The health of the oral cavity of an adult depends on the care of her at an early age. A thorough cleansing helps to properly remove the soft coating and prevent the formation of solid deposits. Correct hygiene is a good prevention of caries, bacterial and fungal diseases of the oral mucosa.
Does the child need to brush his teeth?
Milk enamel is very thin and sensitive, it is easy to break, especially in the presence of small cracks. There are a number of good reasons why you should brush your teeth for children:
- ensure proper growth of the jaws;
- to prevent occurrence of caries ;
- eliminate sources of infection that can spread throughout the body and cause damage to internal systems.
Baby baby teeth are important for the process of chewing and bite formation. If you do not remove the plaque from them correctly and wait for the development of caries, it can provoke:
- damage to the nerve roots;
- curvature of the permanent dentition;
- speech defects ;
- internal suppuration of the gums;
- chronic angina ;
- pyelonephritis and other pathologies.
When do I start brushing my teeth?
Doctors advise oral hygiene in infancy. The standard option, at what age to brush your teeth correctly to the child - 5-6 months, when they begin to erupt. Some babies experience accelerated development, and care for oral mucosa is required from the 12-16 weeks of life. Progressive hygienists call earlier terms, at what age should the teeth be cleaned to the child. Such specialists recommend removing the plaque and food remnants even from the gums of the baby. This ensures proper eruption and prevents caries.
How to brush your teeth for children?
If the crumb still has nothing to chew, a sterile piece of gauze or a napkin is used (sold in pharmacies). The fabric is wound on a finger and wetted in clean boiled water. Baby should be properly positioned - in a comfortable position, closer to my mother's breast, so he is not afraid. Wet cloth should be as carefully as possible, but carefully (sweeping movements) massage the gums and the surface of the tongue. Instead of water, you can use a special foam or solution for oral care of babies.
When the baby has already acquired several teeth (half a year), it is better to buy a silicone fingertip with short and soft fibers in the pharmacy. Some children tend to bite this accessory, in such cases, it is correctly put on a pencil or a new adult brush. Silicone fingertip is convenient to remove plaque from the gums, and from the top of the tongue.
Ways how to brush your teeth a child a year are more common. Already almost an independent crumb we need to buy a personal brush with a soft synthetic pile. At first, hygiene is handled by parents, gradually teaching the baby the correct use of dental appliances. How to brush your teeth a year-old child:
- The chewing surface of the enamel (coronal part) is processed by circular and horizontal movements.
- The pressure should be moderate so as not to cause discomfort.
- The lateral surfaces of the teeth are cleared in the direction from the gum to the crown. The bristles are correctly installed at an angle of 45 degrees, the movements are sweeping.
- The front incisors are cleaned in a circle.
- At the end of the procedure, carefully remove the plaque from the tongue.
How to teach a child to brush his teeth?
The best way to instill a baby's personal hygiene skills is his own example. Children like to imitate their parents, so it should be in the morning and evening (or after each meal) to invite crumbs to "adult" dental procedures. Before the event, you can discuss with the child how to properly brush your teeth to children and why it is important. There are even special songs and cartoons in which the process of hygiene is described in an interesting and fun way.
Since 2-3 years, the baby almost does not need the help of adults to take care of the oral cavity. How to teach a child to brush his teeth independently and correctly:
- To buy together with the kid a brush and paste personally for him.
- Explain by your example how to hold dental accessories, show the correct movements and setting the brush.
- Remind how long it takes to brush your teeth. You can put an hourglass near the washbasin.
- Talk about cleaning the language and show how it's done.
- Ensure that the baby is properly engaged in hygiene at least 2 times a day. Some parents make up the colorful routine of the day in which this item is highlighted.
The child does not brush his teeth
Many children, especially with late training in oral hygiene, are afraid of this procedure and refuse to hold it, even to hysteria. Another reason why a child does not want to brush his teeth can be any distraction. Playing, walking or watching cartoons is much more fun for a baby than a boring event in the bathroom.
How to make a child brush his teeth?
You can not coerce a crumb, it will cause even greater protest and unwillingness to take care of the oral cavity. How to teach a child to brush his teeth correctly:
- Make the procedure interesting, turn it into a game with elements of rivalry (who longer, who is cleaner).
- Tell about the consequences of lack of hygiene. You can think of a fairy tale with appropriate conclusions, in which one hero does not brush his teeth, and the other diligently follows them.
- Reduce crumbs to a children's dentist, show on mock-ups how healthy and sick teeth look.
- Come up with a story in which the kid will be a superhero. His mission and top-secret task is the salvation of his teeth from evil microbes (karyosics, specks, holes and any other names).
- Involve your favorite toys, even if they are also engaged in daily oral hygiene.
How to choose a toothbrush for a child?
Most manufacturers produce bright figured accessories with a handle in the form of toys, fairy-tale characters or animals. Dentists do not recommend buying these toothbrushes for children. Such embossed handles are inconvenient to hold, which leads to incorrect setting of bristles and movements, negatively affects the quality of plaque removal. It's right to buy a simple accessory with a thick comfortable handle. For the interest of crumbs on it can be depicted colorful and funny pictures.
Toothbrush for children under one year
Breasts do not need adult hygienic devices. Dentists have a silicone toothbrush for children in the form of a fingertip and dental napkins with different tastes, impregnated with an antiseptic solution (mainly xylitol). In the list of ways how to properly brush your teeth for children, includes gum treatment with a simple gauze turunda. The fabric is wound on a finger and wetted in boiled water. This method is used as an alternative to chemotherapy napkins.
Toothbrush for children from 1 year old
With 12 months of crumbs will need personal dental accessories, which must meet several requirements. The best toothbrushes for children have the following characteristics:
- comfortable handle with non-slip coating;
- a small head with a cleaning surface the size of 2-3 children's teeth;
- very thin, short and soft bristles;
- ring-limiter to prevent injury to the throat.
Toothbrushes for children from 3 years old
By this age the child already masteres the basics of oral hygiene and is able to correctly use dental appliances. If he knows why and how to properly brush his teeth to children, confidently holds a brush and does not forget about removing the plaque from the tongue, you can buy a more "advanced" accessory. For 3-year-olds and older, longer and stiffer bristles are recommended to eliminate contamination from the interdental spaces.
The most progressive parents for the specified period acquire battery packs. Electric toothbrush for children from 3 years old must meet the above requirements. Babies like these accessories because of the similarity with toys on batteries, interesting design and bright colors. With an electric brush, mouth hygiene becomes less boring and routine, especially if performed in the form of a game.
What toothpaste to brush your child's teeth?
When choosing the considered means, it is important not to become a victim of marketing techniques, for example, an imaginary advantage in the absence of fluoride. This component is useful for enamel, strengthens it and protects against the development of caries. Fluoride should not contain only toothpaste for children under one year. It is optimally replaced with hydroxyapatite or calcium glycerophosphate. The enamel of babies contains very few minerals, so it is necessary to fill the deficit.
In the instructions of dentists, how to properly brush your teeth to young children, the benefits of having fluoride in the paste are indicated. It is important only to control its concentration:
- from 1 year to 6 years - up to 500 ppm;
- from 6 to 12 years - up to 1000 ppm;
- after 12 years - about 1400 ppm.