Children’s dental health begins before their first baby tooth shows up. As such, parents should start encouraging healthy dental habits and routines from day one and keep that encouragement until they leave home. Studies performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have shown that almost 20 percent of children between the ages of 2 and 19 have untreated cavities. Parents can help lower those numbers and prevent tooth decay early on though by helping their kids create good dental habits at the beginning, even before they have teeth. Daily Rosen Dentistry has some basic no-nos to give parents a guide for a healthy start to their children’s dental health.

First, don’t wait until your child has a dental problem to take them to the dentist. The American Dental Association advises that children’s should see the dentist at six months from the time their first tooth appears. Absolutely no later than by their first birthday! The first visit we will look for cavities, determine any tooth decay risks and other oral problems. We will provide you instructions and helpful advice on the best way to clean your child’s teeth. After their first visit, we follow the ADA recommendations and suggest regular check-ups every six months. For children that we see an increase or a higher risk of tooth decay, we may suggest check ups more frequently.

What about that middle of the night feedings? New parents wonder if those may be harmful to their newborn’s teeth. No, they are okay and very much necessary for your baby to have health teeth. Once their teeth begin to bud though, it’s time to stop those feedings. If you are breast feeding, the main sugar in your milk is lactose. While this provides about 40 percent of the breastfeeding baby’s calorie intake, their teeth are prone to decay when overexposed to breast milk at night due to that sugar. If your baby’s pediatrician has instructed you to keep to keep breastfeeding after their teeth have started coming in, we strongly recommend that you clean your baby’s mouth after feeding after every feeding.

Many parents have concern about their baby sucking on bottles at night. There is legitimate concern here for sure. Here at Daily Rosen Dentistry, we recommend that even though you may be tempted to put your baby to sleep with a bottle of mild, be aware of “bottle mouth”. This can cause pitting and discoloration if their mouth isn’t cleaned. Milk or juice contain sugar, and if left behind on the teeth overnight will eventually corrode the enamel. Same can be said about sippy cups. When your child begins to use a sippy cup, keep in mind the same philosophy of sucking on a bottle at night. Letting your child constantly sip juice, milk, juice, or any sweetened liquid prevents a child’s natural saliva to rinse away those sugars that cause tooth decay. Keep sippy cups to mealtime and snack time for the best dental health. Our professional staff here at Daily Rosen Dentistry also recommends that after finishing anything with sugar in it, have your child swish and swallow with water.

While fluoride is a cavity fighter and good for children’s teeth, too much fluoride can cause fluorosis. Fluorosis is a condition that leaves white or brown spots on teeth. Many children find toothpaste fun to play with and taste good, it is important to teach your child not to swallow it, especially those that have fluoride. We recommend using a non-fluoride toothpaste for children until they are old enough to spit after brushing. Often for our younger patients, we may suggest fluoride supplements starting at six months old in place of using a fluoride toothpaste.

The age old question, if your child is allowed to continue with either pacifiers or thumb sucking after your child’s permanent teeth have started coming in, can it cause problems. Moderate use of a pacifier or thumb sucking is normal and okay for babies and small children. Limiting how much and how long they do shouldn’t cause any damage to their permanent teeth. By the age of 4 to 6 years old, continued use of a pacifier or thumb sucking may cause misalignment of the permanent teeth. This in turn can lead to a many other issues, like difficulty chewing. If you have problems getting your child to stop needing a pacifier or sucking their thumb, let us know. We can suggest a reward system for behavior modification to help break this habit. By keeping this habit up, it can interfere with tooth and jaw development. We recommend that you start weaning your child from either the pacifier or thumb sucking about the age of one year old.

As your child gets older and begins school, the habit of gnawing on things like pencils often start. This is one of the worse habits of school age kids and way too common. Not only is it unhealthy in the way of putting bacteria in their mouth, a danger to have something like a pencil in their mouth if they were to fall, but it also starts wearing away the surface of their teeth. Explain these dangers to your child. Usually once they understand those dangers, they will break this habit.

Another habit often begins in childhood and goes into teenage years is biting on their nails. According to the Academy of General Dentistry, 30 to 60 percent of children and young teens have the habit of biting their nails. Nail biting can cause serious damage to teeth, especially a child’s as they are still developing. Nail biting has been linked to the increase of bruxism in children. Bruxism is unwitting teeth grinding which will lead to sensitive teeth and can cause facial pain. Explain this danger to your child is usually the most effective way to break this habit. Finding alternatives things for them to bite on and offer a reward is helpful too.

We all know that sugary colas and soft drinks are not good for anyone’s teeth, but they are especially tough on children’s teeth. As a parent, watch your child’s choice of food and beverages and don’t let them develop a soft drink habit. In addition to the sugar causing problems, the acid in these drinks is bad for the teeth as well. When your child does have a soft drink, encourage them to rinse their mouth with water afterwards.

By following these suggestions, you are giving your child one of the best things in life – a happy, healthy smile! At Daily Rosen Dentistry, this is our goal too!