Author: Kenmore Pediatric Dentistry

Top Tips for Brushing Your Child’s Teeth

The most important part of your child’s dental care is what happens at home in between appointments with Dr. Stewart at Kenmore Pediatric Dentistry. To make sure your child’s teeth are getting brushed properly, take a look at the following tips and techniques for impeccable at-home oral hygiene.

Top Tips for Brushing Your Child's Teeth

The most important part of your child’s dental care is what happens at home in between appointments with Dr. Stewart at Kenmore Pediatric Dentistry. To make sure your child’s teeth are getting brushed properly, take a look at the following tips and techniques for impeccable at-home oral hygiene.

1. Use the Right Toothbrush

The AAPD stresses the importance of using a good toothbrush. While either an electric or manual brush is fine, be sure to choose one with soft bristles in an age-appropriate size. Regular, adult brushes are far too large to clean a toddler or child’s mouth.
Toothbrushes should be replaced every three months or sooner if the bristles begin to fray. We recommend letting your child pick a toothbrush with a seasonal theme or featuring fun characters that will encourage them to use it.

2. Brush the Full Two Minutes

Unsupervised, kids usually won’t brush for the full two minutes recommended by the American Dental Association. Instead, they’ll brush hard for a few seconds, which doesn’t clean teeth and can damage the gums. For spotless teeth, children should brush gently for two minutes.

3. Supervise Brushing

Children shouldn’t be left to brush their teeth on their own until they’re about 7 or 8. Toddlers love to do everything on their own, which creates a great opportunity to teach them how to brush, while you stay involved in the process. Consider brushing together as a family or have an adult model for your child.

4. Teach Flossing

Teach your children to floss, too. During the night time brushing session, stress the importance of why we floss. The bristles of the brush can’t get into all those tight spots or where the teeth are crowded.

5. Use Plaque Disclosing Tablets

Pick up a packet of chewable plaque tablets. These teach kids the importance of brushing and flossing by revealing brightly colored plaque in the spots where they didn’t clean their teeth thoroughly.

6. Make Brushing Fun

Kids will do just about anything as long as it’s fun. Play dentist to teach proper brushing. Use a doll or wind-up chompers with a full set of teeth and help them brush the toy’s teeth. Show your child how to brush the top and bottom teeth on the inside, outside, and chewing surfaces. Then show them how to angle the brush to scrub the backs of the front teeth, too.
There are plenty of modern resources for making sure your kids brush properly. Colgate’s Tooth Fairy app is a great choice or play a two-minute online video created to entertain your child while brushing.
In addition to regular brushing and flossing at home, it’s important for children to see the dentist regularly, too. We welcome you to contact Kenmore Pediatric Dentistry to ask Dr. Stewart how often your child should have a dental appointment.

Avoiding the Consequences of Unhealthy Thumb, Finger, and Pacifier Habits

Infants are born with the instinct to suck, which makes them naturally want to nurse. In fact, babies begin sucking on their fingers before they’re even born. The act of sucking on fingers, thumbs, or a pacifier helps to soothe infants and it’s perfectly natural. If the habit of sucking on fingers or a pacifier goes on for a long period of time, however, it can lead to problems, as your child grows and develops.

Avoiding the Consequences of Unhealthy Thumb, Finger, and Pacifier Habits

Infants are born with the instinct to suck, which makes them naturally want to nurse. In fact, babies begin sucking on their fingers before they’re even born. The act of sucking on fingers, thumbs, or a pacifier helps to soothe infants and it’s perfectly natural. If the habit of sucking on fingers or a pacifier goes on for a long period of time, however, it can lead to problems, as your child grows and develops.

The Best Age to Stop Giving Your Child a Pacifier

According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, children should ideally stop using a pacifier and/or sucking on their thumb by the age of three to prevent the habit’s interference with proper development and alignment of your child’s mouth and teeth.

