Q: When do baby (primary) teeth start to develop? A: The primary teeth begin to form around the seventh week of your pregnancy. Q: How can I protect my baby’s teeth? A: Protection begins while you are pregnant. Studies have shown that expectant moms who themselves have dental diseases, especially gum (periodontal) disease, have an increased risk of having a pre-term, low birth weight baby. So, ensuring that your own dental/oral health is maintained is the first step to helping your baby’s teeth.
When should brushing begin? Preventive oral care should begin after your baby’s first feeding. You should wipe off the gum pads with a moist washcloth after each feeding, and continue brushing for life. That is, once the teeth begin to erupt, they need to have the plaque removed completely and this is accomplished by either using a cloth or finger brush during the first year and then using an infant brush after.
Flossing needs to begin as early as the time the first teeth erupt at six months of age if the teeth are so close that the brushing cannot remove the food trapped between the teeth.
How do I prevent bottle decay? Never put your baby to bed with a bottle that has milk, juice or any other sugar-containing fluids! Never dip your child’s soother in honey, jam or other sugar-containing substances and then allow them to use it!
When should I have my child seen for their first dental visit? The current recommendation by the Canadian Dental Association and the Canadian Academy of Pediatric Dentistry is: “The first dental visit should occur before the child’s first birthday.”
Remember, prevention is the best treatment – seeing your baby allows us to provide you, the parents, with proactive information that will help you keep your child’s teeth cavity-free!
Another reason for seeing them at this age allows us to examine them and should any decay be diagnosed, it can be cared for before the decay gets so extensive that your baby may require extensive treatment that could only be completed while they are under a general anaesthetic! Prevention is the best treatment.
Why fix baby teeth? There are 20 baby teeth. They begin to erupt into your child’s mouth around six months of age and are all in around two and a half to three years of age. These teeth begin to fall out around the age of six years and are all out usually around 12 years of age. There is usually one permanent tooth under each of the primary (baby) teeth and that tooth is guided into its correct position by the roots of the primary teeth.
If a primary (baby) tooth is allowed to decay and crumble apart or is lost early, there is a great chance that the permanent teeth will drift forward in the jaw and damage the future bite relationship of the permanent teeth.
If decay is allowed to spread (decay is an infectious disease), there is a good chance that your child will suffer a toothache, which could then lead to a dental or facial abscess!
Your child’s overall health can suffer if they are not able to sleep or eat properly due to toothache.
Proper articulation depends on the proper placement of the tongue and the teeth for certain sounds – if the teeth are lost then speech can be negatively affected.
Your child’s self-esteem is important! If they have black, decayed or missing teeth, they may lose their smile! Prevention is the best treatment!
With more than 40 years of experience as a pediatric dentist, Dr. Leonard Smith is Chairman and CEO of The Society for a Healthy Mouth, Healthy Child (Alberta) and The Foundation for a Healthy Mouth, Healthy Child (U.S.). He is also a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, and Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine. For more information, contact Dr. Smith at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit stopecc.com.
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