Moms face quite a bigger challenge when it comes to brushing their baby’s teeth. As soon as the baby’s teeth grow, brushing the teeth is an important habit. A bit of a delay in taking proper way of care of baby’s teeth can interfere with proper oral health and speech development.
Brushing the baby’s teeth is more about removing the plaque. Plaque is a soft, sticky, almost invisible layer of bacteria that forms on teeth every day. Baby teeth (R) are important and precious. They help to maintain the space for permanent teeth and guide them into their current position in the later course of time.
In this article, we will focus on how to brush baby’s teeth, when to start brushing your baby’s teeth, and tips for brushing the teeth properly.
When to Start to Brushing Baby Teeth?
A baby’s first teeth (R) usually appears when they are around six months old, however, it varies with each and every baby. By the age of 3, a child almost has a full set of 20 baby teeth 10 in each jaw.
It is important to start brushing as soon as the baby teeth start appearing. It is also good to start cleaning your baby’s mouth before your baby’s teeth erupt.
A very early start of brushing baby teeth always marks as a positive experience for both mother and baby. To help you out, we are going to suggest some of the best ways to brush your baby’s teeth.
Teething Sign and Symptoms in Baby:
Symptoms that indicate your baby may be teething include:
- Red swollen gums
- Flushed cheeks
- Pulling the ear on the same side as the erupting teeth
- Dribbling
- Irritability
- Restlessness
- A slight fever
- Sucking fingers and fists
How to Brush Baby’s Teeth?
Start brushing by choosing a particular time frame and place when your baby is happy and content during the day and make it a fun activity for your baby.
Use a brush with softer bristles. Simply, start to clean the teeth of your baby with a wet cloth or moistened gauze, an infant’s teeth do not need a toothbrush to clean up. Brush (R) gently all around the baby’s teeth – front and back which help to remove the plaque on the gums.
Once the baby grows up at the age of 18 months, switch to a toothbrush to clean up the baby’s teeth. Make sure you carefully massage the gums around the teeth of the baby.
How often:
- Brush your baby’s teeth or gums twice a day, after eating and before bed.
- At the 18 months start, using a pea-sized amount of low-fluoride toothbrush to brush your child’s teeth can come in handy.
- If your baby is over 6 months old, use a bit of standard strength fluoride toothpaste and encourage your child to spit it out and not to swallow and rinse after brushing.
- 5-10 mins is the maximum time frame you need to brush your baby’s teeth.
Tips For Brushing Baby Teeth:
Certain tips are needed to follow while brushing your baby’s teeth that helps for good oral care during infancy and later long-run period of your baby.
- Before teeth have erupted, clean your baby gums and teeth by rubbing a clean and soft cloth along the upper and lowers gums.
- Always use the proper toothbrush that is soft, small-headed, and wide handled in order to brush the baby’s teeth
- When your baby starts developing teeth (R), try to brush at least twice or thrice a day with a soft-bristled toothbrush and water.
- Brush your baby’s teeth after eating and before sleep, this helps a lot in cleaning the plaque.
- Jiggle the toothbrush or move in tiny circles on the outside surface of the teeth and gums and repeat the same for the inside surface of teeth.
- Try to avoid getting off the cavity. A baby usually gets cavity too early and easily. Don’t leave your baby with a bottle for a longer period of time when you see your baby is not feeding but keeping as a comfort.
- Brushing with the toothbrush is good enough but try to avoid using toothpaste till 2 years of age.
- Maintain a regular fluoride intake in your baby. The baby should be exposed to a lot of water intake as it will lead to healthy oral care in the long run.
- When you switch to a toothpaste, make sure you choose an ADA (R) seal of acceptance toothpaste for your baby.
- Cleaning the chewing surface of your baby is very important and for fresh breath, be sure you clean the tongue area of your baby.
- Don’t brush your baby teeth in a horizontal manner along with the gum line, this can cause the gums to recede.
Of course, brushing your baby’s teeth is a great challenge but if you know the right way to deal with it, it makes your job easier. Brushing your baby’s teeth daily is important as it removes the plaque. Plaque is a soft, sticky layer of bacteria that forms on teeth every day.
