2 Y.O. & Plaque (Teeth-Brushing Question)

[StopThat!]

My almost 2 DS seems to have plaque developing on his teeth, despite somedays brushing his teeth 3 times (if the mood strikes him). We're working on getting him to let US brush his teeth FOR him in hopes we can do it better, but we usually can only get to the count of five on top, and same for bottom.

I know he's way to young for the dentist, but isn't this going to cause a problem later on? I can't seem to scrape it off, and I've REALLY limited his juice lately incase that's the problem (except he's still BF a ton, won't take milk from a cup, and so less juice means more strain on my tired boobs). Is it time to maybe use the floride toothpaste instead of the baby-safe one?

Any advice? Or perhaps something you did that helped with your kids, so they would let you brush their teeth?

Thanks in advance!

[Momma Moo Martin]

I'm in the same boat!

[Yuba_River]

We have really struggled with tooth brushing around here, but it has slowly gotten easier. We try to make it fun, are very consistent about it, and if he is cooperating, end the session ASAP so it ends on a positive note. The most helpful thing for us has been having fun toothbrushes for him. The current brush is green and looks like a turtle, and we treat it like a puppet--he talks back to it, which is super cute! You could also try using your finger in a washcloth instead of a brush, or getting those wipes that are made with Xylitol (not sure if I am spelling that right). Some nights I brush for the length of a song, or to a certain count, etc... whatever works. I know how hard it is!

Also, almost two is not too young for the dentist--DS just had his first visit today at 2.5, but the office we went to recommended coming before their 2nd birthday.

[CaliforniaMommy]

2 isn't too young for your first dentist visit. I took my DD for her first visit when she was 18mo, as I could see she was already developing some plaque. We have a wonderful pediatric dentist in town who actually got my DD to sit on her chair and removed the plaque sucessfully. My DD had a great experience there. The dentist also gave us some tips on how to brush her teeth, and also floss (yes, floss... especially since her teeth are really close to each other, so she'll be more prone to cavities).
We are going back in a couple weeks for her 2nd visit, and a new cleaning (she'll be 2 at the end of March).

[mommydesi]

Here's some things we do with 2year DD...get a fun brush (sometimes let her pick it out), count slowly to ten while we're brushing so she knows at 10 she's done, good flavor toothpaste she likes (we use a Tom's of Maine strawberry one), make it a upbeat experience, tell her about 5 minutes before something like after reading this book we're going to go upstairs and brush your teeth.
We are able to floss her teeth. It was too difficult for us with regular floss and her small mouth, but she loves to let us use the little floss pick type things. I think it's Pluckers brand with an angled head. It makes it really easy to floss her teeth. Especially the bottom front four, because they are very close together.
In the mornings we try to brush for her, but she doesn't usually like to be messed with so much in the morning, so it's more like we brush for 5 seconds then she tries to brush and chews on it. At night though, she always lets us brush. Once we're done, I'll let her "brush" for a bit.
When she was younger and didn't like it so much we'd "brush" some of her animals or dolls teeth to show her what it was like. She thought that was funny. Then she'd want to brush their teeth. Then she'd let us brush her teeth.
We took DD to dentist about 18 months just for a VERY brief office tour, meet the dentist, and he took a quick look in her mouth and showed us how to brush. He wants to see her next at 26 months, when she should have her second set of molars. He doesn't clean at this visit (does cleaning at 3years), but does a good inspection, proper brushing technique, etc.

Hope some of that might give you some ideas!

[redvlagrl]

I agree with CaliforniaMommy. I took DD in for her first dentist vist at 14 mths. We went to a pediatric dentist. Luckily her teeth were in great shape but it was nice to have the reassurance.

Right now DD is resisting having her teeth brushed by us, but I do it anyway because I figure that it's a lot less painful than having fillings etc.

We don't give DD juice at all (not even watered down), and milk only at mealtimes, FWIW. DD nurses 2-3 times a day.

I would def make an appt to go to a pediatric dentist if there is one in your area.

[tankgirl73]

Originally Posted by StopThat!

II've REALLY limited his juice lately incase that's the problem (except he's still BF a ton, won't take milk from a cup, and so less juice means more strain on my tired boobs).

Can't you just give him water?

As for the fluoride toothpaste... that won't help with plaque. Though I guess your thinking is that it would strengthen his teeth to help resist against decay from having all that plaque around? I dunno. Kids with fluoride toothpaste their whole lives still get cavities. Fewer cavities than non-fluoridated kids, perhaps, so they say, but it's no guarantee.

So I'd weigh the possible benefits against the risks. And the risks, to my mind, are that at this age, the child is still very likely to swallow a certain amount of toothpaste. With poisonous fluoride in it. And the benefits... are that IF your child is going to get cavities, he might get fewer.

Of course, if you REALLY want to get your head spinning, you can then add in the risk-benefit analysis of getting cavities and thus needing to get them filled. Which involves putting either plastic (poison) or heavy metals (poison) into your child's mouth on a permanent, full-time basis. There's no winning!!!

Anyway. When DS was 3, his dentist said he had 6 cavities, we needed to switch to a fluoridated toothpaste, and they'd need to be filled soon.

We went to a different dentist. We said nothing about what the other dentist had said. He saw one cavity. Filled it. Over the next few years, he found 2 or 3 more. If they were the same cavities that the first dentist had seen, they certainly hadn't caused any problems in the intervening YEARS.

As he's gotten older, we've sometimes used fluoridated toothpastes with him, but now that our daughter is here and old enough to be brushing her teeth, we're using a non-fluoridated one they can both use.

I figure that they get more, in terms of stronger tooth enamel, from having a healthy, mineral-rich diet, than from that little bit of fluoride they would get from the toothpaste. I might be mistaken in that. But at the very least, I'm going to wait until she is at least 6 before re-considering a fluoride toothpaste for them.

As for what to do about the plaque... figure out how to get him to let you brush his teeth too. DD will usually let us do hers AFTER she has, like "yay, now it's mommy's turn". Maybe if you let HER brush YOUR teeth she'll be more interested in taking part in this game. We got a toothbrush that flashes for one minute (or two? I forget...). She loves it. She understands that we have to keep brushing as long as it's flashing... And SHE absolutely HAS to be the one who turns it on! Heaven forbid if daddy has the gall to turn it on for her... YIKES!

[lisalulu]

We've taken our 2yo to the dentist-granted it was motivated by the fact that his older brother had 4 cavities by age 3.5

Our ped dentist told us not to use fluoride toothpaste until they can spit well-otherwise you run the risk of them ingesting it. She did suggest getting a fluoride rinse which has a lower percentage of fluoride than paste, dip the brush in it and then brush it on like that. That was advice for our 3yo after we found out he had cavities.

One thing that helped us with the 2yo's teeth was getting an electric brush-one of the $5 ones at the drug store. He seems to like the vibration or something but he's much more willing to brush using that.

[llwr]

My DD loves it when the toothbrush "talks" to her. She'll always listen to it when she won't listen to me!

[ashleyhaugh]

for my ds (29 months) we always brush at night in the bath. i do it first, long enough for me to sing the abc song (and hes little enough i can drag it out too, lol), then its his turn to brush. we dont always remember to brush in the morning though. at daycare theyre supposed to brush after breakfast (but hes usually not there that early) and lunch. theyre diposable tooth brushes with no toothpaste, just water, and the kids do it themselves, so its mostly playing with a little brushing, lol