Being a dentist and mother, I can truly understand
the emotional turmoil that Cara McDonough went through when she realized that
there were cavities in her baby’s teeth. She wrote an article titled " My
baby has cavities in her teeth. Does that make me a bad mother? "
(Published in The Washington Post on 11 May 2015). After
reading this article, I am inspired to share my story of dental care for my
kids.
For my first born, Anastasia, I had a
hard time getting rid of her night feed and this was extremely stressful for me
as being a dentist myself I am able to appreciate the consequences of not
brushing teeth before sleep. I tried really hard. Finally I succeeded to brush
her teeth before she sleeps! It is indeed a struggle but it's worth all the
effort to protect her pearlie whites.
Am I a bad mother if my kids have
tooth decay? At many times, as mothers, we will feel guilty about the health
problems of our children, be it minor or major problems. We tend to question
ourselves whether it is a result of inadequate care from us; this is especially
true for working mothers. We can really save ourselves the guilt trip and
stress by taking over the dental care of your baby instead of
leaving the tooth brushing routine to your nanny or helper. Anyway, there
are only 20 baby teeth compared to 32 adult teeth; it is not that difficult to
keep them healthy :)
When and how should we do it right
from the start? Most new mothers already have many things to handle from the
minute they are discharged from the hospital with their newborns; barely
six months later, we find ourselves responsible for even more stuff - their
teeth! But its really not that difficult, by starting the habit of dental
care before the emergence of the first tooth, which is usually around 6 months
of age for most babies. We can start early by gently cleaning our babies
mouth with a finger toothbrush or just a cloth or cotton gauze wrapped
around your finger to clean baby's gums. I find it easier to include this oral
care as part of my children's bedtime routine. This way, our babies will
start getting accustomed to having their gums (and later on, teeth) cleaned
from an early age.
Once their teeth are erupted,
you can proceed to use small and soft bristle toothbrushes. The toothbrushes
usually come in fancy packaging, which helps to attract your child's interest.
I started brushing their teeth with water but they do not like that much. I
found that using the Spiffies tooth gel helps, as it
smells and tastes really nice. It comes in two different flavors: strawberry
and grapes. It is not crucial to rinse their mouth after brushing their
teeth; it may be difficult to achieve that at this age.
Even with the cutest toothbrush and
best tasting tooth gel or paste, it may not be an easy task to get your baby or
toddler to open their mouth and stay still for you to brush their
teeth. Besides making tooth-brushing part of my girl's bedtime routine, I
usually brush my teeth alongside them. I find it helpful as your little
ones just love to do whatever mummy is doing. Sometimes, we may just need to
brush their teeth while they are yelling with mouth opened. That will give
you the best view :)
Your baby teeth may have some gaps in
between them initially, as more teeth erupt, the gaps decrease and
it will be good to start flossing between their teeth as food debris
tends to get stuck in between their teeth. Some children develop
tooth decay even if they brush their teeth everyday, such cavities are usually
found in between teeth (areas not reached by tooth brushing).
Some of Anastasia's favorite dental
tools:
She loves the Frog Toothbrush. It has
frog head cover to protect the bristles.
3) Spiffies
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