Hi,
Pema is almost 26 months now (I wonder when we stop counting the months and just say 2 or 2 and a half?).
Re: her teeth. They look great. Pema in general is very healthy. Still breastfeeding with mom, most/many of her teeth are in (to be honest, I've never even looked in her mouth, but she must be chewing those veggies with something).
We don't give her candy or junkfood. Very little juice. Other than breast milk, she eats mostly veggies, tofu, grains, dried fruit, nuts, fresh fruit, goat milk, cheese. Sometimes I'm a bit concerned about the intense sweetness of the dried fruit and often find myself saying "enough".
We model toothbrushing to her, but have never tried to force a toothbrush in her mouth. She will pick it up and bite the bristles - we don't put any toothpaste on it.
Next week, my wife and I have our annual dental appointment and I am bracing myself for a lecture from the dentist. He is a friend, and has been receptive to my personal wishes to use non-mercury fillings in my teeth. He's somewhat traditional.
Mostly we have followed a pretty non-interventionist approach in our daughter's care. She has never taken any medicine...other than breast milk and love - no vaccinations, no antibiotics, no baby tylenols (she's only had a couple of small colds with mild symptoms).
So I'm wondering what the official ADA line is on kids Pema's age is - and whether I should continue to ignore the party line and what alternative parents out there consider when planning for the long term health of their children's teeth.
Given the above care regimen for Pema's teeth (i.e. avoidance of junk food), perhaps there isn't much cause for concern about a super-structured daily brushing/cleaning session of her baby teeth which will all fall out anyways??
Pema is almost 26 months now (I wonder when we stop counting the months and just say 2 or 2 and a half?).
Re: her teeth. They look great. Pema in general is very healthy. Still breastfeeding with mom, most/many of her teeth are in (to be honest, I've never even looked in her mouth, but she must be chewing those veggies with something).
We don't give her candy or junkfood. Very little juice. Other than breast milk, she eats mostly veggies, tofu, grains, dried fruit, nuts, fresh fruit, goat milk, cheese. Sometimes I'm a bit concerned about the intense sweetness of the dried fruit and often find myself saying "enough".
We model toothbrushing to her, but have never tried to force a toothbrush in her mouth. She will pick it up and bite the bristles - we don't put any toothpaste on it.
Next week, my wife and I have our annual dental appointment and I am bracing myself for a lecture from the dentist. He is a friend, and has been receptive to my personal wishes to use non-mercury fillings in my teeth. He's somewhat traditional.
Mostly we have followed a pretty non-interventionist approach in our daughter's care. She has never taken any medicine...other than breast milk and love - no vaccinations, no antibiotics, no baby tylenols (she's only had a couple of small colds with mild symptoms).
So I'm wondering what the official ADA line is on kids Pema's age is - and whether I should continue to ignore the party line and what alternative parents out there consider when planning for the long term health of their children's teeth.
Given the above care regimen for Pema's teeth (i.e. avoidance of junk food), perhaps there isn't much cause for concern about a super-structured daily brushing/cleaning session of her baby teeth which will all fall out anyways??
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