Dear friends, as a dentist, I have a complaint against you- that you don’t give
yourselves the opportunities to maintain your teeth in a healthy state.
And as parents, you are
underestimating your influence on your children’s lives and their health. Teeth
are for lifetime and in this series of articles on oral health we will try to
tell you things which will help you maintain teeth for your family and have a
bright shining smile.
The Baby teeth Myth:
The teeth start coming in the mouth of the newborn from the age of six months.
There can be variations and some kids have their first teeth coming even at the
age of 12 months. If its later than this better get it checked by a dentist who
will X ray and check for the presence of teeth.
There are twenty baby teeth and this set is complete by the age of 30 months on
average. Count and see in your kid's mouth, five on each of four sides should
make twenty. The maintenance should begin right from the first year by wiping
your kids teeth with wet cotton before he goes to bed. From the age of three
years encourage him to brush his teeth at bedtime using a pea size quantity of
toothpaste.
Do Not allow Baby teeth to Be lost
Most people believe that baby or milk teeth are going to fall and they need not
be taken care. Nothing could be farther from truth. These teeth are very
important for your child's development and help him smile and chew well. The
last milk tooth falls only by the age of about 12 years. Untimely loss of milk
teeth is also one of the main causes of poor health of your child and also leads
to crooked teeth in future.
At the age of six years the first permanent tooth comes in the mouth. It is
called the molar. It will serve you to chew food for rest of your life. This
tooth is last one at the end of milk teeth and comes without replacing any milk
tooth, most people mistake it for milk tooth and neglect it. This often leads to
the decay of this very important tooth and cripples chewing for rest of your
life.
It is the duty of the parents to look in the mouth of their kids to see if all
the teeth are in good condition and without any decay or "back spots". Children
who are taught good mouth cleaning habits at early age continue maintaining
their teeth for life.
Most kids have 28 teeth in their mouth by the age of 12-14 years. Only wisdom
teeth remain to come out, which is between the age of 18-25 years.
Many parents worry about the kids thumb or finger sucking habit. Use of undue
force reaching almost a level of torture can afflict your child with
psychological problems. Persuade the child and if the habit persists, consult
your dentist. In any case most habits are not going to cause any harm if stopped
before the age of about four years.
Good nutrition with calcium during early years is important for strong teeth.
Once the teeth have formed calcium can not be of any help. Other things to keep
in mind are to avoid too many candies, pacifiers or leaving the bottle in baby's
mouth for long periods. Sweet liquids or juices are very dangerous for teeth if
left in kid's mouth for long periods
Courtesy of healthmantra.com
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