Brushing a baby's teeth?

[MulderitsmeX]

I spoke to the dentist about cleaning my 1 yo's teeth. She said to use toothpaste but not let him swallow it - erm how do i do that?

I can't rinse his mouth really and im worried he will get white on his teeth from the flouride. I use a smear 2x per day.

I just use a tiny bit of toothpaste, brush teeth then let her chew toothbrush for a bit. They just mean not to use big blobs and let them eat toothpaste.

You're not meant to rinse anyway.

You need to use toothpaste - just tell them not to swallow and one day around 18 months they’ll (sometimes) comply! I’ve not seen a child with fluoride flecks from normal brushing but this would be preferable to a general anaesthetic to take their teeth out - which isn’t that uncommon you know if they don’t get brushed properly.

Ok thanks guys! Im just a bit worried as my friend has flecks (no idea how much she actually consumed as a kid lol) so want to avoid for DS. Ill keep going as i am.

For a 12 month old i brush for about 15-20 secs, top 4, bottom 2 and tongue before he grabs it- is that enough do you think.?

That's way more than I can manage to get DD to keep still for!

It's more about getting into a routine for now. Sounds like you're doing just fine.

Tip baby forward so toothpaste dribbles out.

Tiny smear, get as much in there as quickly as possible before getting smacked in face.

I'm not a dentist but these ones are going to fall out in a few years anyway so I wouldn't worry about white flecks too much. Surely the battle will be with disgusting pre teens who refuse all attempts at hygiene?!