Oral Care tips for 0-2-year-old Children
Dr. D.Sendhil Nathan MDS, DNB Prosthodontics And Implantology
Milk Teeth or Baby Teeth are the first teeth that erupt in our infanthood. Babies are born with a set of milk teeth that lies underneath the gums. They begin to appear between 6 and 12 months. Such primary teeth seem to be less important as they fall out when a kid is 6 or 7 years old.
Do you know the milk teeth are essential for the development of our mouth? They reserve space in the jaws for the eruption of permanent or adult teeth. Milk teeth are also required for proper jaw development. Likewise, the milk teeth help the kids to eat, chew and speak. Early fall out of the milk teeth due to injuries or cavities will lead to serious obstacles like crooked teeth, overbite and others that want expensive dental treatments.
If you have a newborn baby or kid whose age is below 2 years, then this article is for you. You can get basic ideas to take care of your little champ’s teeth here. Let us see.
1. Feed Breastmilk for 6 months
You may know that the immunological components present in breast milk will minimize health risks like ear infections, asthma, obesity, etc. Besides fighting against health problems, the proteins, vitamins present in the breast milk help in the teeth development.
Breastfeeding exploits cordial activities from the tongue, jaw bones, muscles and the cranial nerves. This helps the breastfed kids have a well-developed, “U-shaped” dental arch when compared to babies who get milk from artificial appliances.
2. Don’t let the baby sleep with a baby bottle
Feeding the milk with baby bottles is a common practice to nourish. You should supervise your kid when he/she drinks milk through the baby bottle because children may fall asleep with a bottle in their mouth.
Then the sweetened agents like sugar present in the fluid contacts the teeth frequently. This in the long turn, will lead to cavities.
To avoid this, feed milk with the bottle to your kid during meal time alone. If you want to feed during the night or before going to bed, give the baby bottle filled with cooled boiled water instead of milk.
3. Switch to cups when your child becomes 1 year old
A kid should not drink milk and other liquids with a baby bottle for a while. Holding and drinking an open appliance like a cup or tumbler is a new skill to learn. Kids who completed 1 year should avoid bottle feeding and move to cups. Parents should teach this habit to their toddlers.
4. Prefer sugarless drinks
Remember that the teeth are still developing in your baby’s mouth. You should not frequently feed the child with sugar and sweetened drinks like fruit juices, frizzled drinks, chocolate drinks, flavored milk and others. If you feed any of these with a baby bottle, then the chances are higher for dental caries as discussed earlier.
In the case of feeding such sugary drinks, clean the child’s gums and erupted teeth with a soft cloth by soaking it in water and gently rub over the gums and teeth.
5. Start cleaning the teeth
The teeth begin to appear when your infant is 6 months old. The remaining teeth will appear within the next 2 years. You need to indulge in activities to clean the baby teeth when they appear. Until the teeth appear, use a soft cloth to clean the gums as mentioned in the above section.
After that, use a soft-bristled toothbrush designed especially for babies to clean the teeth. Gently rub the teeth with the brush and assure that the brush has reached all the surfaces of the mouth.
Don’t use toothpaste until 18 months. Then use a small amount of toothpaste to clean the teeth.
6. Lift the lip
After the eruption of milk teeth, gently lift the upper lip and take a look at the gums and teeth once for every month. It will help you to rectify a minor issue in the teeth in the initial stage.
7. Thumbsucking
Thumb sucking is a common habit seen in babies and infants. It helps them to get pleasure and soothe themselves with their own fingers. Typically, this habit will go off when the kid becomes 4 years old. If your child does not stop this habit, then you should practice him/her to avert this habit. Otherwise, it will cause orthodontic problems like crowded, crooked teeth later.
Conclusion
Milk teeth which have a lesser lifetime play a dominant role in our dental health. Remember that kids need support to clean their teeth until they become 7 or 8 years old. Every parent should take care of their kid’s baby teeth by cleaning like the permanent teeth.
