Welcome to the oral health part of our Starting Solids show. My name is Fiona Hughes and
I’m a Health Improvement Practitioner within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Today I’m going to cover a few points on how to look after your baby’s teeth as they come through.
So let’s start with toothbrushing. All you need is a small toothbrush and toothpaste.
As soon as your baby’s first tooth comes through, you should start toothbrushing.
The first tooth generally comes through at the bottom, in the middle. When you start to brush,
you should use a small soft headed toothbrush and just a smear of toothpaste.
Once your baby is about 2 or 3 years old and they can spit out for themselves,
you can use a pea size amount of toothpaste. When you brush their teeth, encourage them to spit
out any residue toothpaste and not to swallow it. And discourage rinsing with water after brushing,
as this lets the fluoride in the toothpaste work harder to protect their teeth.
It’s important that the toothpaste you use contains the appropriate amount of fluoride.
If you look at the side of the tube of toothpaste, you will see a list of ingredients with a number
at the end and beside it saying PPMf, which stands for parts per million fluoride.
And you’re looking for this number to be around 1450 parts per million,
to offer enough protection to your baby’s teeth. So choose one with 1450ppm if possible.
At this stage, while your baby is still small, you will be brushing their teeth for them for
the next wee while. But once they’re a bit older, they may want to brush for themselves.
However, children don’t’ have the manual skill to move their brush into all the different areas in
their mouth and some areas may be missed, which in turn, can cause tooth decay. Also, young
children tend to only brush their front teeth as that’s the ones they can see in the mirror.
So it’s always good if you can find a way where they will let you brush their teeth for them. You
could take turns each, use a novelty toothbrush or brush along to a favourite song. It’s important
they let you help them with their toothbrushing up until they’re seven years old, by which time they
will have developed a good technique with their brushing to ensure their teeth are protected.
And let’s not forget about diet. Sugar is the main cause of tooth decay.
When you start to introduce solid foods, we would highly recommend that you would make your own food
for baby whenever possible, so you know exactly what’s gone in, and you wouldn’t be adding salt,
sugar or honey, all of which can be damaging to baby. For example, giving your baby some plain,
full fat yogurt on it‘s own, is much better than buying the tiny and expensive yogurts that
contain a lot of sugar and are targeted at young children. You can add some chopped fruit, fresh,
frozen or tinned in juice later. But its best your baby gets used to the taste of plain yogurt first.
Another thing to be mindful of with sugars, are medicines, as some can contain as much as 50%
sugar. Most medicines are sugar free, but it’s worth checking with the pharmacist or the GP.
If the sugar free version is not available, then try to give the medicines at meal times,
if appropriate, but try to avoid bedtime. Another thing to mention are drinks. Baby’s usual
milk, breast or formula and plain water are the safest drinks in between meals for their teeth.
Remember cow’s milk is not recommended as a drink until baby is one year of age.
Free flowing drinking cups, like this one, can be introduced from around six months. As you can see,
the fluid flows out of the spout and this teaches baby to sip rather than to suck and this can help
with their speech development. If you were to offer natural fruit juice, it’s important that
it’s well diluted. Half water, with half fruit juice and only half of this free flowing cup,
served at meal times and only a maximum of once a day. You should receive one of the free flowing
cups from your health visitor or dental health support worker from the Childsmile programme.
The Childsmile programme is a national programme designed to give your child’s
teeth the best start. The programme offers each child in Scotland a toothbrushing pack
on six occasions up until they are aged five. It also offers a daily toothbrushing programme
within early year’s establishments and encourages parents to register their child with a dentist
by the age of six months or at the latest, by the time their first tooth is through.
By taking your child to the dentist at an early age, it gets them used to the sights,
sounds and smells of the dental surgery, so they’re familiar with it as they get older.
It’s also worth getting your child registered as their NHS dental treatment is free up until they
are aged 17 years old. For mum’s oral health, NHS dental treatment is free during pregnancy
and up until baby is a year old. So now might be a good time to make an appointment.
And take baby with you, so they can get used to the surgery environment.
If you would like any further information on childsmile or how to look after your baby’s teeth,
you can visit the childsmile website where there is lots of information.
Or you can speak to your health visitor or dentist.
Lastly some key points to remember. Brush with a smear of toothpaste containing 1450 parts per
million fluoride as soon as baby’s first tooth appears. Then when your child is able to spit out,
increase to a pea size amount of fluoride toothpaste. Choose plain natural variety
yogurts and prepare your food yourself, where possible without adding salt, sugar or honey.
Formula, breast milk and plain water are the safest drinks for baby’s teeth.
If offering natural fruit juice, dilute half and half with water, in a free flowing cup,
served with a meal, once a day. So, speak to your health
visitor about the Childsmile programme. And last, but not least. Register your child
with a dentist and attend regularly for free NHS dental treatment till your child is 17 years old.