In most cases, the birth of a child is something to be looked forward to and few regret the experience. Sometimes though, the amount of challenges that arise from parenting can feel a little overwhelming. Whether that is dealing with a sick child or simply the barrage of ‘why’ questions, it never feels like there are enough hours in the day to help them while maintaining a life of our own.
Unfortunately, we can’t help you with most of the challenges, but we can offer some advice on their oral health right from the baby stage to older teenagers (and beyond). We hope that you find this useful and remember, we are always here to help if any advice is needed, and please do take a look at the children’s dentistry page of our website too.
A baby's first teeth don’t usually start to appear until around 6 months of age. Before this though, it is important to keep their gums clean and moist. You can do this by using a clean piece of gauze dampened with water and using your finger to very gently wipe the gums.
Once the first teeth appear you can use a special baby toothbrush to gently clean these, continuing to wipe the gums as well.
Around their first birthday, you should contact the Clarence Dental Practice to make their first check up appointment. While problems are unlikely at this age, it is good to start monitoring their oral health. Studies have also indicated that bringing babies into a dental environment with their unique smells and sounds, can help children avoid dental phobia as they grow older.
For parents, these can be the most ‘fun’ days with their children as they discover the world and their place in it. It can also be a challenging time as well, including when it comes to looking after their teeth. An increased liking for sugar is likely to be noticed as well as the tendency to skip brushing their teeth if they think they can get away with it. This is a recipe for poor oral health of course.
For as long as you can, we recommend that you supervise their teeth cleaning, ensuring that they do so correctly and for at least two minutes both morning and night. Make sure too, that they don’t eat any sweets or drink sugary drinks after they have brushed their teeth at night.
Please don’t make the mistake of thinking that their first teeth are not important. In addition to no parent wanting to hear their child in pain due to a severe toothache, premature loss of ‘baby teeth’ can cause problems with the eruption of adult teeth. While their first teeth will eventually fall out, look after them as you would their adult teeth.
The ‘wilful’ years can be challenging as children start to become a little more independent. This is natural of course and part of them developing into adults, even if it might not feel like it at the time. It will be more difficult to supervise their brushing, but try to keep an eye on it as best as you can. The same applies with their diet. Junk food and high sugar drinks are a real threat at this time so try to steer them away from these as much as you can.
Make sure too, that they attend their check up appointments at our Staines dentist so that we can help them maintain a healthy mouth. Teenagers are probably more likely to listen to advice from a dentist than from their own parents who they may see as ‘authority’ figures.
Especially towards the end of this period of their life, factors such as alcohol, smoking and drugs might start to appear. Keep a look out for any signs of these and if you notice them, don’t ignore it but talk to your children, including the associated health risks.
Once a child becomes 18, they are legally an adult and can ignore anything that you tell them. It is still worth reminding them of the importance of looking after their teeth and gums though. Even at this age, most children do listen to their parents, even if they pretend not to. Reminding them to change their toothbrush, brush twice daily and see the dentist every six months will hopefully sink in and allow them to have healthy teeth well into their adult years.
If you have a child who is one year old or more, and who doesn’t have a regular dentist in the Staines area, why not change that now? Please contact the Clarence Dental Practice today on 01784 463 695 and talk to us about registering and booking an appointment. We look forward to seeing you and helping you and your family on the oral care journey.
Address: 21a Clarence Street, Staines upon Thames, Surrey, TW18 4SU
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