FAO Dentists. Brushing babies teeth.

Gillyx

So I've been brushing my babies teeth since the first one appeared and I am using low fluoride paste. Problem is obviously he doesn't know to spit it out (he's 9 months) I do use as little as I possibly can, usually pop a drop onto my fingers and smear a little bit on to the brush, he's happy enough to sit there and let me do it, but is it ok for him to swallow it, which is what he has been doing?

brook2jack

Yes that's why you use childrens toothpaste with a low fluoride content. Children do not reliably spit out until they are eight.

You should swap to an adult toothpaste at around three as they need the added protection, but always supervise and never let them apply more than a smear of toothpaste, or keep reapplying and eating. Eating too much toothpaste can give the adult teeth White specks, but not using adult toothpaste at three ish means the teeth don't get enough protection.

However in anyone diet is the most important factor, keep a baby on milk and water for drinks , they don't need juice, and keep sugar attacks to three times a day. Look for hidden sugars eg raisins, fruit juice, yoghurts, flavoured waters etc

Gillyx

He can't have yogurt or any dairy products really as he's intolerant, so he does tend to have a lot of fruit, mostly straight after meals though well lunch and dinner. I know he probably shouldn't have as much fruit, and he does have veg sticks between meals, but it's difficult to find snacks that contain no milk at all. Bit of a nightmare.

I will bare that in mind about adult toothpaste at 3. Thank you.

brook2jack

Do as you are advised by your health professional but be aware soy milk is naturally high in sugars as are many other replacement products so make sure your dentist knows they are dairy free so they can keep an especially close eye.

Gillyx

He can't have soy either, as it has milk proteins in it. His formula is completely dairy free and he has Oat Milk in his porridge/weetabix. I just checked as I was curious, but the Oat Milk has less sugar than my skimmed milk, may be an idea for me to switch too

brook2jack

It depends on the brand of oat milk. Oatly is very high in sugar. Also the sugars in cows milk are not used by mouth bacteria to produce acid to attack teeth, whereas the sugars in oat milk, almond milk etc are.

Always check labels anything ending in -ose is a sugar and on the sugar content of foods/drinks 5g is roughly a teaspoon.

Gillyx

He's always been slightly underweight so my main concern at the moment is getting food and milk into him. There doesn't seem to be an alternative for the milk at the moment. Obviously I hope it's something he'l grow out of, for his sake, as finding food where milk isn't a bulking agent is a nightmare. Even stupid things you wouldn't imagine have milk. I will keep all of this in mind though.

brook2jack

Obviously he needs to follow nutritional advice, but let your dentist know as they may want to see him every three months and eg apply fluoride varnish to try to give the teeth extra protection.

The other thing is to get his milk into a sippy cup as much as possible as drinks sucked from a bottle bathes the front teeth in acid more than when a sippy cup is used.

Tigsteroonie

Andrew's dentist recommended switching to adult toothpaste at the age of 2 (still just a smear).

Gillyx

I have started giving water and half of a milk feed from an open cup, no sippy bits, just a cup like we would use, he isn't great at using it yet but hopefully with practice he'l learn :j

pricetag

I'm looking forward to it. I know he can learn it fast.