Say Aah…Baby’s oral hygiene
The baby’s mouth hardly calls for our attention until we spot something out of the ordinary in it. Dr. Livingstone Wanyama, a dentist at Aga Khan University Hospital, told Rebecca Njoki that should not be the case. He went ahead and answered common oral/dental questions that stream into Baby Love.
When exactly should the oral hygiene start and how should I go about it?
From birth, all of the baby’s health is catered for by breast milk which has immune elements; this includes your baby’s gum and mouth. A toothless gum hardly gets infected as long as the baby is not fed with sugary food.
Once a tooth shows up, it is best for you to shop for a soft bristled toothbrush and non-fluoride baby toothpaste. Use a pea-size of it and plain water to clean. This kind of toothpaste causes no harm when swallowed.
When should I introduce my child to the fluoride toothpaste?
Every child’s growth milestones are different and unique from the others. So no hard set rules can be laid on the age at which you should switch to adult toothpaste. However, on average, a seven year old is able to imitate a parent’s way of brushing teeth. It is recommended that they be supervised until they are ten years old so that they do not swallow.
Is flossing important?
Flossing should be restricted to adults. Milk teeth are naturally well spaced, therefore normal brushing is enough to clean them. Thereafter when a permanent tooth replaces a milk one, it is usually two or three times larger than the milk tooth and closes up the space in the jaws. By then, your child is 12 years and above, when he can be taught how best to floss.
What I do about my baby’s bad breath?
Mostly, foul odour is brought about by failure to clean the mouth and teeth after breastfeeding or eating food, especially at night. Food that gets stuck on the teeth surface is usually acted upon by bacteria thus emitting unpleasant smell in the process. Ideally, you should clean the teeth after every feed; but since that is cumbersome and almost impractical, a rinse with water after every feed is good enough. In the evening, it is vital to brush teeth because when the baby is asleep, bacteria works for a long time and may even cause teeth cavities.
How often should I take my baby to the dentist?
Once a tooth comes, a baby should start seeing a dentist annually – even better, twice a year. Other than preventing cavities and countering any other dental anomalies early, these visits are for you to get advice on how to maintain your child’s teeth using diet and any another special mode of oral hygiene. You should therefore not only visit the dentist when your child has a dental issue.
If the teeth have cavities, the dentist should fix them and set appointments to monitor the teeth’s progress thereafter—so that the problem is completely done away with.
What can be done to discoloured teeth?
There are two conditions that cause teeth to discolour:
a) Extrinsic discolouration, caused by food colourings, early cavitation of teeth and inadequate oral hygiene which can be corrected by improving oral hygiene and taking a good diet. Any cavities can be filled with permanent fillings.
b) Intrinsic discolouration
The commonest cause of intrinsic discoloration is flourosis. Kenya’s Central, Rift Valley and some parts of Coast provinces are areas where it is common to find people with fluorosis (severe damage and discolouration of the teeth due to a lot of exposure to fluorine). This is as a result of using ground water which has a lot of fluoride.
Fluorosis occurs when excess fluoride gets in the mother’s bloodstream and eventually into baby’s while in the womb. The fluoride then becomes part and parcel of the baby’s developing teeth, thereby interfering with the whiteness of the baby’s teeth surfaces.
Where there is no actual cavitation in flourosed teeth, the parent is encouraged to ensure proper cleanliness of the teeth at all times.
As much as possible, a dentist will try to maintain milk teeth because that later assists in the positioning of permanent teeth.
The flourosed permanent teeth can be covered with tooth coloured fillings which can be redone regularly until the child is an adult. At around 18, when the child have completed jaw growth and the permanent teeth have fully developed, the teeth are amenable to a more permanent solution.
Generally though, fluorosis is not standard in all individuals and treatment is given depending on the stage of its development.
Major No-nos
o Sugar and sugary food, unless the sugar is in very small amounts.
o Bottle-feeding and suckling your baby at night when he is asleep. This is likely to cause a tooth decay pattern known as rampant caries, which affects the surfaces of teeth covered by cheeks and lips. Try and avoid it.
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