Summary
In the fifth and final post of five blogs, Steve Lomas (Practice Partner at Old Surgery Dental Practice) shares an article he recently wrote for his doctor so he could advise his patients on how to look after their children’s teeth. Part 5 offers a summary of everything covered so far, along with some closing advice. Here at the Old Surgery Dental Practice, we aim to prevent your children being exposed to tooth decay – always preferable to simply fixing it after the fact!
- Use full strength toothpaste from birth. Look at the side of your toothpaste tube and make sure it states that it contains at least 1350ppm (parts per million) of fluoride. If you want to use something lower, then use at least 1000ppm on infants
- Use just a small smear of toothpaste on an infant’s brush, then move up to a small pea sized amount as the back teeth come in to the mouth
- Brush for two minutes morning and night
- Do not rinse the toothpaste out after brushing
- Clean the teeth just before bed, and do not have a drink afterwards. Let the fluoride coat the teeth whilst sleeping
- Try and use an electric toothbrush from the age of three. Ideally a rechargeable one. It does not need to be expensive, a basic Oral B model will be good, and Oral B produce smaller softer children’s tooth brush heads. One body will service different heads for different members of the family
- If you want to use a mouthwash, make sure it contains fluoride. Colgate produce a good children’s mouthwash. Remember to use it before brushing at night, not after, we want the toothpaste to stay on the teeth overnight
- Around the age of 7 to 8, children will want to clean their own teeth. Until then a parent should clean or finish cleaning the teeth. At this stage use little coloured disclosing tablets to help your child see the plaque so they learn how to brush all the plaque away
- Disclosing tablets can be used to check on older children’s tooth brushing if there are concerns over how often or for how long they brush
- Frequency of sugar intake is the biggest problem, far more than what is eaten
- Every time something is eaten or drank, then bacteria in the dental plaque produce acid. It is this acid that actually damages the enamel and starts cavity formation.
- Each production of acid is called an acid attack and lasts around 3o minutes until the saliva in the mouth neutralises the acid
- Teeth can withstand four acid attacks each day without coming to harm. Therefore try and move your child onto a routine of a good breakfast, lunch and tea as early in life as possible, to help cut out the snacking habit. Every time the bacteria are fed it induces an acid attack, so try and keep them to a minimum
- Children who have lots of little meals or snacks are therefore at much greater risk of decay than those that have three larger meals
- I do not mind chocolate, sweets or fizzy drinks as part of a mealtime, but not as snacks or drinks between mealtimes
- Safe snacking. Between meals try to keep to breadsticks, cheese, fruit, milk, water or sugar free tea and coffee
- If your child eats between meals, try and encourage the use of chewing gum straight afterwards, It helps to clean the teeth, reduce the length of the acid attack, and is proven to reduce decay risk. It is really effective when out and about for the day
- Make sure the whole family is on the same message. Grandparents love to spoil their grandchildren, and can often play a major contributing factor in the decay process, especially if they give a lot of help with childcare
- Take your children for regular check-ups every six months from around two and a half or sooner
- Your dentist may advise fissure sealing to protect the first adult molars which come through around age six and a half
- Remember to always ask your dentist for preventive advice for your family. We always prefer to prevent decay rather than fix it!
