When did you start brushing teeth?

[eilonwy]

Ds has 5 teeth (4 mostly in, one about half-way). He's mostly nursing, eating some table foods but still probably getting 80% of his nutrition from my milk. So when do I start brushing? And could I try a toddler toothbrush instead of one of the finger brushes, which he insists on biting off?

[Evergreen]

I brush my 9 month old's teeth. She likes to chew on the brush more, though. We use one of the toddler brushes.

[phathui5]

We started brusing consistantly somewhere between a year and eighteen months. Until then, we just wiped his teeth off with a washcloth.

[Kundalini-Mama]

Aidan got his first tooth at 4 months. We started him on solids at 8 months, but he really wasn't interested. So anyday he had any solid food in his mouth, he got his teeth brushed.

Once he started eating at 1 yr, his teeth were being brushed 2x/day (as he was eating solid foods everyday). He brushes them in the am (and any other time he wants to) and at night I do a thorough job--it is one of our nonnegotiable rules in the house. He is an all night nurser, so those teeth NEED to be clean.

Next baby, I won't even mess w/that finger toothbrush. I will go straight to the "big boy" one and save my finger the trauma. Electric toothbrushes are fun too!

I'm sure you've read somewhere (if I could remember where I read it, I'd post it, but I'm drawing a blank :splat ) that breastmilk acts as a catalyst for caries if there is solid food on the teeth.

IIRC, the study went like this...

The researchers had samples of breast milk, glucose, ABM, water...I think that was it. They had teeth (of sorts, maybe just enamel) soaking in these solutions. Water and BM caused no decay, glucose the most, ABM in the middle. They then had food particles on these "teeth", and soaked them again. To their surprise, the "teeth" soaked in BM developed caries faster, faster than the glucose even.

Really interesting! Oh, and my 20 month old gets about 80% of his calories from me. At this rate he will have to go to college in-state :LOL

Amy :)

[Marsupialmom]

If you can wipe them go for it!!

I let my kids chew on a tooth brush while watching me brush. I let them brush first and then I would touch up as they would allow it.

[mrzmeg]

Do y'all use toothpaste?
I "brush" ds' teeth with a finger brush, though I admit I'm not really consistant (he doesn't eat solids regularly yet). I'm reluctant to use toothpaste, though...is it really necessary?

[Heavenly]

I start brushing them as soon as they have teeth. I use a regular toothbrush and I use natural toothpaste with no flouride. It is for kids and its safe to swallow.

[oceanbaby]

We didn't brush consistently until about 2yo, honestly. We started around 18 months, but it was really only a couple of times a week. Now he brushes willingly every night. First he brushes while I brush my teeth, then I get in there and get it all clean. We use a toddler brush. I put a faint smear of my Tom's of Maine toothpaste on there, I believe it's the peppermint one.

[Embee]

Until about 10 months (aka, before molars), I wiped them. At 11, 12 months I used the finger brush--he had molars by then and the wiping wasn't very thorough. He started experiementing with a real (toddler size) brush about this time, but mainly just chewed on it.

At 18 months, I started brushing them, once before bed. Now I do some, and he finishes up. He loves the Tom's of Maine Orange Mango for kids (I barely coat the bristles). We tried giving him some of our regular mint Tom's, but he doesn't care for it.

[Piglet68]

The Dental forum (yes, we have one!) is full of information. Every parent should read the Dental Archives. I revisit there every once in a while for motivation. Good oral hygeine is SO important!

[normajean]

If there is one thing I am obsessive about, its my son's teeth!

I have seen my nieces and nephews go through heck at the dentists office because their parents never took the responsibility to prevent it, and its SO easy to prevent! My DN's are constantly having to be PUT UNDER for fillings, root canals, etc, at the age of 2 or 3!!!!! I have major problems with the idea of a toddler needing a root canal, and the idea of them being under general anesthesia!

My 2 year old nephew has no teeth in front anymore, but silver implants. His two front teeth are ugly and will be until his permanant ones come in. Why? because his mother was too lazy to take 2 minutes in the morning and 2 at night to brush and flouride his teeth, and because she was too lazy to take him to the dentist despite having excellent medical and dental insurance (which she is now having to fight because they are saying the won't cover general anesthesia for a 2 year old tooth implant procedure because its not considered oral surgery)

So....with my DS, as soon as teeth were poking through, we started brushing them. At one year old he saw a pediatric dentist. We gave DS flouride drops until the dentist prescribed topical flouride gel. We brush and do flouride daily, and as soon as his teeth touch each other we will start flossing. Its worth that five minutes a day to see a healthy smile and save literally thousands of dollars in dental care that could have been prevented.

