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When should I start brushing my babies teeth?.
A
Brushing your baby’s teeth
or getting them used to having their mouths cleaned is essential for their future
health. Getting your child into a routine is always a good habit to have, so
add mouth care into your baby’s routine as soon as you can you may want
to start by doing the following:
- The British dental health foundation
suggests that you start cleaning your baby’s mouth as soon as possible.
Twice a day, by using clean hands and a clean soft piece of gauze, you can
start to clean around you babies mouth and gums. This will help to remove
milk deposits and get your baby used to mouth hygiene.
- As your baby gets older you can
then start to brush your baby’s gums with a soft toothbrush. Doing this
twice a day helps to establishes tooth brushing as part of their washing routine.
- When your babies first tooth comes
through you can then add to you’re twice a day tooth brushing routine
fluoride toothpaste. It’s important to use fluoride toothpaste as it
helps to prevent and control tooth decay.
- According to dental health regulations
Children under the age of three can use a smear of family toothpaste containing
at least 1,000ppm (parts per million) fluoride. Any less and it won’t
be as effective at preventing decay. Children aged from three to six should
use a pea-sized blob of toothpaste containing 1,350-1,500ppm fluoride. Don’t
let your child eat the toothpaste and encourage them to spit out the excess.
- Always supervise tooth brushing
until your child is seven or eight years
health visitor
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