Proper Oral Care in Babies - Things to Avoid to Promote Good Oral Health
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Proper oral care for babies starts from day one. As a mother deprived of sleep, you certainly can not think about the condition of your baby's teeth, mostly if they have not appeared yet. However, you can now take some measures to promote healthy teeth and healthy gums. If you take action now, you are glad that you have done so later. In addition to caring for and cleaning your baby's teeth and gums, you should also avoid a few things to promote good oral care for your baby.
One of the biggest problems for babies is sleeping with a bottle in their mouth. Even if you are breastfeeding, let your baby fall asleep while breastfeeding (or more accurately, when you fall asleep while breastfeeding) and allow the milk to accumulate under control. Your baby's mouth can harm it. Besides the risk of asphyxiation when the fluid builds up in the mouth (which is enough to remove and the bottle or the breast baby), milk or baby food is deposited in the mouth and teeth. This, along with bacteria, can damage teeth and cause cavities. When the child falls asleep, remove the bottle and clean your mouth with a clean, damp cloth or a specially designed toothbrush or rubber.
Whether or not your baby wears a pacifier in the first year often depends on the parent's survival and instincts. Remember to keep the cubes clean and not place any sweet and sticky substances on them as the sugar remains and can be added to caries. Avoid adding an element to a lollipop other than water or non-toxic cleaning solutions.
However, after the first year, most pediatricians agree that babies should probably not use pacifiers. More extended pacifier use can not only lead to the correct distance of the teeth but also the baby's teeth can chew a pacifier so that the nipple is a choking hazard due to injury to one of its components. Sucking your finger can also push your teeth forward. And the more often you use your lollipop or thumb, the harder it will be to break it with the habit. It is much easier to have a child one year old, forget to remove your pacifier, which is a child of two years (which seems to have the long-term memory of an elephant!)
Schedule your first visit to the dentist, usually at the end of the first or second year. At this point, you must avoid all foods that are good for anyone's teeth. Avoid things like popcorn that can quickly get stuck between your teeth and sweet snacks like candy and cookies that can cause accumulation and decay. These things are not necessary for good health, and if you avoid them now, your child can avoid them later. Instead, try replacing crispy sandwiches like apple slices, celery, and carrot sticks for older children. Try for the little one's cookies and natural sugar-free cereal sandwiches. Just make sure to cleanse your child's mouth for snacks and especially at bedtime.
If your child's teeth are together, you may also need to use dental floss. Avoid things like popcorn that can quickly get stuck between your teeth and sweet snacks like candy and biscuits that could fit into these invisible spaces and cause buildup and deterioration. Also, most children should avoid chewing gum at this stage to prevent the risk of suffocation. However, if you leave it to the children, it makes sense to use a sugarless eraser instead of a regular eraser.
Once your baby has good teeth (usually about a year), you can stop washing and brushing your teeth and gums. It still gets very soft with little gums to avoid scratches. Use a toothbrush specially developed for small children or a brush with short bristles. Fluoride toothpaste or fluoride-free co-depends on the dentist, but it is generally recommended not to use fluoride before the child is old enough to spit and not swallow the toothpaste. You can buy a fluorous tooth cleaning gel in many pharmacies and shops. There is also an excellent dental gel for children containing the sweetener xylitol.
