In Australia, your child is eligible for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS), a federal fund guaranteeing access to basic dental care up to 17 years of age. The Child Health Nurse recommended booking our son’s first dental appointment at six months.

The dentist said she rarely saw children that young, but thought it was a good idea to get him used to being in a dentist’s chair. She made the experience fun by making the chair go up and down while he sat on my lap, and inflated one of her blue rubber gloves to create a hand-shaped balloon for him. Then she cleaned his four teeth with baby toothpaste and scheduled an appointment for when he turned one.

Since then, he has been to the dentist twice. He has become more wriggly and uncooperative with his growing awareness, but each visit is an opportunity for him to build positive associations with dental appointments.

Importance of Oral Health

As NSW Health explains:

“Early childhood is the best time for children to learn habits which will last a lifetime and help them become healthy adults. Baby teeth are important for eating, talking and how children look. Baby teeth help shape the jaw and face and keep space for adult teeth to come through.

Bacteria (germs) that cause dental decay can be passed from a mother/father or carer to a child’s mouth on dummies, bottles and spoons.  Utensils, such as spoons, should not be shared between a parent and child. It is very important to keep your own teeth and gums clean and healthy and to be a good role model for your child.

What can cause dental decay in young children?

• frequently eating sugary foods like cupcakes, biscuits, lollies, chocolate, muesli bars and fruit straps

• drinking sweet drinks like fruit juice, cordial and soft drinks

• putting a baby to bed with a bottle

• sucking or sipping on bottles or sippy cup all day with something sweet in it

• not cleaning or brushing teeth.”

Alarmingly,

• “34.3% of children aged between five and six years of age in Australia have experienced tooth decay, according to statistics taken from the Australian Dental Association.

• 27.1% have untreated tooth decay in children aged between five and ten years of age.

• 9.3 children in every 1000 hospitalisations could have been prevented.

… Oral health can impact a child’s ability to eat, talk, sleep, speak, play and socialise.

They may experience pain and discomfort, get infections, have a poor diet, and impaired growth and nutrition. Many children who experience tooth decay will need to have teeth extracted under general anaesthesia in hospital.

Learners may need to take time out of schooling, and their parents time off work for dental and hospital appointments.”

Cavity Prevention: Chew Some Gum

My father used to bite pieces of food in half to share with me when I was little, so I naturally did the same for my first baby. Then I read this with a sinking sensation in my gut:

“Children are not born with decay-causing bacteria in the mouth.

These bacteria are passed to the child by their parents or caregivers through food tasting and/or through cleaning a dummy or teat in their own mouths.

By keeping their own mouth healthy, parents can reduce the risk of decay in themselves and their children.

… The enamel on baby teeth is softer and thinner than on adult teeth, and can decay more easily and quickly.”

Thankfully, I found a way to rectify this by buying some xylitol gum from the local supermarket!

“Mothers of children between three months and two years old who used xylitol gum several times each day, protected their child from tooth decay until the age of five years old.  In this case, xylitol reduced the amount of microorganisms transmitted from mother to child.

Once the child reaches toddlerhood, xylitol can be consumed as a sugar substitute, or as a natural byproduct of eating fruit and vegetables.  Older children can reduce the threat of new cavities by chewing xylitol gum.”

Xylitol is a sugar substitute that is “a common ingredient in sugar-free chewing gums, mints, and oral care products like toothpaste.”

Daily Clean

After birth, we were instructed to clean our babies’ gums with a damp washcloth, then progressed to a baby toothbrush once their first teeth erupted. Toothpaste is generally recommended from 18 months of age, but we had a free sample tube of Jack N’ Jill baby toothpaste for those six months and up.

Unlike some babies who scream every time their gums or teeth are brushed (our neighbour’s niece does that), our toddlers are generally interested in the process of cleaning their teeth.

The problem is that they want to be independent and do it themselves, which means the job is not very thorough. We usually have to wrestle the toothbrush back and finish the task despite vociferous protests.

(I also read this news story with horror: a Sunshine Coast girl was jumping around with her toothbrush in her mouth and sustained a gash in her mouth. So, no playing with the toothbrush!)

We have found that sometimes, when our son baulks at the regular toothbrush, he will accept the silicone finger toothbrush, which probably feels softer on his gums.

We also bought a banana-shaped teether that was recommended as a good training toothbrush for bubs, with its soft massaging bristles providing a gentle clean for gums. Our son seemed to find it soothing to gnaw on when he was teething.

Does your baby enjoy having his or her teeth cleaned? What strategies have you implemented for fuss-free dental maintenance?

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Image courtesy of Adobe.