Three Reasons To Start Dental Care Before Teeth Appear
Posted on: 4 November 2015
As soon as your baby starts teething, dentists recommend that you start implementing good dental hygiene practices. Because your baby is much too young to do any dental cleaning alone, these practices will fall to you as the parent, meaning that you'll need to clean your infant's mouth several times a day. You may feel like this is a waste of time because your child hasn't even grown any teeth yet, but the dentists have good reasons to recommend this practice. Here are three of those reasons.
1. Plaque buildup
Plaque is caused by bacteria, not by teeth. Because of this, the bacteria in your baby's mouth are able to create plaque even before any teeth come in. If this happens, your baby's teeth will be at a disadvantage because as soon as they appear they'll be covered in the plaque that was sitting on the baby's gums waiting for teeth. You can prevent this plaque buildup by wiping your baby's gums gently with a wet piece of gauze after each meal.
2. Pain relief
Teething is a difficult age for parents but also very distressing for the baby who's going through teething. The teeth moving through the gums often produce redness, swelling, tenderness, and pain. Wiping your baby's gums with a cool, wet piece of gauze may offer some relief from aching gums. For further relief, you can also procure a "teething ring" which you can cool (for example, by placing it in the freezer for a while) and then let your baby suck or chew on it.
3. Building good habits
Dental hygiene is a crucial aspect of your baby's health, and it's never too early to begin building good habits. Starting young will help your child get into the routine of caring for dental health before he or she is even old enough to take individual responsibility for it. This means that in a few years, when he or she is old enough to start taking over tooth-brushing, the routines will be firmly engraved and the child is more likely to continue in the good habits rather than questioning them.
These are just three of the reasons your dentist may have to recommend that you start early with dental hygiene for your child. Another crucial aspect of dental care is getting professional checkups and cleaning, which you should arrange for your child by his or her first birthday. Consider contacting a local dentist, such as Buffalo Dental Group, to discuss what's best for your baby's dental health.
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