The Truth Behind 3 Myths About Your Child's Teeth
As a parent, you'll want to do everything you can to keep your child happy and healthy. With all of the conflicting advice online and from family and friends, it can be difficult to know what to do. Your child's first teeth are important, so here is the truth behind three myths that you might have heard about your child's oral health.
1. Baby toothpaste is best for young children. This all depends on the amount of fluoride in the toothpaste. If you have kids that are younger than seven years old, they should be using toothpaste with approximately 500ppm of fluoride. But once they are seven or older, they require 1000ppm of fluoride in their toothpaste, the same as adults. The amount of fluoride can be found on the toothpaste packaging.
2. Your child will lose their baby teeth, so there's no need to brush them. Yes, your child's first teeth will fall out but this doesn't mean they're not important. Baby teeth have the important purpose of helping the mouth development into the correct structure, as well as helping your child to eat.
If a baby tooth is lost too early, the adult tooth may develop incorrectly and result in the need for orthodontic work. Baby teeth have the same nerves as your child's future adult teeth and are still prone to decay. If decay or damage is allowed to happen, then your child will be in pain.
Keep your child's baby teeth clean with regular brushing. This will not only keep those teeth healthy leading to healthy adult teeth, but they also teach your child the importance of a good oral hygiene habit.
3. The spaces between your child's baby teeth mean they'll have trouble with their adult teeth. Actually, the opposite is true. As mentioned above, your child's baby teeth tell their adult teeth where to grow. The more spaced out the baby teeth are, the more room the adult teeth have to grow. And those spaces actually help your child stay healthy because there are no tight spaces to trap food and allow bacteria to grow which stops the teeth from decaying.
If you're concerned about the health of your child's mouth, visit clinics like Beaufort Street Dental Centre to get the truth. You should book your child's first dentist appointment when their first tooth starts to appear, or at 12 months of age, depending on which comes first.
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