Dr BERTRAND R. STUART

I WAS recently asked the question: At what age should I start cleaning my child’s mouth? Well, parents or guardians have the responsibility of initiating the process of oral healthcare for their children, generally when the child is about four months old. This initial orientation is the most important and will be especially effective if sustained over the first ten years of the child’s life.

Here are some Do’s and Don’ts.

1. Try to gently rub the gums with gauze or a damp facecloth even before the teeth start to erupt. This will help your baby understand from an early age that bathing, hair washing, and mouth washing are part of their routine. It will also desensitise the gums slightly and may ease the irritation of tooth eruption somewhat.
2. Don’t dip the pacifier (comforter) in syrup or honey or other sweet substances because sweetness in the baby’s mouth for prolonged periods is guaranteed to cause tooth decay. Furthermore, it will only encourage a “sweet tooth,” which can facilitate future obesity.
3. Don’t put extra sugar into the drinks that your baby takes in the bottle. The child does not need extra sugar. There is enough energy for them in the normal foodstuffs taken in.
4. Fruit juices contain acids. Some of them – especially citrus fruit – are very high in acid content. This acid performs the same function as the acid produced by plaque. It demineralises the enamel. Therefore, avoid fruit juice in the bottle or at least dilute it with water (about 50/50).
5. Avoid carbonated (soft) drinks until approximately three years of age. Never put these drinks in a bottle.
6. Try not to let your baby sleep with a bottle. This may lead to a bottle mouth. If necessary, ensure that the bottle contains only water.
7. Use an “orthodontic pacifier” to ensure that in the event of continued use, the pacifier does not lead to an enormous open space between the front teeth (open bite). Remember, sucking on a pacifier is normal up to the age of three years.
8. Do not give sweets or chocolates to an infant until at least 18 months of age. They don’t know that they are “missing” something nice and all it does is promote poor diet habits. Resist relatives from doing this, even though it may make you unpopular with them.
9. Kissing a baby on the lips is one way that the bacterium streptococcus mutans (which causes tooth decay) is introduced into the mouth. Try to limit kissing to non-family members to just a cheek kiss.
10. Cleaning your children’s teeth is essential. Many of the baby teeth must last your child until they are almost 12 years old, so the idea that “they fall out anyway” is just not acceptable. Baby teeth are essential for maintaining the space for the correct positioning of the permanent ones that will follow, so if your child loses teeth too early, you may be looking at a huge orthodontist bill later that might have been avoided. Additionally, when children are young, it is often difficult for a dentist to adequately restore cavities, so dental work may be required under general anaesthesia. This should be avoided if possible, and it can be, simply by maintaining strict oral hygiene measures from the beginning.