teeth cleaning for toddlers

Teeth cleaning. Obviously.

I taught my DC to clean their teeth from a very early age. I did it for them when they had two teeth! My DD has followed in my footsteps. It is never too early to start cleaning teeth, ask any Dentist and you will get the same advice. DD's Dentist advises that little ones teeth should be cleaned as follows:
Put a pea sized amount of milk teeth toothpaste on the brush and brush front and back of all the teeth.
There is no need to rinse afterwards as ingesting the fluoride in the toothpaste helps to strengthen the teeth.
I hope I don't sound preachy, but it is good to start young.

DIL has a 'teeth cleaning' app on her phone (I think), it plays a song for the correct length of time they are supposed to keep brushing.

The dentist always comments on what nice clean teeth they have (DD1 is just getting her second teeth and DD2 still has all her first teeth).
DIL or DS still clean their teeth, DD1 occasionally and DD2 mostly.

I think if they are allowed to rot it will cause problems with the second teeth which are already in the gums.

And what self-respecting tooth fairy would take away a dirty tooth?

Get your DD to show your SIL this, ethel!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33498324

As an ex (many,many years ago, even before I had children!) dental nurse it is VITAL to clean teeth from the moment they appear!

Yes, they will fall out, but while they are there and in good condition, they act as "space savers" for the teeth that are to come! Plus it is all part of establishing good practice/habits!

A friend of Mr P's who's child had horribly rotten milk teeth, due to atrocious diet and poor oral hygiene, now faces a long battle to get even a reasonable set of teeth, braces etc are just a small part of it.

SIL's mother sounds as if she is living in the dark ages!

She might even be putting aside money for DGD as we speak, so that she can pay for entire tooth removal & dentures for her 21st birthday!

VERY CROSS OF DEVON

Having taught too many kids with rotting milk teeth and several who had to have surgery due to caries on milk teeth I am a very strong supporter of cleaning teeth as soon as they peep through! Good habits as well as good hygiene.

My DDs have encouraged tooth brush play in the bath when DGC were just gummy!

Oh dear oh dear. Maybe you should tell your SIL that the main cause of hospital admittance for children in the UK is tooth decay and extraction. Is this what he wants for his DD? Best advice ever on looking after children's teeth-http://www.toothfairyblog.org/

Oh dear oh dear. Maybe you should tell your SIL that the main cause of hospital admittance for children in the UK is tooth decay and extraction. Is this what he wants for his DD? Best advice ever on looking after children's teeth- www.toothfairyblog.org/
Sorry link didn't work

Only last week a dentist on television was saying that ideally parents should supervise their childrens' teeth cleaning till they were 16 and should do the brushing for toddlers. There seems to be an absolute epidemic of preschoolers having all their milk teeth removed, which means hospital and a general anaesthetic. Surely not what anyone wants for their child.

This morning I saw a woman with a girl in a push chair. The child looked about four and was drinking what appeared to be tea out of a bottle! I didn't quite have the nerve to go and lecture her about the probable state of the child's teeth.

Some good points.

To put it very basically, anything other than milk or plain boiled water in a bottle, is a bit of a risk, teeth wise.

I really hate seeing children of an age where they can use training cups etc having bottles. (perhaps a bottle of milk at bedtime is different, not something I have any experience of)

To think that not that long ago there were dummies with a sort of reservoir thing that could be filled with all sorts of tooth rotting stuff!

In our family, care of teeth started with the first tooth and a tiny brush. Good habits start at a very early age and taking care of milk teeth will ensure the next set come in healthy. Ignore those that say it doesn't matter, it does matter and we don't want to see GC losing teeth at an early age.

Absentdaughter had "soft" teeth, lacking enamel, but they had been brushed religiously from the day the first one found its way through her gums and she had daily fluoride tables. Apparently, this was also true of one of my cousins so we think it might be a genetic problem. Poor little thing had to have four milk teeth removed when she was a little girl. It was awful but, as I understand it, not something we did wrong. How appalling to put a small child through that process because you can't be bothered.

What gets me is hearing it said on the news that a lack of dentists is causing young children to have bad teeth.

NO! Most commonly it is a bad diet with too much sugary food and drinks and lack of daily cleaning are the primary reason for tooth decay.

Dentists can do cleaning to help keep teeth healthy but after that they only try to put things right after the damage has occurred. (Apart from orthodontists stuff.)

Nelliemoser although the diet is important even those with fairly healthy diets could be damaging their children's teeth. So called healthy muesli bars for example are full of sugar. A good dentist will also give advice about the best way to look after your child's teeth. There are a lot of people with bad habits around, For example it used to be thought that cleaning straight after meals was good. That isn't true. Cleaning soon after a meal means the enamel may be soft and easily damageable, waiting an hour is best
www.toothfairyblog.org/

trisher I don't trust that any branded product advertised as a healthy just because its whole grain is not packed with sugar. The problem is the way they are advertised. I think the advertising industry need to checked about how they present these issues.

This example sounds amazingly bad it does not even give the ingriedients.
www.naturalbalancefoods.co.uk/nakd-infused-raisins/

Gave my two toothbrushes as "toys" as soon as they could hold and chew and as they got their teeth I scrubbed them after every meal. They are both in their 40 s and neither has a single filling. I might add also that the only sweet day was Friday when they could choose between sweets or a new book like Andy Pandy to be read at bedtime. No soft drinks except that really hot summer when I bought squash which was very diluted. Sounds mean but it worked.

thank you for your comments, I always do her teeth and as her mum has taught her well DGD asks to do her teeth herself when shes at my house so I say that grandma has to do them first then I take over and make sure they are done properly.
Since starting this thread I have talked to a couple of other mums and they say that it isn't too important to worry about baby teeth.

Maybe not important to worry about them - but very important to get young children into the teeth-cleaning habit, as has been said.

I think when I was a child most people thought that milk teeth weren't that important because they were going to be replaced. Hence the horrible experiance I had when I had to have several removed with gas when I was about five. It took me about 50 years to more or less got over it.

Deedaa - I remember the smell, screaming as the mask went on, feeling helpless in the chair. At the time my mother preferred cocaine for her extractions. No idea why I had toothache so teeth extracted as a child (in spite of sweet rationing) though have been told my teeth are 'soft'.
Dentistry has advanced so far, an appreciated aspect of modern life!

DGSs (5 and rising 4) do their own teeth with their little electric toothbrushes and then happily submit to what is known as " checking" by whichever adult is in charge. (Another serious brushing!) No problems so far!

Teeth cleaning definitely matters, even when they are only baby teeth. Getting little ones used to brushing early can make it much easier to establish a consistent routine as they grow. Baby teeth also help with eating and speech, and keeping them healthy is important until they naturally fall out.

A children's dentist can give parents practical guidance on brushing techniques and age-appropriate toothpaste. Blue Tooth Dental Newtown provides children's dental care in Newtown, NSW, and its guidance on baby teeth reinforces the importance of looking after them from an early age. I'd say keeping brushing part of the morning and bedtime routine is well worth the effort, even if a toddler needs an adult to help.