Tips to keep your child's teeth healthy!
Good habits are developed at a young age. Here we leave some tips for Dr. Marta Simões regarding the daily care of little ones’ teeth.
Do not drink milk before bed or at night
The sugars present in milk/pore are retained in the teeth, creating the “ideal environment” for the development of tooth decay. The ideal would be to remove this habit after the first year of life.
Pay attention to pacifiers and teats
Not recommended:
Put the pacifier in the mouth and then offer it to the child;
Blow on the food before offering it to the child.
We, adults, have an established colonization of microorganisms in the mouth and babies still have an immune system in formation.
Perform oral hygiene for little ones twice a day
Even before tooth eruption, we can remove “milk plaques” that remain on the gums with a compress soaked in saline solution. This way, we create a healthy routine from the beginning.
When your first teeth emerge, perform oral hygiene with a soft brush and paste with 1,000 ppm fluoride.
Try implementing the 3B's routine before bed - brush, book, bed.
Introduce the cup from the first year onwards
Teaching your child to drink from a cup instead of a bottle helps prevent tooth decay. Start this introduction with water around 12 months. Set aside any straw cups or teat cups.
Do not offer sugary drinks
Fruit juices, carbonated drinks and drinks with added sugars should not be offered before the age of 5.
Limit your intake of sweets and packaged fruits
Sticky foods such as cookies, gum, caramels and lozenges stick to the teeth, increasing the risk of developing tooth decay. Limit your consumption (once a week for example) and never forget to brush your child's teeth.
Make water the family's first choice
Water is the best drink we can consume. Water contains fluoride, helping to strengthen tooth enamel and, therefore, it is the healthiest drink we can offer our teeth.
Author: Marta Simões Vieira - Dentist
