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

Agree with you Milli - or let them play with part of old swing frame in the garden. They will pull it over on top of them, also removing two top front teeth.

Ds's friend did this on Thursday. Fortunately, they found the teeth, and took hin straight to dentist, who replanted them, cementing them back in, and they should hopefully be OK (only 1% chance of rejection apparently).

But friend and his parents have been very stressed , and so has ds who was there when it happened.

Hi All

Hoping to compile this into something of a manageable read soon, so please do keep adding your comments. Also if there are any Mumsnet dentists out there who'd like to give us their take - that would also be great!

Ok back with mum of dentally challenged dc's hat back on...rather than MNHQ..

How do you cope with morning brushing if you not supposed to brush within half an hour of eating.?.. can't get up any earlier - sorry!

Also might have dreamt this, but think if your teeth are knocked out you should put them in milk and dash to dentist for best chance of success... can anyone verify if this is true?

you're supposed to brush before breakfast really

the half-hour thing is probably more for acidic foods like oranges and fruit .. less so for milk and cereals

pay for the dentist to look at them, nhs don't take enough time.

I've heard that one too, but not sure.

if mine have mouth wash to use then they will clean all day but r kids not meant to use it

This is largely down to good genes!

Brush their teeth yourself up to 7 years old

Explain how to brush teeth to older kids eg brush at the tooth/gum margin and make sure they brush for 2 minutes

Electric t/brushes are best

Fizzy drinks are dreadful - save for parties

Juice bad too - water it down by 50% or give water instead

My dentist said to encourage savoury and not sweet snacks - my dd prefers crisps to biscuits

Do not allow falling asleep with a bottle of anything except water because then the teeth will not be clean overnight and will have a major acid attack instead

TBH I am shocked at decay with milk teeth - cannot imagine how hard it is for kids to have dental treatment so young

dental treatment requirement for young children has seen a major increase. Paedodontists talk of huge increases in enamel defects in milk and adult teeth.

Something is going on .. environmental? pollution?

I wish it was as simple as good genes means good teeth (how beautifully simplistic).. I have great teeth, DS has shite milk teeth and has had fillings since he was 3 and extractions and cap at 6 due to lack of enamel .. he's lucky though .. some adult teeth come through without enamel (luckily DD has great teeth so far)

Message withdrawn

it's probably got worse as dentists don't care enough or have the time to do a proper examination. ds(14) has perfect teeth, same diet more or less as 6 year old, whose back teeth are crumbling. i'm so sick of it.

i read a thread earlier where dentists are doing botox. fgs. they should be worried about children's teeth not some bint's saggy face

Is it ok to use electric toothbrushes on young children? I can get ds to clean his teeth pretty well if he uses my toothbrush (with his own head) but it is impossible otherwise - have mentioned to others in RL and nobody thought you should be using them so young (he's 2)

When pressed my dentist said that it is better to clean teeth before breakfast - and after!

I have read that it's better to clean before food as that removes the bacteria that feed on the sugar from the meal. Have never done it though.

He also said something about not brushing teeth straight after sweets of fizzy drinks - something about removing the minerals that have just been leached from the teeth, which may actually be reabsorbed if not washed out of the mouth...

Think he is a big fan of electric toothbrushes even for young children Tartanmam.

Vitamin D supplements from birth, coupled with fluoride supplements as soon as first teeth come in. It's normal practice where we live in France. Not sure if it's direct cause/effect, but children having cavities is unheard of here.

We showed dd Daddy's teeth (loads of black fillings) and told her that your teeth go black if you don't brush them. Never had a problem!

A quick tip - my ds used to HATE having his teeth brushed when he was tiny. I tried everything to avoid it becoming a battlefield but it's one of those things that they just have to get used to, along with washing hair which is a whole other thread imo.

I had a breakthrough one night when I brushed his teeth while he was in the bath - he was happy and distracted, and I got two jobs done at once. Clean teeth, clean child, more storytime.

Twiglett - you said 'get dentist to seal baby teeth' - I've never heard of it, what does this involve?

Also can anyone tell me how to find out whether there is fluoride in our water?

