Cleaning first teeth

[moomin35]

What do I need to know? When do I start? When do I do it? Which toothbrush? Which toothpaste?

I started as soon as DS fit his first tooth. You can buy baby toothbrushes in boots/supermarkets, anywhere you can buy adult ones.

My dentist advised me to do it twice a day so I do it after breakfast and at evening bathtime. Ideally you should brush after last milk feed, but DS feeds to sleep so that's not going to happen any time soon for us!

My HVs have advised us to use adult toothpaste because of something to do with the flouride content in the water in our area, but this will depend on where you love so ask your HV or dentist as you may need to get baby toothpaste. You only need a tiny tiny amount.

It's a bit of a struggle, DS doesn't really like it, but I have recently discovered if we do it in front of a mirror he will open his mouth and seems to tolerate it a bit more. Also letting home take the brush and chew on it himself at least means a bit of toothpaste gets in there. No need to rinse. Um I can't think of anything else you might need to know....

Sorry for typos, hopefully you get the gist though

Don't worry so much about the length of time, more the regularity. I always let dd watch me brush and make exaggerated aaaah and eeee noises. Dd now opens her mouth and goes aaaah when I say it, making it easier. I brush then she gets the brush afterwards.

Definitely start as soon as the first tooth appears. You could also give your little one the toothbrush to chew on even before teeth appear, so he or she will start to get used to it. Buy a really soft toothbrush from Boots or supermarket, in the kids section of the toothbrushes. It will give you an age range on the packaging. Also get some baby toothpaste, try and get mint flavour, rather than strawberry/bubblegum/whatever else. Then just use a tiny smear of toothpaste, and give a quick squizz round the mouth to get all the teeth. You're not aiming for two minutes of brushing or anything like that!

Twice a day, morning and evening.

Thanks and do they rinse/spit out after?

Spit out any excess but don't rinse-toothpastes are designed to stay in contact with teeth.