The definitive guide to protecting children's teeth.... what are your best teeth-saving tips?

[carriemumsnet]

We're wanting to put together a definitive guide to how to care for your child's teeth. We think there's a lot of advice on nutrition and gen health, but - and maybe it's just us - somehow the health professionals assume we know about teeth and quite a lot of us don't.

We're looking for a mixture of how to get a reluctant toddler to clean their teeth, best toothbrushes etc plus general facts and info that may or may not be widely known. For example it took me watching my 5 year old ds having all his milk teeth filled (and several taken out) to learn that:

You should give all sweet things in one go - better (for your teeth - not necessarily your waistline) eat six mars bars in one sitting and then nothing all week, than have a bit every few hours/ every day.

You should have sweet snacks with meals, not in between.

That raisins and dried fruit are the work of the devil - worse than sweets? Likewise fruit juice though I think a straw makes it better than a sippy cup?

That giving a baby/toddler a bottle of milk to fall asleep with causes decay.

That if you have to give sweet stuff between meals, you should give the child cheese, an apple or water afterwards to try and neutralise the sugar.

(So apples are OK, apple juice not OK)

Perhaps that's all obvious/ well known, but we don;t think it is to everyone and it's certainly not made clear by all HV's/ docs - and by the time you get to see a dentist it's often too late.

So please post your tips and your facts/info here and if we have any Mumsnetter dentists who'd like to give our guide the once over once we've compiled it, we'd be delighted to hear from you.

Thanks in advance

Oh yikes - I think I've committed all of those crimes on my DCs.

Ummm - Tesco's own kids' toothbrushes have got suckers on the bottom, which I think are pretty cool. (That's not really what you're after, is it?).

A cool flashing toothbrush

DOn't use kids' toothpaste if you don't have fluoride in the water - there isn't enough fluoride in those kiddy toothpastes. Just use the pea size of normal adult toothpaste.

Also don't spit and rinse - swallow!

DS aged 5 is being taught about bad food and healthy food.. He's facinated by our fillings and pleased he doesnt have any. He gets a character toothbrush and age appropriate toothpaste. he has a go and then I do them for him esp b4 bed. he goes to the dentist with me every 6 months. I dont allow fizzy drinks. Milk and dilutable juice. Pure juices I also dilute about 50-50 with water. He does get sweets, but he must eat them all in one go and with healthy food snack - usually pieces of fruit.

We went to the dentist this afternoon. He said Dd's (4) teeth were great but that brushing wasn't the be all and end all of healthy teeth. Apparently teeth can only cope with 3 sugar onslaughts a day (random made up number?) so we should let them have sugary stuff with meals only.

Dd said 'but I get hungry in between meals mummy'. I said 'well we'll have to have bread and butter'. Her answer? 'But butter isn't good for you'. I was stunned and . Since when should 4 year olds be worrying about this stuff???

Btw - children's toothpaste is fine for as long as we want. It has less fluoride in in case they swallow a tubeful...

Oh, and fruit was just as bad as sweets... I've obviously been getting it all wrong, although dd's teeth have survived thus far!

Carriemumsnet, I could have written much of your post (if I was as eloquent...) - ds1 had his back teeth condemned at the age of 5.

The dentist kindly suggested he has weak enamel (translate as it's not your fault mum). A dentist friend afterwards re-translated it as, if true all his teeth are buggered but it's much more likely to be down to too many raisins and apple juice and not enough toothbrushing. From then on, aside from change to diet, we've bought electric toothbrushes for ds1 and 2 and ds1 has only needed one more filling.

So my top tip is the electric toothbrushes. Ds's love them and they've got timers so you know when they've been brushing for two mins, and can 'check' their teeth are clean - ie brush for another 30 secs/1 min...

Thanks for these please keep them coming (no teeth showing on that smiley eh?)

Can anyone clear up the flouride good or bad thing?

We were told for ds to use extra flouride toothpaste as he too has "weak enamel"

Dentist then tells friend that her child (who used to eat toothpaste) has had too much flouride and that it's eroded her teeth

Then hygeinist tells me never to let children use adult toothpaste or they'll get white spots from too much flouride...help please !

I was also told that regular fruit (ie not dried) was fine between meals just not juice - is that wrong?

I went to an oral health workshop recently and was told that childrens toothapste shouldnt be used it should have 1000ppm of fluride in it so it helps strengthen teeth and juice should be given really between meals just at meal times. I was also told that beakers with valevs shouldn't be used as it prolongs the juice being in the mouth. Sorry if some of this has already been said

Develop a water habit from the off. My two have juice/squash rarely and don't miss it.

