Teeth cleaning - 1yr old

[jasperc163]

Can anyone help me with this? I know its a comon issue but i am running out of ideas. DD is generally very difficult about having anything put in her mouth (she had severe reflux and has a bit of an 'oral aversion' as a result).

For a while she was fine with a small curved 'brush' that they bite on (from Waitrose) but she has decided she doesnt like that (or toothpaste) anymore. No interest in normal baby toothbursh and she jams her mouth shut if i try to use a cloth.

Any particularly tasty toothpase that might change her mind?!

Any suggestions at all?
thanks
alice

Urtekram do a nice children's one that tastes of fennel and Green People do a mandarin one for children. These have natural ingredients so taste much better than the average commercial stuff. Try in health food shops.
You can get wooden toothbrushes, don't know if she mighht prefer this, but they cost about £5

i use an electric toothbrush and have done since around 15 months. small and easier to manoever, only issue is that a really strong bite could break the head off therefore a choking hazard. dd does bite but never have broken head of toothbrush yet - I lost the will to live using normal child brush - they are huge.

the only toothbrush my dd's will let me use is a superbrush /link{http://www.mamatoto.co.uk/PRD_ProductDetail.aspx?cid=33&pid=1885/like this}
get your dh to brush your teeth with a normal child's toothbrush and then one like this and you will see why they prefer it! the other ones are too long and thin.

ah!
this

Don't bother using toothpaste or brushing properly for a while, just give her a selection of toothbrushes to play with in the bath, and brush your teeth while squatting by the bath so that she can watch and imitate if she chooses.

Once she's relaxed about putting toothbrushes in her mouth and has perhaps identified a particular brush that she likes, you can start brushing again, for a few seconds at a time and without toothpaste. Gradually gradually work up to proper brushing, eventually restoring a teeny dab of toothpaste to the process.

Even if it takes 6m to get her back to brushing properly, it's worth it for the long-term reduction of stress, and is not goiing to compromise her dental health unless she eats or drinks lots of sugary or sticky food.

thanks everyone. I will maybe try a different toothpaste such as those suggested or another brush. I'm not hopeful though as she is pretty adamant...:-(

Prettycandles - i agree it would be best not to put pressure on her as she has issues enough with things being put in her mouth. She doesnt eat anything sweet at all (just refuses) but the problem is she is on Necoate, and i understand that most non dairy formulas have more added sugar (??) which worries me. She also wont take milk from a cup (drinks water from them fine) which wont help on the tooth front.

thanks
alice

How about giving her a little drink of water to rinse her mouth out a bit after the milk?

As long as she's not dummying on the bottle but just drinking the milk in one shortish session, the continued exposure to sugar shouldn't be too bad.

Or if she can eat cheese you could give her a piece after the bottle. I can't remember why, but I do remember that cheese after a meal is supposed to be good for the teeth.

Cheese is alkali so helps to neutralise the acid produced by the oral bacteria when they "feed off" the sugars in our food.

thanks :-)
She can't have cheese unfortunately (MPI) and basically just wont open her mouth for me to do anything. She does have a drink of water usually after milk.

Luckily she doesnt have many teeth at the moment...

alice