How to Care for your Kids Teeth (I)

Jewel's school has kindly organized a Dental talk on, ' How to Care for your Kids Teeth'. You bet I was very interested in attending. So when the principal told me about it, I immediately gave my attendance.

When should kids start to brush their teeth? From me and hubby's research, it should start from the day they have their first tooth. So when Jewel had her first tooth, we bought her first training tooth brush from Pigeon which looks like this;

Pigeon Training Tooth Brush Training 1

It has no bristles and made of soft rubber. The purpose of it is to cultivate the habit of having something in their mouth. The dentist who gave the talk also said that brushing of kids tooth should start young. We find it true as there is no problem in getting Jewel to brush her teeth as she grows up. I felt so proud of myself for doing the right thing. Needless to say Ian has been brushing his teeth with Lesson 1 toothbrush too.

Due to the lightings, this is the best I can snap. Mr Dentist went through all the 4 pointers. Let me share what are the details of each point;

1) Brushing with Fluoride free toothpaste

We all know that Fluoride prevents tooth decay and cavities. It is not ingested therefore once it goes on to our teeth, we have to spit it out after that. Too much fluoride can be toxic. Have you seen this?

Can you see the discolouration? Brown and white patches? This is called fluorsis. It is caused by too much fluoride intake. I remembered seeing this kind of teeth among my friends and I thought that was caused by the removal of their braces. (I don't know if they have history of wearing braces but i reckon so.) Ignorance me...

As babies and toddlers don't know how to rinse their mouth after brushing, they tend to swallow the toothpaste. So when the permanent are grown out, it will be what is shown above. Of course me and hubby knows about this and thus we bought this fluoride free toothpaste called GC Tooth Mousse. This IS NOT CHEAP. Selling at $35! 

From hubby's dentist, this toothpaste is made of milk. Therefore it is absolutely safe for kids to swallow if they 'forgot' to spit it out.

2) Type of Toothbrush

It should be the size of the kid's tooth, the smaller the size the better so that it is easier to reach the molar. Bristle should be soft. Jewel is coming to 3 years old and she is using Pigeon Toothbrush Lesson 3. It is easy to grasp and small enough for her mouth.

Pigeon Training Toothbrush Lesson 3

3) Electric vs Manual

Obviously manual right? Even Mr Dentist said so. Electric can't reach certain teeth. BUT......the dentist's family is using the Electric!!?? WHY? Because..Philips has a particular electric model that has a timer. Mr Dentist said everyone should spend at least 2 mins in brushing. So the timer is able to discipline his children to brush their teeth for at least least 2 mins. Smart move isn't it? In this way we do not need to monitor our kids.

4) Flossing and mouth rinsing

Even kids must floss their teeth. But so young...how do they know how to floss? Well, we are suppose to floss for them. Get your child to lie on your lap and floss it. It is a good way of bonding too!

Acknowledgement

Slides: Taken from Sunshine Dental presentation

Speaker: Dr John Paul Seah