In the Know for You to Know

February is National Children’s Dental Health Month (#NCDHM), but children’s dental care is important every day. 

Making dental care a daily habit from before their first teeth helps you keep your child healthy.

Your Newborn’s Mouth

After your baby is born there are new things to learn and become comfortable doing.

Did you know that there is something you can do in anticipation of their teeth? And it’s simple and easy to do.

All you have to do is wipe their mouth after their feedings and before you lay them down (for a nap or bedtime) with a cool wet wash cloth. Easy as that, wipe their gums, tongue, cheeks and top of their mouth with a soft cloth.

Why is this so important? This is because teeth come next and taking care of your child’s baby teeth is important for your child’s overall health and development.

Teething

Baby teeth are also called primary teeth or milk teeth, and they are your child’s first set of teeth.

Teething usually begins at about 4 to 6 months of age, and continues intermittently until your baby is about 24 to 36 months old.

When your child’s teeth are coming in (aka erupting), a good way of comforting their tender gums is by rubbing cool wash cloths (never frozen) gently on the gums.

First Teeth

Around the time your child is 12 months old they should have about 10 teeth.

With more and more teeth coming into your child’s mouth, it is important to be aware that constant bottle feeding, breast feeding or sippy cups increases their risk for cavities.

So keeping up on wiping their teeth and mouth with a cool wet wash cloth after each feeding and before putting them to bed helps to reduce that risk.

How Many Baby Teeth Do Children Have?

By the time children are 24 to 36 months old they usually have all their baby teeth; although this can vary.

When all of your child’s baby teeth have come in they will have 20 teeth, 10 on the top and 10 on the bottom.

Did you know that during the time your baby has been growing and getting their new teeth, their adult teeth have been developing underneath the baby teeth?

5 Reasons Baby Teeth Are Important To Keep Healthy

Baby teeth are important to help children:

• Chew and eat – Eating healthy foods promotes good nutrition and healthy weight. Children who have cavities are less likely to want to eat because their teeth hurt.
• Speak clearly – Teeth help with certain speech sounds like f, s, v, t, and th.
• Keep the space for their adult teeth – When a baby tooth (or teeth) are lost early the surrounding teeth move into that space and block the adult tooth out. This causes issues later when the adult tooth tries to come into their mouth.
• Stay healthy – cavities in baby teeth can cause pain, swelling and significant infections.
• Have self-confidence – Have you seen a child that doesn’t smile or keeps their hand over their mouth or doesn’t want to play much with other children? They’re probably hiding the cavities on their teeth that they don’t want anyone to see.

What To Remember

Taking care of your child’s baby teeth is important for their overall health and well-being now and for their future.

When did you start taking care of your child’s teeth? What is your daily routine? Tell us, We’d really like to know! Send us an email to kidstoothhotline@proton.me Like Us or Chat with us on Facebook at facebook.com/kidstoothhotline

More tips? We have lots. We’re here just for kids!