Tooth brushing

lounakin

When did you start brushing your baby's teeth?
Do you use any toothpaste? I'm reluctant to do so because my baby will not spit on command (only when she has purée in her mouth:P).

Xdancer

I started brushing her teeth as soon as she got her first teeth at 5.5 months. I just use a brush and water. I don't think they recommend toothpaste until 2 years

pwurple

She was about 12 weeks when we started with the toothbrush. I didn't put toothpaste on til about 6 months, and then it was only a tiny bit.. A spec, just to get used to the taste.

I never did it for her. She used to just chew it a bit. Since about 18 months she copies me, so does an ok job.

ceadaoin.

I started as soon as she got her first teeth at about 4 months. I use toothpaste though, just a tiny scrape of the aquafresh milk teeth one. She grabs the brush off me now straight away and won't let me do it but I'm sure the bit of chewing on the brush is better than nothing!

Neyite

Same as that, he loves brushing his teeth. Gnawing on the toothbrush is good enough for me. I give it a wiggle so that it helps get all surfaces. Its literally a scrape of the baby toothpaste that I put on.

Gee_G

We are still toothless here but doctor and phn told me to use a face cloth and gently rub the tooth as soon as it comes up and not to use toothpaste until they are 2 as they can't spit up, or spit it all up and the flouride(as far as I can remember that's what she said) is bad for them if swallowed!
Oh how I long for the day when I have to worry about brushing his teeth!!(months of teething and still gummy )

lounakin

Well I'd better get cracking! I haven't started yet but she was exclusively bf'd until very recently so not too worried. Had anybody tried the brush that you place on your finger? Or would you recommand a brush for the baby to chew on?

pwurple

The recommendation is to start when they get teeth. So it's different age for everyone. It's just to get them used to brushing really at this age.

I haven't tried the finger thing, but mine has always been way too bitey to try it.

If she would tolerate your finger in there, you could try it, but then you will have to switch to a brush later.

Hobbitfeet

I brush my los teeth regularly but don't use toothpaste he's 1. Would you not be worried about the flouride in it with such young babies? There is warnings on the paste about ingesting it

How Strange

Wow ladies I'm impressed! Our efforts up into now have been haphazard. From today on I'll be more diligent with brushing his teeth and doing my pelvic floor exercises (but that's another matter!)

Rosy Posy

lounakin wrote: »

Well I'd better get cracking! I haven't started yet but she was exclusively bf'd until very recently so not too worried.

Don't want to worry you unduly but breast milk is full of sugar. We had a dental nightmare with our eldest who never got sweets or much refined sugar but which the dentist blamed on bfing and co sleeping. Have been much more vigilant with the brushing with the rest of the kids since.

I generally started brushing the gums once teething starts to get them used to it and apparently it encourages the teeth to come up. Started with non-fluoride kids toothpaste once the first premolars appeared.

lounakin

Rosy Posy wrote: »

Don't want to worry you unduly but breast milk is full of sugar. We had a dental nightmare with our eldest who never got sweets or much refined sugar but which the dentist blamed on bfing and co sleeping. Have been much more vigilant with the brushing with the rest of the kids since.

I generally started brushing the gums once teething starts to get them used to it and apparently it encourages the teeth to come up. Started with non-fluoride kids toothpaste once the first premolars appeared.

I think your dentist was mistaken! Breastmilk has sugar obviously, but also antibacterian properties! It has something else too... cannot remember exactly, if you do a search you will find it. Apparently tooth decay in exclusively breastfed in very rare. It could be just genetic. It doesn't surprise me that he would have told you that, but it's still outrageous! And why would co-sleeping be or influence on tooth decay?

Hobbitfeet

Breastmilk does not cause tooth decay this link explains in detail why http://kellymom.com/health/baby-health/tooth-decay/
Formula contains much more sugar than breastmilk it is also different kind of sugar and is much more likely to cause tooth decay. Has anyone's dentist told then their child's tooth decay is because they formula fed?? Doubt it

Rosy Posy

lounakin wrote: »

I think your dentist was mistaken! Breastmilk has sugar obviously, but also antibacterian properties! It has something else too... cannot remember exactly, if you do a search you will find it. Apparently tooth decay in exclusively breastfed in very rare. It could be just genetic. It doesn't surprise me that he would have told you that, but it's still outrageous! And why would co-sleeping be or influence on tooth decay?

Apparently if you are co sleeping and have a 'help yourself' policy, ie latch on and go back to sleep, their teeth are being bathed in sugary breast milk all night long. I have perfect teeth- never had a filling- and my OH's aren't too bad so don't think it's genetic. My son did get all of his teeth very early so my own personal theory is that they just came up soft and not fully formed. We got all sorts of hassle from the dentists- they basically didn't believe that we weren't giving him free access to sweets and coca cola. In the hospital (poor kid needed 3 teeth removed under general anaesthetic...low parenting moment) I think that they saw from our records that we didn't immunise and latched on to the 'late' bfing/co sleeping thing as a reason...in my experience these people need to have a reason- 'sh!t happens' is never good enough....but anyway, did not mean to hijack thread with personal tale of woe /rant

Ms2011

Start at about 5-6 months with a scrap of baby strawberry flavoured toothpaste. I give them a quick brush then leave him to knaw on the toothbrush. It's a great distraction while getting changed & dressed for bed ;-)

Hobbitfeet

Rosy Posy wrote: »

Apparently if you are co sleeping and have a 'help yourself' policy, ie latch on and go back to sleep, their teeth are being bathed in sugary breast milk all night long

If you read the link I posted it explains why this is not true and it makes total sense. When a baby is latched on and nursing the nipple is at the back of the mouth past the teeth and breastmilk does not pool in babies mouth. It also explains why some people are probe to cavities and sown aren't

Neyite

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

I brush my los teeth regularly but don't use toothpaste he's 1. Would you not be worried about the flouride in it with such young babies? There is warnings on the paste about ingesting it

The amount I usually use is about a quarter of the size of his littlest fingernail. The tiniest scrape really. I dont want him swallowing toothpaste but I do want him to get used to the taste of it while brushing.

