baby teeth basics?

[logansmom109]

Hi! I have been reading through old posts and it is obvious that you all are much more knowledgeable than I am in regards to dental care for LO. I am a FTM and DS just turned one. He has 6 teeth now and all I have been doing is rubbing them with a washcloth. He does not eat many solids yet, but of course has taken to fruit...He still nurses often.

Is there a site that you can refer me to with good solid information on the basics. I don't think we have any problems at this time, but both myself and my husband have terrible teeth.

I'm wondering about dietary interventions at this point (limiting fruit and other carbs), the flouride in our water (though he doesn't drink much water at this point), how on earth do you floss a one year olds teeth, do I need toothpaste or just a wet cloth for 'brushing', when do you take a LO to the dentist for the first time????

Thanks for helping out a newbie here!

erin

[sisteeesmama]

For me I would say yes, you should worry about the fluoride in the water, it's not the good kind and a filter that actually takes out fluoride and chlorine is beneficial.

I would also say that starting with xylitol in the childs water is good for neutralizing the acid in the mouth, using it right before bed is great, too.

I would make sure that the child is getting a CLO dose each day and start introducing that tooth brush in the mouth as often as you can because getting them used to brushing is important.

Water after eating is good, water with xylitol is best. Brushing in the Am and Pm is important and getting enough fats and the right vitamins and minerals in their diet is really important.

[logansmom109]

Good info. What is CLO?

[sisteeesmama]

Sorry, it's CodLiverOil.

[luv2bamommy2]

Use Spiffies [www.spiffies.com] or make your own tooth/gum wipe usin 1 tsp Xylitol crystals plus 2 tsp water. Rub all over the gums and when teeth start coming in put on them.

Read some of the sites, especially Dr. Ellie's blog [ http://askdrellie.blogspot.com/2006/11/baby-teeth.html] on caring for a baby's gums and teeth. Also www.epicdental.com and www.xlear.com all of them have excellent research and info about the benefits of Xylitol and babies.

[JaneS]

For diet advice, please see the WAPF link in my sig. and the "Curing Cavities with Nutrition" thread stickied above this forum.

Cod liver oil plus a source of vitamin K2 (grassfed dairy, pastured eggs, seafood or dose high vitamin butter oil) and high minerals (raw milk and/or 24 hr bone broths) are some of the basics of high nutrition that aids tooth (and bone) health.

Only high vitamin CLO such as Blue Ice or Radiant Life have enough vitamins to make a difference.

I would not do xylitol, there is some evidence that it is toxic:
http://www.curetoothdecay.com/Tooth_...ooth_decay.htm

I like Toothsoap instead.

[JaneS]

Fluoridation: The Fraud of the Century
http://www.westonaprice.org/envtoxin...tionfraud.html

Fluoride: Worse than We Thought
http://www.westonaprice.org/envtoxins/fluoride.html

Fluoride & the Pineal Gland: Study Published in Caries Research
http://www.fluoridealert.org/ifin-269.htm

When Luke found out that the pineal gland - a little gland in the center of the brain, responsible for a very large range of regulating activities (it produces serotonin and melatonin) -was also a calcifying tissue, like the teeth and the bones, she hypothesized it would concentrate fluoride to very high levels. The gland is not protected by the blood brain barrier and has a very high perfusion rate of blood, second only to the kidney...

She found that melatonin production... was lower in the animals treated with high fluoride levels compared with those treated with low levels...

Significance? Huge. Melatonin is reponsible for regulating all kinds of activities and there is a vast amount of work investigating its possible roles in aging, cancer and many other life processes. The one activity that Luke is particularly interested in is the onset of puberty. The highest levels of melatonin ( produced only at night) is generated in young children. It is thought that it is the fall of these melatonin levels which acts like a biological clock and triggers the onset of puberty. In her gerbil study she found that the high fluoride treated animals were reaching puberty earlier than the low fluoride ones.

Fluoride, being of the safe family as iodine, can also bind to ALL iodine receptors in the body, including the thyroid, breasts, ovaries, prostate, brain, eye, salivary glands, stomach, intestines and skin. It blocks the function of iodine and can impede organ function.

"Some countries are fluoridating their water supply for the theoretical benefits of fluoride helping to prevent cavities. What is happening is the ingested fluoride takes the place of iodine that should be there in the teeth, especially growing teeth. Iodine and thyroid for example have complete control of tooth growth along with some help from growth hormone. (6-8) It is only because our iodine intake has been decreasing over the years that fluoride has been mistakenly added to our water with the idea of helping children's teeth. It would have made more scientific sense to have added more iodine."

"Fluoride has also been used against osteoporosis with beneficial results. This again is just replacing what iodine should be doing. The minor problems of osteopenia (minor loss of calcium) seen in some patients put on thyroid is related to the fact that the same patients are low in iodine. The low iodine causes the hypothyroidism and also the inappropriate short term bone response. If iodine is given with the thyroid hormone this abnormal response can be avoided. So persons taking adequate daily iodine will unlikely to ever develop osteoporosis."

"Radioactive iodine injected into patients shows a full outline of the bones on a total body scan. This means one of the places iodine goes to immediately is bones. Thyroid hormone makes bones grow, mature and remodel, when necessary. Together thyroid hormone, iodine and growth hormone maintain a healthy bone structure. As vertebrates (animals with backbones) are the only animals with thyroid glands it makes sense that iodine and thyroid control bone structure and function."
http://www.iodine4health.com/special...s/halogens.htm

More on iodine at 'THE Iodine Thread':
http://www.iodine4health.com/special...s/halogens.htm

Fluoride: A Statement of Concern
by Paul Connett, PhD
http://www.fluoridealert.org/fluoride-statement.htm

1. I have been researching the literature on fluoride for just over three years. I approached this issue with an open mind. If I had any bias when I set out it was that those who were opposed to fluoridation were `crackpots'.

2. However, the more I have read the more concerned I have become over the dangers posed by fluoride and the very poor science underpinning its supposed efficacy in protecting children's teeth. How we ever allowed such a toxic substance into the drinking water is staggering. Even though fluoride's toxicity is rated higher than lead, the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) maximum contaminant level for lead in water is 15 ppb (parts per billion) whereas the level allowed for fluoride is 4,000 ppb. The recommended level for artificial fluoridation of the drinking water of 1 part per million (1 ppm = 1,000 ppb) was established in 1945, and it hasn't been changed since, even though today we (and our children) are getting fluoride from many other additional sources, including toothpaste, other dental products, mouthwashes, processed food, some vitamin tablets, and beverages.

Processed food and beverages contain a LOT of fluoride:
http://www.fortcollinscwa.org/pages/fluoride.htm

More scientific evidence against fluoride:
http://www.rvi.net/~fluoride/

[JaneS]

Bumping for member question about fluoride.