Regular Teeth brushing is the most effective way to prevent caries and gum disease In adults and children. You should start brushing your kid’s teeth once the first tooth erupt around 6 months. and you should continue to supervise your child during brushing till 7 years age to avoid too much ingestion of toothpaste that contains fluoride. Remember good oral hygiene is the master key to a happy and  healthy kid.

So here are some advices that will help:

1-when to start??

some authors say that no brushing is needed in the first year you just has to wipe your baby’s teeth with a wet gauze after feeding  but many oral hygiene and pediatric dentistry text books says that  You should start brushing your kid’s teeth once the first tooth erupt around 6 months and i agree to this opinion as we saw many cases where caries start just after this first year . Also  you should continue to supervise your child during teeth washing  till 7 years age to avoid too much ingestion of toothpaste that contains fluoride.

2-child should brush twice daily with fluoride containing toothpaste (the selection of the fluoride concentration in the tooth paste will be discussed later) . Also routine kids oral hygiene should include flossing that we will discuss later on a separate post.

3-how to choose your child’s toothbrush??

first the brush should be soft brush not hard (you will find that written on the package) also the brush size must fit your child’s age as using large brush will cause discomfort to your baby and also will prevent you from brushing properly also using very small toothbrush will make the process takes much longer.

last thing you should find a toothbrush that you kid likes, usually kid’s tooth brushes have painting and decoration on it’s handle so let your kid choose what he likes as this will make it fun when he use it.

4-How to choose your child’s toothpaste??

we have two main important factors here fluoride concentration and taste.

fluoride concentration is very important  as topical use of fluoride is proved to help in the prevention of teeth decay also too many fluoride ingestion can cause fluorosis that may make the teeth pitted and discolored. so it is very important to choose the toothpaste with the appropriate fluoride concentration. For children under 6 years the tooth paste should contains 600-1000 ppm fluoride concentration according to the caries risk (children with multiple cavities and fillings or children from families that suffer from caries problems should use 1000ppm toothpaste ). children above 6 years should use toothpaste with fluoride concentration 1000-1500 ppm according to the caries risk.

You should also choose toothpaste that has a good taste and smell and let your child choose the flavor he likes as this will make it much easier to let him used to tooth brushing.

5-Choose the position that make you and your child feel comfortable during the  process i prefer to stand beside or a little behind my Childs.

6-how much toothpaste you need??

put a very small amount (smear or pea size blob < 0.3 ml ) of the toothpaste on the brush bristles. Remember using too much toothpaste can be harmful and may cause teeth discoloration and roughness as the child may swallow much fluoride containing toothpaste.

7-Duration and how to brush:

the process should take from 2.5- 3 min to assure complete plaque removal 2 thirds of the  time to the posterior teeth and one third to the interiors . a short forward and backward or circular movement should be used to clean the chewing surface of molars. To clean the tongue side and lip side of the teeth the toothbrush should be 45 degrees to gum line and use short gentle circular movement and you should concentrate not to hurt the gums or push it down.  Remember each millimeter of every tooth should be cleaned so don’t neglect un accessible hard to reach surfaces. you may also brush your kids tongue very gently.

8-After finishing the process you kid should rinse his mouth gently (not to take all the fluoride away ) and you should rinse the brush completely.

last thing you should give your kid the chance to help as this will make him happy and get  used to tooth brushing.

thanks for reading,

Dr A. Galal