Child’s teeth
By the time of 3 years old your child should have a mouth full of milk teeth that he can brush himself. It is a start point for him to self care. But nevertheless you should help your child brushing his teeth until he is 6.
Let’s see the development of teeth of a child from the very beginning. Everything begins in the tomb. While you are pregnant tooth buds, that are the foundation for milk teeth, appear in a mouth of your unborn baby. The first teeth appear mostly when your child is between 4 and 7 months, though there are cases when babies are born with teeth.
The first teeth that appear are usually those that are called middle teeth. This happens either at 3 months or when your child is one year or even more. Everything is connected with the development of your baby. The last teeth appear at the age of 2. These teeth are situated at the very back of baby’s mouth. And finally at the age of 3 your child is lucky to have 20 milk teeth that is the final number of milk teeth.
The appearance of teeth happens in different ways. Some children practically do not pay attention to this process as nothing worries them. But most babies experience discomfort that is connected with a strong pain. There are some symptoms that exactly exist when teeth erupt. For example irritability, gum swelling, drooling and sleep problems are among them. Undoubtedly these symptoms can relate not only to teeth. That’s why check with your doctor in any case if something worries your baby.
The order of appearance of milk teeth is like this: first the bottom middle teeth, then the same at the top of a mouth and then milk teeth appear along the sides and back.
Then the milk teeth will fall out but this doesn’t happen until your child is 6.
Your role in teeth eruption is really very big. Of course you can’t anything to make these very teeth appear but you can help your baby to cope with a pain and ease sufferings. Give your baby something to chew. Very effective way to ease baby’s pain is massaging his gums. You should wash your hands and then rub the gums with your finger. Try to do it firmly. You can also give a baby something cold to eat.
Your doctor can advise you some medicine in case if nothing else helps a baby. But be attentive with the use of pain relief gel that can bring harm to the health of your baby if you use it too frequent and too much.
When your baby has just have a full set of teeth it is time to keep them clean. During the first year you needn’t even brush them. You can simply wip the teeth with wet washcloth and this will be enough.
You shouldn’t put a baby to bed with bottle because the remnants of milk can lead to so-called bottle rot. But there is another way to avoid this is to make your baby get used to cup instead of bottle. This should happen when your child is about a year and can firmly hold a cup in his arms. The necessity of this is explained that a baby is likely to finish drinking in a short time and can prevent the prolonged exposure to sugars that vividly come because of sipping a bottle for a long time.
When your baby is 6 months you should ask your doctor to examine the teeth. Your first visit to a dentist should happen when your baby will be a year old.
At 18 months your child is ready for learning teeth brushing. You should use a soft toothbrush and a non-fluoridated toothpaste as dentists recommend not to use it until your child is 2 or 3 years old. Your main aim at this moment is not to brush the teeth in certain direction but to clear out food particles. If tour child doesn’t like the taste of a tooth paste just change it. Frankly speaking there is no need in toothpaste with your child if he doesn’t eat much food that contains sugar.
In any case call your doctor if something is wrong with your baby. Be wise and try to support your child and ease his pain by doing everything you can.