On a couple of occasions I have been asked when to start brushing the baby's teeth and this when there were already some beautiful little teeth in his mouth. Even Before the appearance of these first teeth, the baby's oral hygiene must be started.
A small wet gauze is our ally in those first moments and in this way we are already preventing childhood caries, since, according to the Spanish Society of Pediatric Dentistry, the more we delay the processes of dental hygiene, the more likely the child will have to decay .
Early childhood caries or bottle caries can occur from the moment the first teeth appear in the child's mouth. To avoid them, it is recommended not to leave the child with the bottle at night and spend a little gauze before sleeping.
Once the complementary feeding begins, with soft brushes the teeth will be scrubbed. We remind you of the advice to prevent cavities in children, fundamentally to avoid sodas and sugary drinks and the cleaning of teeth after each meal, especially at night which is when more time passes and the microbes can act causing the infection.
Also, remember that caries is an infectious disease of the teeth that can be transmitted, so we must be careful not to transmit caries to the baby, taking proper hygiene measures and not sharing utensils such as spoons, not cleaning your pacifier with the mouth…
The first visit to the dentist is recommended at the first year of life, and even some medical academies recommend that it be done during the last trimester of pregnancy, to advise the mother about it.
Note that milk teeth, although temporary, also suffer from cavities and these can cause pain to the child: they must be prevented. The National Survey on Oral Health in preschoolers indicates that up to 36% of children suffer from tooth decay. A fairly high figure in which we would not want to see our children ...
If we observe that a change of color appears in the tooth, which becomes whitish and dull, we can be at the first sign of decay. In a more advanced phase, a yellow, brown or black border is observed at the level of the hilly area.
The process is slow and finally caries becomes more visible because enamel is lost and can break. Cavities usually start in the teeth, which is where food is retained more if we do not take care of its cleaning.
Definitely, Caries in young children is an infectious disease of the teeth to which we must be very attentive and try to prevent by proper oral hygiene and encouraging our children to brush their teeth.