Don't eat crap

Clean your teeth regulalry

Er...that about covers it.

Those tooth timers are good. A little egg timer that tells them how long to brush for. Or if you haven't got one of those get them to brush their teeth for the length of their fave song.

Really water their juice/squash down, if they wont drink plain water.
Children dont need to permenantly(sp) have juice with them. I know loads of dc who's mums are always giving them juice. All day.

lol - moondog just posted my exact words on reading the thread title!

mirror to clean teeth infront of so they can see what they arre doing.sand timer.
if we give juice(usually only give milk or water)we give it as flavoured water-really weak!(im known to there friends as boring mummy who has no exciting drinks-they havent seen my stash lol!)

have child infront of you facing away from you. It makes it easier to clean their teeth as its the same action that you use to clean your own.

Bump

There is so much conflicting advice out there about toothpaste for little ones. The jury even seems to be out on whether Fluoride is a good thing at all (too lazy to dig up the links for this one). How much to give them also seems to depend on whether your water is flouridated or not. If it is and you also give them flouride toothpaste (or supplements - does anyone do this?) then they are at risk of flourosis (sp?) which causes damage/white patches on the teeth.

Then when you've got your head around that you need to watch out for other nasties in toothpaste like SLS and Triclosan. Triclosan (an antibacterial) is especially considered to be toxic, but manufacturers still insist on adding it.

DD currently only has 3 teeth so we are favouring the drink of water after sweet things approach. She also has a toothbrush to chew on at night, but no toothpaste yet - but we may add some soon, possibly with flouride as none in the water around here.

Can you tell I'm still confused about the whole thing?

i used baby teeth toothpaste with my ds(6) and was really meticulous but he still had two taken out and has two that are disintegrating (dentist has told me to leave them alone?!). so i wonder if i just should have used full strength.

also blame myself for giving him heinz baby juice when he was a toddler and should have just stuck to water, which he is now used to.

dentist seems to just skim look at his mouth during check ups. not sure if i should change dentist to one who is more thorough.

his mouth is currently the bane of my life and leaves me awake at night with worry.

sorry that was more of a rant than helpful hint

Start them young!

we started dd with a Mam gum massager from about 5 months, twice a day. Switched to a brush when her first tooth came through, which was a natural progression. As it was part of her routine, she wasn't worried by it.

The Mam brushes are great- they have a guard that clips on, so they can't ram it down their throats; a brush on one end and a massager on the other end.
(I don't work for them, honest!)

Only give them milk or water to drink (victorian kind mummy)

Well I don't know how much of this is luck but neither of my children have had tooth problems yet - they are 7 and almost 4. Both were early teethers (4 months and quite a mouthful by 12 months - final molars in at about 18 months) and DS who was 7 in Feb is well on with his second teeth (has about 9 through I think).

I am in no way an angel regarding juice, sweets, chocolate, raisins etc. And they have had all of them although no fizzy pop (which apparently has contributed to the filling in the back of my own front tooth which will eventually need crowning) ever and I have brainwashed them into thinking they don't like it.

The good things I have done are:

• right from when they first got their first teeth, introduced a routine of bath, breastfeed, teeth, story. Although still did breastfeed in the night.

• used adult toothpaste from when the one supplied by the health visitor ran out (don't know if good or bad).

• ditched bottles by 12 months and sippy cups before 24 months.

• still check my 7yo's brushing and give them a going over once a day, especially concentrating on the new back molars which are hard to get to because they are lower than the existing milk teeth.

www.gaba.com/htm/402/en/elmex_ANTICARIES_Gel.htm?Brand=elmex&Subnav=Gel

We're using this gel once a week now on the dentist's advice. Helps harden the enamel and thus protects against decay apparently. I can't really judge how effective it is

that looks great ssandy, hope they sell it in the uk

My ds1 was 'prescribed' fluoride tablets after his back teeth were condemned. But then we are in an area where there is no fluoride added to the water...TBH we used them for a few months, then just got toothpaste with more fluoride in it for him.

Ds3 (18 mths) is much better at both having his teeth brushed and having a go himself then his brothers were at his age. He's watched his big brothers brushing their teeth morning and night since he was born. Maybe we should have made more of an effort to brush our own teeth in sight of ds1 and 2 when they were babies/little, so they got used to it being part of the routine?