Babies & Childrens Teeth Development

Babies and childrens teeth develop at great speed in all aspects of health.
In our latest blog, our Dental Nurse Emma Hogg will be helping you and your children understand great ways to encourage tooth brushing and more about their teeth development.

 

 

Why it’s important to monitor tooth development from early months?

Your babies first teeth form the guide for your adult teeth coming through. Without this guide, your tooth development in adulthood can be crowded, leading to bad alignment resulting in orthodontic work such as braces in the future. Babies and childrens teeth development is vitally important.

Caries is a term used to describe the breakdown of teeth through decay. An infants caries need to be monitored and kept under control from the day their first tooth is cut through the gum.
It might not sound easy, but you should start brushing your babies teeth as soon as they show.

Helping an infant at a young age to understand the importance of looking after their teeth is key, but if you have children, you will also know that’s not always as easy as it sounds.
Children love to mess around and have fun, so here are a few tips and tricks to help make brushing teeth fun for children, it may even help you as an adult if your dental hygiene has slipped recently.

 

Top 10 Tips to having fun brushing babies and childrens teeth

1. It sounds simple, but the first step is to set a good example. That can start with brushing your teeth in front of them, may be even over exaggerating, showing them a routine from front to back and brushing your tongue. Finish off with a beaming smile in front of the mirror to show you’re checking all is great.
2. Pick a favourite tune or nursery rhyme that lasts 2 minutes. You can sing while they brush to keep them entertained (you can even use a spare tooth brush as a pretend microphone!)
3. Babies and children love to mess around and sometimes it’s as simple as putting a spare tooth brush in their other hand while they brush away.
4. Flashing character toothbrushes are a great way to ensure your infant is interested in the toothbrush. The flashing light will last 2 minutes so your infant knows to carry on brushing till the flashing stops.
5. Why not use the classic egg timer! Ask your child to turn it over and they can brush their teeth till the timer runs out of sand. They can see how they are progressing and how long is left while you encourage them to cover all around.
6. Start the fun by making an award chart and placing in the bathroom or near their bed to remind them to brush in the morning and at night. You can make the chart with them or download from toothpaste branded websites.
7. Kids love stories. Get creative and tell a story about protecting teeth from the Sugar Monster. This can also help to educate on eating healthy foods and earning or limiting sweet treats in moderation!
8. Some people like to use the tooth fairy as a guide. We’ll let you decide if you’re going to talk about money or treats, but we think the tooth fairy is more generous when they collect healthy teeth, compared to decayed teeth.
9. Character tooth paste is another great way to engage children that love to see their favourite characters. Just make sure you do a little homework and visit your local store first to check you are showing them character toothpaste with fluoride 1350 to 1500ppm (parts per million).
10. Have you heard of ‘disclosing tablets’? These are brilliant way to demonstrate the teeth and areas your kids have missed. Simply chew the tablet before or after they’ve brushed, and the tablet will temporarily dye the areas of plague in the colour of the tablet. As they brush the area the colour will disappear and the sense of achievement is great all round.

 

As an adult how are your teeth now?

If your parents or guardians taught you well you will know the benefits of passing this on to your Babies and childrens teeth development.

If you are suffering because of poor oral health through your childhood, let that be the motivation to helping your children repeating your mistakes and help them develop a healthy mouth and smile.

 

Regular Dentists Trips Make The Process Simple.

As an added tip, have you babies and childrens teeth checked by the Dentist every 6 months. The regularity of the visit will mean they better understand why maintain oral health is important and builds enables you and your child to build a great rapport with your Dentist and an enjoyable experience.

For more information and to book your next dental appointment click here or give us a call on 01254 202888.

If you have more tips to help others, feel free to add in the comments section below.

Cherry Tree Dental Care are a BDA member.