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Guide to caring for your little one's teeth
Your baby’s first teeth quite a milestone! Weeks or months of waiting and then - there it is! Tiny and beautifully white. But how do you keep them that way? Here are our top tips for looking after baby teeth from the very start.
Your baby’s first teeth - quite a milestone! Weeks or months of waiting and then - there it is! Tiny and beautifully white. But how do you keep them that way? Here are our top tips for looking after baby teeth from the very start.
1) Start brushing as soon as the first tooth comes in
Normally the lower front teeth erupt around 6 months of age (though this varies from baby to baby). There will be 20 baby teeth in total. As soon as you feel that first tooth break through, it’s time to start brushing!
2) Brush twice daily
Brushing at bedtime and at one other time each day. Building this habit into the daily routine from the beginning makes life easier for both you and your baby. Little one’s love to mirror parents behaviour so get brushing together!
A good position for a young baby is to sit them on your knee, with their head resting against your chest. With an older child, stand behind them and tilt their head backwards. Or try whilst they are sat up supported in the bath.
3) Use a baby appropriate toothbrush
The Cheeky Chompers Flexibrush is the perfect size for little hands and designed for the first stage of brushing. Using a ‘training’ toothbrush like this helps baby safely get used to holding a brush. The clever shape of the Flexibrush means it is not a choking hazard and therefore your little one can safely hold and explore brushing themselves. Apply a flat smear of fluoridated toothpaste - for ages 0-3 it should contain no less than 1000ppm of fluoride (this will be clear on the packaging).
When should I move on to a nylon bristle brush?
You can still use the Flexibrush as teeth continue to erupt as it's soft and fun for baby to get used to tooth brushing.
We recommend to also use a nylon bristle brush once first teeth are fully erupt, to help make sure you clean all the areas around and between teeth.
4) Food choices
It is advised that during weaning savoury flavours such as green veg are introduced first. Babies don’t require sugar (or salt) added to their food.
Read the labels of baby food pouches carefully to check sugar content, especially fruit- based ones. And ideally encourage your baby to feed from a spoon rather than a nozzle.
5) Support your baby during teething
Not all babies will experience symptoms during teething, some teeth may simply appear.
However if your baby is experiencing discomfort, the main ways to ease it are cold and pressure (such as cooled teething toys, frozen plain yoghurt popsicles or chilled fruit slices), distraction (teething aids can provide gentle counter pressure to massage the gums as baby chews them), and comfort. You can also use sugar-free pain medication like Calpol or Ibuprofen from 3 months+ if required.
If baby is dribbling lots, try to keep their skin clean and dry to prevent a rash forming on their delicate skin.
A Cheeky Chomper's Neckerchew teething bib is great for both chewing away the pain and catching the dribble!
Toothcare for toddlers and beyond
As your baby grows, sometimes the novelty of toothbrushing wears off…. Not all children like having their teeth brushed and it can sometimes become rather difficult! Try and keep it fun… use a timer, a favourite song or there are some phone apps which can be helpful to keep children engaged and on task.
As they become older encourage them to spit out excess toothpaste, but not to rinse with water. Rinsing with water after tooth brushing will wash away the fluoride and make it less effective. Rinse the toothbrush thoroughly with water afterwards and store upright.
Brushing should be supervised until at least age 7. From age 7 or 8 your child should be able to brush their own teeth but it’s good to check now and then. From age 6 it is ok to use normal adult toothpastes (or any toothpaste with around 1400-1500ppm fluoride).
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