NHAN TAM DENTAL CLINIC – IMPLANT AND COSMETIC DENTISTRY

Hello doctor: At what age should children have their teeth brushed?

Author: Dr. Nhan Tam View: 544
Doctor, my daughter just sprouted a few teeth, do I need to brush her teeth with a toothbrush yet? At what age is best for her to brush teeth with toothpaste? I'm looking forward to your advice soon! - Thu Huyen (Bac Giang)

Reply

Dear Mrs. Thu Huyen. Thank you for entrusting Nhan Tam Dental Clinic.

With your question: "At what age should children brush their teeth" we would like to answer as follows:

Before teething stage

Before teething stage, parents should use a clean cloth or gauze (you can buy baby gauze at any pharmacy) to clean your baby's gums after breastfeeding or eating. This will help your baby get used to the feeling of stimulated gum, while removing the germs on the gums, make your baby get used to brushing later.

Parents can use clean cloth or gauze to clean the baby's gums

When the first tooth sprouted

When your child first tooth has sprouted, prepare for the baby a small toothbrush. Be sure to choose a round-headed, soft-bristle brush to protect your baby's gums. At this stage, children still can not brush their teeth on their own and even if they do, it is more likely that they cannot do it thoroughly. Therefore, parents should directly brush the baby or carefully monitor the child's teeth brushing process in order to reclean if necessary.

Parents should monitor the oral hygiene process when the baby sprouted their first teeth

Parents should only use clean water to brush their teeth, do not use water that is too hot or too cold and only use warm water at each cleaning section to remove plaque, food on the baby teeth after each meal. Maintain daily brushing of your baby's teeth with clean water until the baby reaches 3 years of age. At this age, parents can guide their children on how to brush their teeth properly and how to use appropriate toothpaste.

When the child is 3 years old

When children reach 3 years of age, they can start using toothpaste to brush their teeth. The following tips will help parents choose a safe toothpaste suitable for their children:

  • Note the amount of fluoride in the toothpaste: Parents should look for children's toothpaste containing an appropriate amount of fluorine. Because fluorine helps prevent tooth decay, but if the amount is not suitable, it can affect your child's dental health. For children from 3 to 6 years of age, you should use toothpaste that contains 500 - 1000ppm of fluorine.

Note: Do not use toothpaste for adults, as they contain more than 1000ppm of fluorine.

Children 3 - 6 years old should use toothpaste containing 500 - 1000ppm of fluorine

  • Note the amount of foam of the toothpaste: toothpaste has three types, much foam, medium foam and less foam (the amount of foam determines the amount of soap content). Toothpaste with much foam containing more than 18% of soap content, combining with the saliva of the oral cavity soap can easily become acidic, not only irritating the buccal mucosa but also break down the enzymes in the saliva. In addition, a large amount of soap can reduce friction when brushing, thus affecting the effectiveness of oral hygiene. For that reason, parents should not choose foamy toothpaste.
  • Choose a toothpaste that the child likes: Choosing a toothpaste flavor that your child likes, will make your baby feel better, avoid reluctant when brushing teeth.

Note the amount of foam of the toothpaste

Even though these baby teeth will eventually be removed, getting tooth decay because of bacteria or food plaque can damage the teeth root which causes the teeth to be deformed permanently. In addition, if the baby teeth are extracted too early, it may cause teeth formation to permanently skewed. Therefore, if you want to have beautiful teeth later, you need to take good care of the baby teeth.