How to care for your baby once teeth erupt. The America Academy of Pediatric Dentists has some really great guidelines for new parents. Before teeth erupt, clean your baby’s mouth and gums with a soft cloth or infant toothbrush at bath time. This helps ready the baby for the teeth cleaning to come. When their teeth erupt, clean the child’s teeth twice a day with a toothbrush designed for small children. Take your baby to see a pediatric dentist by the baby’s first birthday if they have teeth. The earlier the visit, the better. It is important to establish a dental home to ensure that the child’s oral health care is delivered in a comprehensive, ongoing, accessible, coordinated and family-centered way by the dentist. If your baby is placed to sleep with a bottle once their teeth erupt, start to transition to water if its throughout the night. When a child is given a bottle containing milk, formula or fruit juice, the teeth can have sugars that stay on until it is wiped or brushed off. If the teeth aren't cleansed by drinking water, getting wiped or brushed, it can cause cavities in babies called “early childhood caries,” formerly known as baby bottle tooth decay. Breast-feeding has been shown to be beneficial for a baby’s health and development. Clean your baby's mouth with a wet washcloth after breast-feeding whenever possible, especially at night time. You can also buy tooth wipes that come in individually wrapped packages that helped us out a lot! Never dip a pacifier in anything sweet; it can lead to serious tooth decay. Wean your infant from the bottle by one year of age.
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Dr. A, BS, MS, DMD, MSDArchives
November 2023
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