Children's Dentistry
Baby teeth are just as important as permanent teeth. Early loss of baby teeth can lead to:
- Crowding of teeth
Baby teeth maintain the space needed for adult teeth to erupt in line. Early loss of baby teeth result in the drifting of remaining teeth into the space where the new adult teeth are suppose to erupt. This can then lead to crowding. - Speech problems
Premature loss of baby teeth can result in speech problems especially the “s” sound. - Eating problems
Poor eating habits and slowed growth in young children can be compounded by tooth decay.
Decay in young children is often referred to as nursing caries (decay). This decay often occurs in the child’s top front baby teeth. Ways to prevent nursing decay are:
- Clean your child’s teeth before bedtime - try a wash cloth.
- Offer water or a clean dummy if your child would like to suck on something to settle to sleep. Do not allow your baby to settle by sleeping with a bottle of milk.
- Introduce cup drinking from 6-12 months.
- Minimize snacking during the day as the teeth need a rest between meals.
- Choose healthy snacks such as fresh fruit, cheese, milk, yoghurt, sandwiches, eggs, meat and vegetables.
- Encourage your child to drink water.
- It is best not to introduce juice until your child is 12 months old. Limit fruit juice and dilute it with water. Do not allow sipping of sweet drinks slowly over a long period of time.
Frequent on-demand breast feeding of babies over 12 months old may lead to decay. Babies who are fed on-demand during the night are more likely to have nursing caries.
Teething
Healthy teeth allow children to enjoy a nutritious diet, help with speech development and contribute to good self esteem.
Many babies experience “teething problems” such as:
- Frequent crying and crankiness
- A slight fever
- Reddened cheeks and drooling
- Red swollen gumsIrritability and restlessness
- Finger and fist sucking
- Loss of appetite
- Pulling of the ear on the side of the erupting tooth
How you can help relieve teeth problems?
Such problems should only be temporary. If your baby can not sleep due to the pain try Panadol syrup or Nurofen syrup for children. Mild teething problems are often eased by:
- Allowing baby to chew on hard and soft objects e.g. rusks, teething rings (these can be refrigerated but NOT frozen)
- Rubbing your child’s gum with a clean finger or a cold spoon
- Plenty of cuddles and reassurance
- Cold foods such as chilled yoghurt, cold water
If fever becomes prolonged you need to take your child to the doctor as there may be other causes for the fever.
When should my child begin to see the dentist?
Dental visits commence at 12 months as this is the opportunity we have to detect early signs of nursing decay and assist with the prevention of these problems. Children who have regular check ups and are comfortable with visiting the dentist have fewer dental problems. During the check up, we will assess your child’s risk of dental problems, clean your child’s teeth, apply fluoride and give further advice customized for your child.
When should I start brushing my child’s teeth?
Tooth brushing should start as soon as the first tooth appears. You can try starting with a warm moist wash cloth or guaze and then progress to a soft babies toothbrush. Only a smear of low fluoride children’s toothpaste should be used and this can be introduced at 18 months. Encourage your child to spit out after brushing.
From the age of 3, flossing should be carried out daily.
My child resists brushing, what can I do?
Make brushing fun. You can try to:
- Play a favourite song or DVD during brushing.
- Distract your child with toys.
- Try a battery operated brush.
- Brush whilst having a bath in the tub.
- Offer rewards by placing stickers on a chart and once the chart is full of stars offer your child a treat (preferably not lollies!).
- Use a "show and tell" method which means while you brush your own teeth allow your child to watch and imitate.
Fissures are natural grooves on the biting surfaces of teeth. Food and bacteria tend to get trapped inside the fissures and cause decay. Fissure sealants are plastic coating that seal off the fissures and protect the teeth from decay.
Weaning - when should this commence?
Bottle drinking should stop at 12 months old as too much drinking for prolonged periods can cause decay. It can also affect a child’s appetite and stop them from eating a variety of healthy family food.
It is important to not get frustrated or angry with your child while they are learning to give up their bottle. Regardless of the method for weaning, be prepared for initial crying and fretting, especially during the night.
One method of weaning is “cold turkey”, getting rid of the bottle immediately. To do this you can:
- Allow your child to throw the bottles in the garbage to show that they are now a “big boy/girl”.
- Let your child “give” the bottles to a baby because “babies need bottles because they can’t drink from cups unlike big children”.
- Allow your child to choose a toy at the shops and ask him/her to “pay” for it with the bottle (you need to leave the bottle at the shop!).
- Take your child to the park or zoo and ask them to leave it for a baby animal.
Another method of weaning is to do it gradually. To do this, you can:
- Dilute the drink inside the bottle gradually with water until only water remains
- Cut down on the number of bottles per day.
- Reducing the amount of drink in the bottle.
- Make a hole in the teat of the bottle so the bottle empties faster.
Encourage your child to drink from a cup. Allow you child to choose his/her own cup
What are the signs of tooth decay?
White spots on your child’s teeth that are opaque and whiter than the tooth’s actual colour are the first sign of decay. As the spots enlarge they can change colour to yellow or brown which then break down and form a visible hole.
What about parents?
Parents and carers oral hygiene is important.
As teeth come through the bacteria that causes tooth decay is passed to the baby by the main carer through kissing, food tasting or cleaning the dummy in their own mouths. It is important that the carers for babies have their teeth checked, cleaned and any decay or gum disease issues resolved professionally.