Ribena is the drink of the devil but unfortunately I love it - ds asks 'is that wine or Ribena mummy?' when I won't let him have a sip of my drink!

As said before - choose your parents/genes!

Electric/battery-powered toothbrushes have, I think, been proven to be better for teeth-cleaning for adults, so guess the same is for kids, but ensure the bristles aren't too 'hard' and that kids don't press too hard. My kids are desperate for the musical ones that play a two-minute song, which helps them time their cleaning. Some kids toothbrushes have quite large heads, though, and I'm sure they would find it easier to use smaller ones.

Have asked our dentist about flossing and she said not yet (ours are 6 and 9) but purely of their own volition my two have started to use kids mouthwash after brushing. Seems to engage them with the idea of cleaning generally, so no bad thing.

Def get them into the habit of drinking water if they are thirsty - I have been appalled by seeing parents of very small children giving their kids juice in baby bottles between milk feeds. And brush teeth after everything else at nighttime. Kids don't know anything different, so get them into good routines from the start.

And the old trick of showing them my appalling mouth and blaming it on too many sweets really works (even though it was actually a combination of sugar-laden medicine before bed for months when I was very young "cos the GP said so", poor genes and a dentist who was later struck off).

Also, education - I have recently talked to mine about plaque and gum disease, and how teeth and gums are connected etc, so why you need to clean around the gumline. As I didn't learn this until my 30s, I thought I would give them a headstart!

My hygienist said electric brushes weren't any good for children, as they just wiggle them around and think they've done a good enough job. Is this true? I'd prefer them to use the electric one, really. I switched to manual as a result of the conversation with said hygienist, but the dcs just wiggle those around, too. DD (nearly 4) will let me brush her teeth for her (though it's hardly the recommended technique - more like a quick in and out), but DS (nearly 6) objects strongly. I have to confess they've not been near a dentist in about three years - I am still trying to summon up the will to pay £120 to have someone spend a few minutes with a mirror in their mouths... But will probably pay for this (literally) when they end up with fillings!!

Should add that I have lots of fillings. Mum blames Dad, who fed us regularly on sweets which she refused to buy!!!

I think you should brush their teeth for them at that age. Mine like to do it themselves, but then I 'check' it afterwards - ie, do it properly.

Get going now - I get more inclined to do it when I think that a check-up is about £45, but treatment is much more.

We try and do the not between meals thing and not make sweets (chocolate only in our house) totally forbidden, worked for my mum and none of us have a massively swet tooth. My dentist is fanatic about dried fruit, so give them only occasionally.

I try not to be totally bonkers about the whole thing, Have a GP friend who says Pah to sugar, it's salt you need to worry about, then again he gives his child lollipops, which are a major, major no no in our house...

Advice - Bruhing a toddlers teeth. Nightmare, so if it is in your house too you're not alone. We do bath in the eves and sink and steps in the mornings. When encountering resistance we try various combinations of exciting/interesting things on rota. So flashing toothbrushes, new toothbrushes, different toothpaste, singing happy brithday while trying to brush (sing it twice and that's almost your 2 minutes), mirror, let's do it quickly and then we'll play with your blah bath toy/blow bubbles in the bath. Let's do it standing up like a big boy at the sinke, let's race because I'll bet I can finish mine before you (have to get quite worked up about on no you're going to beat me agggh), encouraging outrageous spitting in the bath works well sometimes, though it's messiy of course. Also threats, have to do it so your mouth doesn't get hurty, do it or the water in the bath goes now/straight to bed, or on my worst days because mummy will get cross in a minute...Oh the shame.

Keen to add an electric toothbrush to the armoury. DS is 3 any recommendations most welcome...

Oh yes. Flouride. Don't know the details but have researched for work in the past and it isn't as straightforwrad as we all think. Have a memory or some massive class action or similar waiting in Ireland about flouridation of the water and that it's causing problems. Can't remember any more and not a big fan of medicating the population anyway... feels so big brother.

Would be fascinated if anyone else knows more.

Think the remineralisation business works fantastically better in the presence of fluoride. Don't know about other effects of it.