Dentist Reno Dental Hygiene Tips for Babies

Babies need daily dental hygiene care in order to prevent tooth decay and mouth irritation, which help them to have good dental care habits from the time that they are done. This can often seem difficult to integrate into the daily routine of an infant, yet it sets your child up for a lifetime of healthy gums and teeth.

Dental hygiene care should be given directly after birth, and after a feed, it is important to gently clean out the inside of your baby's mouth with a clean and warm washcloth. There is a treatable fungal infection called thrush, which is caused by yeast, and it can appear in portions of the mouth that have torn tissue. Some potential causes are your baby sucking on a bottle, pacifier, or even breast-feeding. The small tears can become a moist, and if the yeast is not removed, it could cause a serious condition. Some of the symptoms of this include white patches on the tongue, cheek, and gums, irregular patches that cannot be wiped away, or pain when your baby is feeding or using a pacifier. If this is not treated immediately, the mother could also develop this on her breast, although it is normally does not spread.

Teething usually starts at around 6 to 7 months old, but it can start as early as three months. When your child is teething, common signs include excessive drooling, biting, bad temper, rash on the face, a loss of appetite, crying, a fever, or changes in the bowel movement. It is important to help with the pain of teething by using a cool washcloth to softly massage the gums, or you may want to give your child a teething biscuit or a teething ring that is appropriate to their age. Make sure to watch your child in the time that he or she is using a teething biscuit because they could choke. You can also talk with your pediatrician about using over-the-counter numbing medications to relieve this pain.

Furthermore, specific things to do to prevent this tooth decay, otherwise known as early childhood cavities. This is something that can usually happen to children up to the age of three if they frequently use a bottle. This can leave your baby at the risk for serious cavities as they grow in their permanent teeth, and it may be caused by excessive carbohydrates and sugars in the diet. This can include beverages that contain sugar, like fruit juice, sweetened drinks, milk, or infant formula. This will also depend upon how frequency your child feeds, or if your baby falls asleep when drinking a bottle full of juice.

These types of issues can be prevented by letting your child go to sleep with a pacifier instead of a bottle, and you can also speak to your dentist about how to give your child fluoride so that you can strengthen their teeth and prevent tooth decay in the future.