Negative Effects of Prolonged Pacifier Use or Sucking on Fingers

If the habit of sucking on a pacifier or fingers is prolonged, it can result in:
  • Improper development of the mouth and jaw
  • Open bite or otherwise misaligned teeth
  • Altered appearance
  • Difficulty chewing and trouble swallowing
  • Speech impediments
  • Possible introduction of harmful bacteria via pacifier or fingers into the mouth

Tips to Discourage and Eliminate Non-Nutritive Habits

Most children will stop wanting a pacifier or quit sucking on their fingers and thumbs on their own between the ages of two and four. Some children, however, will continue these habits over a longer period of time, which can have adverse effects on their development. In order to help your child break the habit, you can try the following tips:
  • Cut the tip of the pacifier incrementally to eliminate the comfort of the suction
  • Use positive reinforcement to praise your child when they refrain from sucking their thumb, especially in stressful situations.
  • Provide comfort when a child feels insecure in order to eliminate the need to self-soothe by sucking a thumb.
  • Cover your child's hands with socks during the night, when thumb-sucking might occur reflexively.
  • Explain the consequences of sucking on a thumb or finger to older children who can understand why they should consciously try to stop.

Additional Ways to Break Your Child's Habit

If these steps alone do not help your child break the habit of sucking on their fingers, then Dr. Stewart at Kenmore Pediatric Dentistry can provide further assistance. Depending on your child’s age and needs, we might recommend a prescription ointment that is completely safe but tastes bitter, which will discourage thumb-sucking. We can also provide your child with a specially designed orthodontic appliance which can be worn to prevent sucking on a thumb or pacifier.
Although most children will break this habit on their own, many do not and continue to suck on their fingers or thumbs well into childhood. If your child is having trouble breaking this habit, we encourage you to schedule an appointment with Dr. Stewart to prevent further problems from developing.

Your Child’s First Dental Visit Might Happen Earlier Than You Expect

In order to give your child with a solid foundation for healthy development, it’s important to provide them with good oral hygiene and dental care from an early age — earlier than you might expect.

Your Child's First Dental Visit Might Happen Earlier Than You Expect

In order to give your child with a solid foundation for healthy development, it’s important to provide them with good oral hygiene and dental care from an early age — earlier than you might expect.

When Should Your Child's First Dental Appointment Be?

According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, a baby should see a pediatric dentist within six months of the first tooth erupting, but no later than the first birthday. For each year of delayed dental appointments, a child’s risk of tooth decay more than doubles. A survey of children’s oral health found that most American children do not see a dentist until they are two years or older. Unfortunately, this puts many children’s oral health at high-risk at a very early age.

One Tooth or One Year Is All Your Child Needs

When parents of older children were asked why their children had not yet seen a dentist, the most common response was that their children didn’t have enough teeth or that they were too young. Primary (baby) teeth usually begin to erupt when an infant is around six months. Even if no teeth have erupted by the time a child turns one, they should see a dentist

It's Important to Take Good Care of Baby Teeth

Although your child will eventually lose his or her baby teeth, it’s important to take good care of them from the time the very tooth emerges because these teeth will be important for your child for many years, before they have all their permanent teeth.
Baby teeth are important because:
  • Your child needs them for proper speech development.
  • They help your child chew properly and maintain a balanced diet.
  • Intact baby teeth encourage the proper growth and development of the jaw bone, creating enough space for permanent teeth to develop and erupt.
  • A healthy smile will help your child feel confident.

What to Expect During Your First Visit

At your first appointment with Dr. Stewart at Kenmore Pediatric Dentistry, you’ll learn the best ways to take care of your child’s tooth or teeth. Dr. Stewart will examine your child’s mouth and teeth to assess his or her development and health. She’ll provide you with information regarding teething, mouth cleaning, infant feeding practices, tooth decay from baby bottles, and pacifier or finger-sucking habits.

Scheduling Your Child's First Appointment

We welcome first-time pediatric visits anytime, but we recommend avoiding nap times. Scheduling your child’s first appointment for when they will be awake and alert will help the visit go smoothly. For more information about establishing your child’s care with Kenmore Pediatric Dentistry, we welcome you to contact our office today.