Teeth - dental care for children
teeth; tooth; decay; caries; cleaning; brushing; toothbrush; brush; paste; toothpaste; milk; juice; bottle; smoking; fluoride;
Contents
Teeth are some of your children's most important possessions. How you look after their teeth from the time they are babies will make a difference to how they grow and how healthy they are. This means not only how you clean them but also how you protect them from things that can harm teeth. Tooth decay is preventable.
There is a simpler, illustrated version of this information in the topic Teeth - give your child's teeth a healthy start.
There are several other topics on this site about teeth and teeth care:
- Teeth - give your child's teeth a healthy start
- Teeth – decay and erosion
- Teeth – fluoride
- Teeth – when a tooth is knocked out
- Teeth - development and teething
Protecting teeth
- Do not give your baby or young child a bottle of formula, milk or fruit juice to go to sleep with, or to suck on for a long time during the day. The sugar in milk and fruit juice can lead to decay if it is in the baby's mouth for a lot of time.
- Don't leave the bottle in your baby's mouth while baby is asleep.
- Babies who breastfeed continuously or frequently at night after they have cut some teeth can also have sugars staying in their mouth for a long time and may develop tooth decay. Detach your baby from the nipple when the feed is finished. When babies are breastfed during the day less milk stays in the mouth compared to bottle fed babies, so the risk of dental decay is less.
- Healthy snacks and drinks are important for children. Try to keep away from too much sugar, especially between meals.
- Babies get the germs that cause tooth decay from other people, especially those who kiss them a lot. If the adults have clean and healthy teeth, a baby is more likely to have healthy teeth. Kissing and touching babies is important and should not be stopped!
- It has been shown that young children exposed to passive smoking have more dental decay than other children.
Cleaning teeth
- Start cleaning your baby's teeth as soon as they appear in the mouth. Clean the teeth with a small, soft toothbrush.
- Brush the teeth twice a day - after breakfast and last thing before going to sleep at night.
- Do not use toothpaste before 18 months of age.
- Parents need to supervise the use of toothpaste and tooth brushing by their young children. Children do not have the skills needed to fully clean their own teeth until they are 8 to 9 years old.
- When children start using toothpaste, use a low-fluoride toothpaste made for children.
- Only a smear of toothpaste (the size of a pea or less) should be put onto the toothbrush. You need to put the toothpaste on yourself until the children can do it properly.
- Keep toothpaste tubes out of the reach of children.
Toothpaste
- Fluoride is found naturally in food and water and is added to most water supplies and many oral care products such as mouth rinse and toothpastes.
- Using fluoride toothpaste twice a day is a very effective way of reducing tooth decay.
- Teach children to spit out the toothpaste after using fluoride toothpaste.
- Don't swallow. Swallowing the toothpaste may cause them to get too much fluoride.
- Don't rinse. Fluoride can go on protecting the teeth for some time after brushing if the toothpaste is not rinsed out of the mouth.
Children under 18 months of age
- Fluoride toothpaste is not recommended for children under 18 months of age.
- Generally young children receive enough fluoride to benefit their teeth through food and water.
- From birth to 18 months of age the permanent front teeth are developing, and if children swallow fluoride toothpaste they may get white flecks (fluorosis) on their permanent adult teeth. To avoid this, fluoride toothpaste should not be used when brushing the teeth and should be kept out of children's reach.
- If you live in an area which does not have fluoridated water, ask your dental professional whether it would be a good idea to start fluoride toothpaste at an earlier age.
Children 18 months - 5 years of age
- Low fluoride toothpaste is recommended for children aged 18 months to 5 years to prevent dental disease.
- Research shows that young children swallow a lot of toothpaste when brushing their teeth. Therefore, it is recommended that they use a low-fluoride toothpaste such as Colgate 'my first toothpaste'**, Macleans 'milk teeth'** or Oral B children's toothpaste**.
- Use a smear of low-fluoride toothpaste twice a day, in the morning and last thing before bed at night.
- Toothpaste tubes should be kept out of children's reach, and toothpaste put on the brush by an adult to avoid accidental swallowing of large amounts.
Children 6 - 18 years and adults
- Fluoride toothpaste is recommended for children aged 6 - 18 years and adults to prevent dental disease. Choose a fluoride toothpaste that suits your taste and budget. General guidelines for using fluoride toothpaste are:
- use twice a day, in the morning and before bed at night
- spit the toothpaste out - do not rinse your mouth
- don't eat or swallow toothpaste
- follow advice given by your dental professional.
- Ask your dental professional about your child's fluoride toothpaste needs.
Toothbrushes
- Use a toothbrush with a small head and soft bristles.
- Clean the teeth, gums and tongue every morning and night.
- Every person should have their own toothbrush and should not use anybody else's toothbrush.
- Store toothbrushes in a clean, dry, airy place so that they can dry out between use (you may need two brushes per person, used alternately). Store toothbrushes separately so they do not touch other toothbrushes.
- After brushing the teeth, the toothbrush should be rinsed thoroughly under fast running water to remove toothpaste, bits of food, and plaque. Then shake off the water from the toothbrush to help with drying.
- Replace toothbrushes regularly and when they become 'shaggy' or clogged with toothpaste.
- Also replace toothbrushes after illness such as colds and flu or after mouth infections.
- Follow personal hygiene practices, such as washing hands after going to the toilet and washing the toothbrush if it falls on the floor or in the hand basin.
Visit your dentist
- Dentists who specialise in children's dentistry recommend that children are first checked by a dentist about six months after the first tooth appears.
- This means for many children that they should be seen when they turn one.
Resources
South Australia
- South Australian Dental Service for children.
Office hours - phone 8222 8222
After hours emergency dental service - phone 8232 2651
(Mon-Fri 4.30pm - 9pm; weekends 9am-9pm)
Health Promotion, SA Dental Service (08) 8222 9016
http://www.sadental.sa.gov.au
- South Australian parents can consult the Dental Department at the Women's and Children's Hospital (Ph: 8161 7379 - 8am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday) or their own dentist for more detailed information.
Books for parents
- Pamphlet 'Zero to Six' obtainable from the South Australian Dental Service, Dental Health Education Unit and Child and Youth Health Centres.
References
South Australian Dental Service Health Promotion Unit University of Adelaide, Dental Department
(08) 8222 9016
http://www.sadental.sa.gov.au
Australian Dental Association 'Your oral health - fluoride now'
http://www.ada.org.au/oralhealth/fln/fluoridation.aspx
Aligne et al. 'Association of Pediatric Dental Caries with Passive Smoking'. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 2003, 289: 1258-1264.
SIGN 'Preventing dental caries in children at high caries risk: information for non-dental professionals'.
http://www.sign.ac.uk/guidelines/fulltext/47/section5.html
**Any products referred to in our health topics are usually well-known brands readily available in Australia. The brand names are given as examples only, and do not necessarily represent the best products, nor the full range of effective products on the market.
The information on this site should not be used as an alternative to professional care. If you have a particular problem, see a doctor, or ring the Parent Helpline on 1300 364 100 (local call cost from anywhere in South Australia).
This topic may use 'he' and 'she' in turn - please change to suit your
child's sex.