Teeth brushing tips?

Does anyone have any tips for me on how to make teeth brushing less of a struggle with Aidyn?
He has 4 beautiful pealy whites now, but he never lets me get near them! He continues to cover his bottom 2 teeth with his tongue every time I even try to get near, and he grabs for the toothbrush and starts shrieking!
I have let him play with it, and I manage to 'sort of' brush his teeth, but I am petrified that I am not taking good enough care of them - and I don't want him to end up getting cavities so young!
Also, I know you cant use the 'baby' toothpaste unti 12 months+, but I have heard that there is a herbal one you can use for babies... does anyone have any idea what it is called and where I can find it?

I'm also very interested in this thread... Alex plays with his toothbrush in the bath, but I'd love to brush them more regularly.

Ambah, there is a brushing thread I posted Aug-Sept time as we had a big drama with Ris. She'd never let us brush her teeth and while we'd do our best, she started to get spots of decay - she was hospitalised to remove it at that age (2yrs). I posted lots about it with some tips, also have an article on BB when it's up! You might be able to search for it, will try later but tired of one handed typing atm LOL.

Thanks Kelly! Is this the thread Here?

That Toothmoose that the dentist gave Ris sounds like a good idea, I wonder where I could find some... we're still a few months off being able to use toothpaste though which is a worry.
Plus Aidyn has a nightime bottle at around 10pm whilst he is pretty much asleep... I dont think it would go down too well if I woke him to brush his teeth... Do you think that would be causeing his teeth a lot of damage? - as we are going to be phasing out his late night bottle in the next couple of months anyway...

Ambah, try using a wet flannel or something, we found that Jack prefers this to the toothbrush, although he lets us use the toothbrush once or twice. The teeth just need to be gently rubbed with something, doesn't matter what it is really. Oh and be extra careful with any back teeth as these are more prone to decay.

Thats a really great idea, I might just give that a go!! Thanks Jo!! :)

Im sure you can get the little finger things that you put on your finger and brush their teeth with rather thank sticking the brush in their mouth.
I know it sounds terrible but i used to get really grumpy with Ashlea and she'd end up in tears, but would open her mouth to cry and i could brush her teeth then. I was worried about the negative association with the tooth brush though, but was paranoid about cavities cause I knew a little girl who had her front tooth turn black and fall out when she was 4. So in the end we would put on her favourite song at the time (Robbie Williams, Something Beautiful) and that became the 'tooth brushing song'. We'd put it on and get all excited and say 'quick quick teeth brushing time' She would run to the bathroon and happily let me do it then.
Another idea is to tell them if they let you brush their teeth then they can brush yours, or brush your teeth together. Ash also had a doll that always had a bath with her and her mouth was open so i bought a little toothbrush and if she let me brush her teeth, she could brush her babies teeth.

Thanks Dee :) those are also great ideas, I will be trying them as soon as Aidyn is a bit older. But in the meantime, I must look for one of those little finger brushes you are talking about!

Ambah I had a finger toothbrush but I didn't like it, it felt like it was going to fall off the time! I just have a baby toothbrush and we do them in the bath all the time, Felix actually LOVED the sesation ATM..hope it continues.Hope you find a solution

I wouldn't stress too much about the toothpaste yet, the talk we had at the clinic (detal nurse) said it wasn't necessary until 1 year and then only use a TINY amount.

The biggest thing that causes dental caries is (according to her) giving your baby juice and leaving it with them in the bottle..they are called bottle caries..if you give juice they said it is better to do in a cup and only in a set time period IYKWIM, they had nasty photos of bottle caries and they aren't nice..

The other things to avoid is sharing spoons with them and anything that could transfer bacteria from your mouth to theirs etc..

As for the bottle at night, as long as he isn't sipping all night I can't see it being SUCH a problem, that said she said that teeth should brushed AFTER a BF at night too, but Felix snacks though the night so can't be helped..have heard from ABA that unless the milk is pooling in their mouths, should be okay..

Anyhow good luck HTH!

Ambah - we were recommended to use a fashwasher at that early age too. Marisa would suck on one in the bath and the MCHN said it was fine and a good way to brush teeth. But like someone said, it's the back ones you have to watch more, and try and make brushing fun from an early age. (now that is a feat in itself!!). I found doing it all together is the best way to get them interested in it.

ds is 2years and he reminds us to clean his teeth. It wasn't always that easy. I put it down to consistancy and persistance.

We started with the wet washer/cloth when the tooth appeared. We also bought a 3 set tooth kit from Target. There is one for them to hold for teething, one for the milk teeth and the third brush is for when they get the bigger teeth. We made it our routine from when he started solids and he got used to these "handle things" being in his mouth. Usually we would slot it into our routine b4 getting out of the high chair for play( after breakfast and tea)
Sure there were days when he wound fuss and we would do a very quick clean. There were other days where he enjoyed it and we took our time. We sung the playschool teeth cleaning song which helped and played it at non cleaning times just to make things fun. We also gave him his little one he used for teething to hold onto and "help" while we cleaned. I think anything is better than nothing.

At twelve months we moved to the Oral-B Stages toothbrush(12 to 18mth I think). Now he holds and "helps" with this one and we use the next stage tooth brush (2).

Our problem is when to start tooth paste. He doesn't spit so I don't know if we should wait till he can or just start adding it. I should send him out with dh and he can teach him :)
Also when do you start taking them to the dentist?????

Sorry girls for the long post.

Another teeth brushing game ashlea started...see who can make the most bubbles in their mouth! She brushed her teeth like 6 times trying to see how much froth she could make!!!
Rose, I've been told you *should* take them to the dentist as soon as their first tooth pops up! I can't imagine getting a little baby to co-operate with that! Its more to check out the gums and the way the teeth are coming up and to educate parents on healthy teeth habits. I havent ever taken ash though.... I really should!

About going to the dentist - I've heard that you should take them along when you go to get them used to it and the dentist will have a little pretend play with them. I hate to be the only one to admit it, but for myself, I only go to the dentist if I have a really bad toothache. Nick goes a bit more often, his parents spent a small fortune on his as a child.

Caitlin loves brushing her teeth at night as it means putting bed time off an extra five minutes.

Whats that stuff about going to hospital to have decay removed at 2 ? eek.

barb.

I've decided just to use a washer for now, and will take all of the other ideas on board when Aidyn is a little older. I might have a look for the 3 set tooth kit that you mentioned Rose, it sounds pretty handy.

I'm not too worried anymore now, thanks for all of your wonderful advice girls!

Barb,

It's a long story but if you read the link Ambah posted a few posts up, you'll be able to read all about it!