance of baby teeth
As mentioned above, some parents may wonder why is taking care of baby teeth so important if they are eventually going to fall out of their mouths. The truth is the overall role of baby teeth is very significant. It goes without saying that teeth are required for smiling, speaking, and obviously eating. Along with all uses, baby teeth also play a great role in making sure the bay’s jaws are protected along with making space in the jaws for adult teeth.
Usually, babies start to lose their baby teeth from the age of 6 as around that age, the adult teeth begin taking up their space in the mouth. If you find out you have lost a baby tooth earlier than the age mentioned above, make sure to visit a dentist to be certain about the various options available to you for keeping the correct space in the baby’s mouth so that the adult tooth could come in naturally.
When do baby teeth begin showing up?
Usually, the first baby tooth will start showing up into the baby’s mouth at around 6 months of age. Usually, these teeth are the bottom front teeth. The last baby tooth that will come into the baby’s mouth will show up at around the age of 3 and will most likely be at the back of the mouth in the upper jaw. At the age of 3 when the final baby tooth shows up, your kid will most likely have 10 bottom teeth and 10 top teeth. After this process, the baby teeth will stay there for three more years approximately, and from the age of 6, adult teeth will start taking their place in the baby’s mouth which will in turn make the baby teeth go away slowly and gradually.
How to take care of baby teeth?
Now that we have made it clear that baby teeth are a very important part of your baby’s overall health, it is time to provide you some insights on how to properly take care of baby teeth. To be exact there are a lot of things that you can do on the personal level to make sure that your child’s baby teeth are strong. Some of them are as follows:
Preventing cavities by brushing two times a day using fluoride toothpaste: In the case of new-borns, make sure to use a wet cloth or pad to wipe their gums in order to keep their mouth clean and for children that are younger than Age 3 you can use toothpaste for this purpose but make sure to only use toothpaste of the size that does not exceed a grain of rice.
Lastly, for the children over the age of 3, you can use toothpaste up to the size of a pea. It is important to constantly help out your child to make sure that they are aware of the right method to use for brushing their teeth so that maximum efficiency could be achieved. It will also make sure that they do not hurt their gums as in such a tender age the gums are very fragile. You can do so until you are confident that the babies can brush their teeth well on their own.
Cleaning between the teeth daily after seeing two teeth touch: Usually, some particles of food can get stuck between teeth and below the gums, you need to make sure that your baby flosses every day as it assists in preventing cavities.
Regular visits to the dentist for your child as soon as the baby gets his first baby tooth: It is recommended to visit the child dentist and do so regularly. The dentist will do a proper check-up of your child’s dental health and you can use this opportunity to tell the dentist about any issues that you may have observed related to your child’s dental health.
Monitor your child’s diet: As mentioned above, foods and drinks can negatively impact your baby’s dental health and in this case, drinks like soda and fruit juice that are very high in acid or sugar must be limited as they increase the risk of cavities. Apart from that, you can also limit access to treats like cookies.
Enquire your child dentist about sealants and fluoride treatment: Sealants could be defined as a special coating that makes sure that your child has additional protection against cavities. You can ask your dentist if these should be put on your child’s back teeth.
Apart from sealants, you can also ask about fluoride treatment. For those who are not aware of what fluoride means, it is something that could be found in public water sources that boosts the overall protection against cavities just like sealants. Your dentist may recommend this to provide additional cavity protection to your child. Keep in mind that applying fluoride varnish is very effective but at the same time quick and painless.
