How do you clean your little one's teeth?

[Tuesday's Child]

DD (14 months) has all 8 of her front teeth and her first molars are starting to appear. She's always been pretty good at letting me clean with a cloth. About 2 months ago I introduced her to a soft toothbrush. At first she was really good at letting me gently brush her teeth and would even attempt to do it herself. Now she just wants to suck on the toothbrush (often at the wrong end) and won't let me anywhere near her mouth with it. She is teething at the moment, so that's probably contributing. But her top teeth are starting to look a little yellow.

It's probably time to take her to a dentist, but I want to wait until these next teeth are through before I do that.

[Olive]

chewing on a soft toothbrush is enough at this age, dont push it or it will make things worse. things like cheese help to neutralise acid so if she has something sweet offer cheese after. keep doing what you are in regards to brushing, it will get easier!

[Just Me]

We all brush our teeth together twice a day - DD2 (who is 16 months) doesn't really 'brush' either but over time, the older 2 have started to copy us brushing and they are actually getting really good at it even though they are only 2 and 3. All mine have gone through a chewing stage on their toothbrushes, but we don't push it or make a big deal of it. They love that we all brush our teeth together though it does get annoying at times (like if I want to be by myself when I brush my teeth, I can't, even if I try and hide in the bathroom and brush my teeth).

[Tuesday's Child]

Thanks for the reassurance! We'll just keep doing what we're doing.

[grub17]

in the morning I brush DS's teeth with my non-toothpasted brush (okay not sure if that's really 'allowed' or whatever) and I make a silly noise... he thinks its hilarious.. and then i do my teeth and he watches. So for our night time brush with his brush, we do it in the bath, same silly noise and he just opens up and giggles. I sort of sing "brushing, brushing, brushing" in between silly noises. So far so good He's 14 months old.

If he doesn't want to play the game, then we don't brush his teeth that day. I'm just too pregnant and tired for an argument over it atm and usually he'll be fine the next day iykwim.

[teresa]

DS has good days and bad days on whether he will let us brush his teeth or not. we introduced toothpaste a couple of months ago and that seems to help a bit. we just dip the brushes in the top so it only gets the teeniest amount on there and use that. DH spoke to his dentist about DS and the dentist and dental nurse said it was fine to introduce toothpaste at his age.

good luck with it all!

[~Stoked~]

in the morning I brush DS's teeth with my non-toothpasted brush (okay not sure if that's really 'allowed' or whatever) and I make a silly noise... he thinks its hilarious.. and then i do my teeth and he watches. So for our night time brush with his brush, we do it in the bath, same silly noise and he just opens up and giggles. I sort of sing "brushing, brushing, brushing" in between silly noises. So far so good He's 14 months

I have done the same thing! My toothbrush is electric and DS loves it! He'll let me brush his teeth with mine but not with his. I do wonder if it is ok to do it though!

[Just Me]

I read somewhere a few years ago that babies aren't born with the bacteria that causes tooth decay and it is passed on from saliva - I have no source and I don't really remember if that is what it said exactly but it was something along the lines of avoid sharing saliva with your baby at all costs - no sharing toothbrushes, utensils, cups etc. The reason I don't really remember is because I didn't take a whole heap of notice past thinking 'pfft, too late for that already.'

I suppose in an ideal world, it would be good not to share toothbrushes but in reality, it's not that easy to avoid. I also think that I could go to huge extremes now to ensure that I don't pass on germs to my babies but I would have to sew their lips closed to stop them sticking something in their mouth that another person hasn't - they have stuck far worse more germy things in their mouth than my toothbrush . It's not avoidable for ever. As long as the parents have good oral hygeine themselves, it should help.


ETA: Did a quick google search because I was interested to know if I imagined it and apparently I didn't. Babies aren't born with germs in their mouth, they are passed on. I found this too which might be useful if anyone is interested: http://www.health.qld.gov.au/child-y...gCareTeeth.pdf

[berrme]

I read somewhere a few years ago that babies aren't born with the bacteria that causes tooth decay and it is passed on from saliva - I have no source and I don't really remember if that is what it said exactly but it was something along the lines of avoid sharing saliva with your baby at all costs - no sharing toothbrushes, utensils, cups etc. The reason I don't really remember is because I didn't take a whole heap of notice past thinking 'pfft, too late for that already.'

I suppose in an ideal world, it would be good not to share toothbrushes but in reality, it's not that easy to avoid. I also think that I could go to huge extremes now to ensure that I don't pass on germs to my babies but I would have to sew their lips closed to stop them sticking something in their mouth that another person hasn't - they have stuck far worse more germy things in their mouth than my toothbrush . It's not avoidable for ever. As long as the parents have good oral hygeine themselves, it should help.


ETA: Did a quick google search because I was interested to know if I imagined it and apparently I didn't. Babies aren't born with germs in their mouth, they are passed on. I found this too which might be useful if anyone is interested: http://www.health.qld.gov.au/child-y...gCareTeeth.pdf

I also figured that was great in theory and promptly ignored it, as if they will completely avoid sharing your saliva for more than 5 minutes, lol.

Just let her chew on the toothbrush if that is all she will allow, it is mostly just important to get them used to the idea of cleaning their teeth when they are this little. If you can get her to let you do a 30 second clean yourself before or after she chews the brush then that is great, but don't stress too much. My boys have both gone through phases where brushing is fun, then the next day you aren't allowed anywhere near their teeth.

As far as the dentist goes... We only took DS1 for his first check up at around 3. We asked the dentist earlier, but he said there is no point until they have all their teeth, including the 2yr molars. The check up didn't really involve any proper cleaning either, he just put DH in the chair, checked his teeth with the little mirror and pokey thing and told him he was doing a great job of cleaning his teeth... keep it up. Even trips to the dentist are mostly to get them used to the idea of dentists not being scary and to pick up major problems, not to scrub your child's teeth.

[NaeNae]

But her top teeth are starting to look a little yellow.
.

I noticed my DD are looking a little yellow too, we brush her teeth at least 3 times a day and try to make sure we do a good job of it, she doesn't always co operate.
I thought it might be because DD is breastfed to sleep so the sugar in the milk was causing damage.
I am goint to cut down on the rice crackers and start giving her raw carrot and celery instead .... we do fruit too but I think hard raw foods might work a bit like a bone does for a dog

[Tuesday's Child]

Olive - Thanks for the cheese tip. DD loves her cheese!

NaeNae - Thats a good idea about raw hard vegies too. I think apple is supposed to be good, but I'm not sure about the acidity.

Thanks everyone. Dental issues run in my family (my brother needed a root canal at 22 and my dad had already lost a tooth to decay by 40). It doesn't matter what I do I seem to need fillings every time I go to the dentist. I just hope DD inherits her father's teeth. He very rarely brushes his (gross I know) and has no issues whatsoever. I just want to make sure I'm doing what I can to help her develop good dental hygiene.