Hobbitfeet

Health food stores sell flouride free children's toothpaste

lounakin

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

Health food stores sell flouride free children's toothpaste

What's the point in having fluoride in our toothpaste since they feed it to us through water supply, eh? :mad: Wish that would stop! Apparently if you boil the water (which all the health specialists told me to do in case I'd want to give water to my baby) it concentrates the fluoride so you get an even bigger overdose!

Hobbitfeet

Lounakin that's crazy!! Even more reason to buy a good water filter, the one we have removes the fluoride. I think a lot if people don't understand that fluoride is a toxin.
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2011/12/17/fluoride-myth/

lounakin

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

Lounakin that's crazy!! Even more reason to buy a good water filter, the one we have removes the fluoride. I think a lot if people don't understand that fluoride is a toxin.
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2011/12/17/fluoride-myth/

What kind of filter do you have? I'd be interested in getting on myself...

Hobbitfeet

This is the one I have http://www.carahealth.ie/healthy-water/gravity-water-filtersr.html
It's excellent and a fair price too. The only negative is it is quite tall you need a space where it will be easy to fill and to check on water level. We put up a shelf for it where it can sit at the edge so it's easy to get big saucepans etc underneath the tap

Rosy Posy

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

If you read the link I posted it explains why this is not true and it makes total sense. When a baby is latched on and nursing the nipple is at the back of the mouth past the teeth and breastmilk does not pool in babies mouth. It also explains why some people are probe to cavities and sown aren't

Will have to arm myself with that next time we go in. I fear I have been branded a 'problem parent'!

Hobbitfeet

An aware educated parent

pwurple

lounakin wrote: »

What's the point in having fluoride in our toothpaste since they feed it to us through water supply, eh? :mad: Wish that would stop! Apparently if you boil the water (which all the health specialists told me to do in case I'd want to give water to my baby) it concentrates the fluoride so you get an even bigger overdose!

Please don't believe the anti-flouride mumbo jumbo. It's in the water because it serves a different purpose in the drinking water than in the toothpaste. I will find some links on it when I get time to look it up, it has been studied over and over again.

It is not in any way toxic in the quantities we injest, it is vastly good for our health and has increased our lifespan dramatically. It has been credited as being one of the biggest factors in the modern world for our current increased lifespan and health, along with vaccination programs and hospital care for pregnancy and birth. I am all for healthy scepticism, but wanting to remove the things that make us healthier and live longer is taking it too far.

As for the dentists claim about milk in the mouth all night long, of course it causes cavities, every food does. Not breastmilk in particular, but breastmilk included. This is why we brush our teeth after food and before bed, to remove the food that bacteria live on. The nipple being at the back of the mouth doesn't make an iota of difference, the starches are transported around the whole mouth by saliva.

Hobbitfeet

Recommended daily intake if fluoride for a baby is 0.5mg. Do you know how much flouride is added to our water? Local county councils control this and the amount can vary from county to county. Generally there should be 1 ppm equal to 1mg/l. If your child us formula fed and having say 32oz (which is nearly a litre)of formula a day, probably some water or diluted juice, food which has been cooked with water, teeth brushed with toothpaste and bathed every day can you see how easy it is to overdose on it?
Flouride is a toxin and overdosing can cause serious illness http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoride_toxicity#Chronic_toxicity

lounakin

pwurple wrote: »

Please don't believe the anti-flouride mumbo jumbo. It's in the water because it serves a different purpose in the drinking water than in the toothpaste. I will find some links on it when I get time to look it up, it has been studied over and over again.

It is not in any way toxic in the quantities we injest, it is vastly good for our health and has increased our lifespan dramatically. It has been credited as being one of the biggest factors in the modern world for our current increased lifespan and health, along with vaccination programs and hospital care for pregnancy and birth. I am all for healthy scepticism, but wanting to remove the things that make us healthier and live longer is taking it too far.

As for the dentists claim about milk in the mouth all night long, of course it causes cavities, every food does. Not breastmilk in particular, but breastmilk included. This is why we brush our teeth after food and before bed, to remove the food that bacteria live on. The nipple being at the back of the mouth doesn't make an iota of difference, the starches are transported around the whole mouth by saliva.

Let's not get into all this debate about fluoride but it's been removed from the water system in most european countries for years... and some of those countries have a higher life expectancy than ireland and better teeth!

pwurple

lounakin wrote: »

Let's not get into all this debate about fluoride.

Indeed, done to death on boards especially.

Main thing is, brush their teeth. Breastfeeding or not. I've a few dentists in my family, and the stories they tell about children having teeth removed from decay are very sad, as it's entirely preventable.