Children’s Oral Hygiene

As a dentist we get asked many questions with regards to a child’s dental hygiene and oral care. What’s the best age to start brushing? When should a child be able to brush themselves? When should they visit a dentist? So, we’ve put together some useful tips for a Childs Dental Hygiene:

1. As soon as your babies first milk tooth breaks through it’s advised that you start to brush it with fluoride toothpaste as this helps prevent tooth decay. At this stage brushing would be done by the parent.
2. Children can use a fluoride toothpaste containing 1,350 – 1,500 ppm fluoride but should be supervised by an adult until the age of seven to make sure that children don’t eat or lick the toothpaste from the tube.
3. Children under the age of three only need to use a smear of toothpaste on their brushes and children between the age of three and six should use a pea-sized amount on their brushes.
4. Children should be brushing their teeth or getting them teeth brushed by an adult at least twice a day, once being just before bedtime.
5. Get your child to spit out the excess toothpaste rather than swallowing it however whilst doing this avoid lots of water intake as this can wash away the fluoride reducing it’s benefits.
6. From the age of seven or eight your child should ideally be brushing their own teeth, however it’s still good to watch over them to ensure that they’re cleaning effectively and for the correct time of two minutes.
7. Another good tip is to get a toothbrush and toothpaste that your child likes especially when they are at the age of starting to brush themselves. It’s good to get children enthusiastic about brushing as it’s not something they like to do the best of times.

Taking your child to the dentist:

When? The first milk teeth start to appear.

Why then? To become familiar with the environment and to get to know the dentist. Also by going early it can help to prevent decay and identify any oral health problems at an early stage.

When visiting the dentist with your children, be as positive about it as possible and make the trip fun. This will stop your child worrying about future visits.