Fort Worth Dentist Dental Care For Babies

If you have a baby or infant at home, it is important that you start practicing oral hygiene right away to set them up for long-term health in the care of their teeth. These practices make a serious difference in preventing tooth decay and mouth irritation, and they will also help your child to learn good oral care habits as they get older.

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Keep reading for some useful guidelines.

You must start caring for your child’s teeth right away after they are born. After your baby is done feeding, make sure to gently wash their mouth with a washcloth to prevent any fungal infection caused by yeast.  This can be caused by breast-feeding or sucking on a bottle to create a painful infection in the mouth.  This condition is called thrush, and white patches will appear on the tongue, gums, and cheeks. Your child may also have patches on the face and pain when breast-feeding or sucking on a pacifier. If this condition is not treated, the mother could have thrush on the breast, although it normally does not spread.

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Children normally begin teething at around three months, and signs may include drooling, biting, irritability, a rash on the mouth, loss of appetite, crying, fever, or changes in the bowel movement. One way to relieve the pain is to use a cool washcloth to massage the gums. You can also use a teething ring for your baby that is age appropriate. Make sure to watch your baby carefully with a teething ring since it could be a choking hazard. If it becomes severe, you may also want to consult with their doctor about using an over-the-counter numbing gel for the teeth.

There are quite a few babies that are born with one or more teeth, and they are normally the lower incisors. Most children will have grown in their 20 baby teeth before the age of three, which is the opportunity to begin to brush their new teeth with a children’s toothbrush.  Make sure to begin by rinsing the toothbrush with water instead of using toothpaste, and you can progress to toothpaste when your child is 18 months old. When you purchase toothpaste, make sure that it is child appropriate without fluoride so that there is no danger if your child were to swallow it. There are numerous safe brands of children’s toothpaste on the market that won’t cause any problems if they are swallowed.

You can take this opportunity to prevent your child’s teeth from decay by monitoring the food that they eat, especially since it is easy for bacteria to accumulate on baby teeth. You can reduce the amount of sugars and carbohydrates that your child eats to prevent early childhood cavities, and it is also important not to let your child fall asleep with a bottle that contains a sugary juice or milk. These practices will make a difference in protecting the teeth of your child for the long term so that they won’t be plagued with cavities or tooth decay in their baby teeth.