How To Look After Your Children’s Teeth and Why It Matters

We’ve all been there; wrestling a small toddler armed with a toothbrush, attempting to get somewhere near their teeth. Children’s tooth decay is often associated with bad diets and areas of social deprivation. So, if your child has a good diet and you live in an affluent area you don’t have to worry, right? ‘Fraid not. The number of children aged four and under being hospitalised for tooth extractions has risen by a quarter in the last decade, according to latest figures and this trend is on the rise.

So how can we look after our kids’ teeth?

Start early – even if it’s just one tooth!

When it comes to dental health, it seems the sooner we start brushing, the better. Dominique Tillen, Founder and MD of BrushBaby Ltd, says: ‘Cleaning baby gums helps reduce the build-up of bacteria and prepares a healthy environment for a baby’s first teeth.

‘Dental wipes and teething wipes which can be used from birth, morning and evening, and if required after a feed, too. It also familiarises them with the feeling and experience of an oral-care routine making life easier later on! Healthy habits are easier to form at an early age for a child. As soon as teeth appear, decay can occur, so brush your baby’s teeth twice a day, with a children’s toothpaste, even if there is only one tooth!’

Time for the dentist!

Dentists recommend taking a baby to the dentist about 6 months after their first tooth appears. So ideally just before the age of one. The BSPD British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD), has recently launched its ‘Dental Check by One’ campaign as part of an NHS drive to reduce high rates of tooth extractions among pre-school children. 

‘During this visit the dentist will check your child’s mouth, gums and teeth and will detect any problems which may exist,’ Tillen adds. ‘There is a precise timeline for each baby tooth to be lost. If your child’s baby teeth are affected by tooth decay or some other trauma and either fall out or have to be extracted prematurely, this could have a negative effect on the growth pattern of the permanent teeth later on and could lead to teeth being crooked and crowded in the future.’

Don’t overshare

As a family, it probably feels natural to share food and toothbrushes but it should be avoided. Tooth decay is caused by decay-causing bacteria in the mouth, which produce acids which destroy the tooth’s enamel. Sugar is the main culprit. Tillen explains that decay-causing bacteria can be passed from adults to babies particularly around the age of six to 31 months.

‘Keeping your own mouth healthy and decay-free and not sharing eating utensils, toothbrushes or cleaning dummies with your mouth, can help to reduce the spread of bacteria,’ she says. ‘Keeping gums clean from birth can help avoid gum inflammation and teething pain during the teething process.’ 

Ready, steady, brush!

Getting your children to brush their teeth can sometimes feel like an impossible task. Turning it into a game, setting a timer or offering sticker rewards can help. Tillen adds that finding the right toothpaste is also likely to help; and using children’s toothpaste with the right amount of fluoride is important.

‘Taste is important in order to get children to brush their teeth, and so finding a particular flavoured toothpaste which they like is often key to the success of a toothbrushing routine.’