Nothing irks me more than parents who don't even care that their kids mouths are healthy. Gum disease and tooth decay have been linked to heart disease and a shorter lifespan!

If you are breastfeeding past a year, you should be brushing your kids teeth after every nursing. They are at risk for baby bottle tooth decay!! Especially if you co-sleep and they nurse at night.

[Kundalini-Mama]

Originally posted by normajean

If you are breastfeeding past a year, you should be brushing your kids teeth after every nursing. They are at risk for baby bottle tooth decay!! Especially if you co-sleep and they nurse at night.

Normajean, I need to respectfully disagree w/the above quote. Bottle rot happens to bottlefed babies, not breastfed babies. See the below links, really eye opening.

http://www.mothering.com/10-0-0/html/10-7-0/cavities.shtml
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/tooth-decay.html
http://www.brianpalmerdds.com/bfeed_caries.htm

I'm sure there is tons more info on it on the dental forum that Piglet mentioned. Smilemomma is one smart mama!

And from my research, I have yet to see one study of how ingesting flouride (in the water or in drops) helps teeth. The *only* possible way I could see would be if a mother is pregnant and is drinking flouridated water. But I have not looked into this, so this is just a thought.

We do not use artificial flouride in this house. We try to remember to drink a cup of green tea daily (which has natural flouride in it) and we have taught Aidan to swish it around in his mouth as well. I have never had a cavity either. Aidan has his 2nd dentist appt coming up this month and I'm sure he'll pass w/flying colors.
:hug Sorry about your DNs, it sounds awful. As I was having to hold down my son tonight to brush his teeth, I thought of your post and remembered why it is all worth it.

Amy :)

[mamabtt]

Normajean wrote :
<<<<<If you are breastfeeding past a year, you should be brushing your kids teeth after every nursing. They are at risk for baby bottle tooth decay!! Especially if you co-sleep and they nurse at night.>>>>>


It is completely unrealistic to think that a nursing toddler will be willing (or it will be logistically possible, etc) to have teeth brushed after every nursing -for me that would be every 2, 3 or 4 hours round the clock. I wonder what dental troubles children in other parts of the world (where age of weaning averages 4-6yrs) have. I doubt they get their teeth brushed after every nursing. Teeth are important but so is the rest of the person, emotional and physical health which outweigh having a perfect smile (and even the other risks you mention which sound scary). I agree brushing teeth is very important but I don't agree that children with caries have them because their mothers are lazy. It seems that your own experience with relatives is causing you to make sweeping generalizations here.

For anyone who is interested:
On nursing and caries:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/tooth-decay.html
On Fluoride(reasons not to use it):
http://www.drjaygordon.com/pediatricks/fluoride.htm

Hope I do not offend anyone, just trying to share info I have gathered on the topic in the past:)

[Bearsmama]

Hi. I know what the dental folks say-about starting when they're reeally young, after each nursing. Just wiping their gums and such. But we didn't really start until DS was about maybe 11 months old, or right after his first few teeth erupted.

I would suggest getting your babe used to the idea by wiping down the gums, etc., as early as possible. DS HATES getting his teeth brushed (now 21 months). And sometimes I wonder if we had started in the way beginning if he would be more okay with the process.

Just my 2 cents...

[mama_kass]

I started to brush my children's teeth as soon as they got there first tooth. I don't use tooth paste on the little one. I started using toothpaste on the oldest when he was 2. They both think it is fun!

[merpk]

We tried, but it didn't do any good.

A lot of it (tooth decay) is genetic.

DS#1 had really awful nursing caries. And I mean awful. Front teeth, top and bottom, were brown by the age of three. Back teeth also badly decayed. He was an avid nurser, fell asleep nursing, nursed through the night ... and through the day, too sometimes :LOL ... until he weaned at 3. DS#1 has spent many hours in the dentist's chair already, has had many cavities filled and teeth bonded and capped and all sorts of things. He was a veteran of the dentist-chair by the age of four. :(


DD also nursed to sleep, and nursed often through the night ... till she weaned this past summer at 3.5 ... but her teeth, while unbrushed (since we had such bad experience with DS#1) are pearly white. Not a single cavity so far.

So we started getting serious with the toothbrushes at around 3.5 with each of them, and they're sort of getting the point.





And my teeth ... after many years of neglect, I have less than a dozen cavities in my whole mouth, and all my teeth, etc., etc ... and my DH has only half of his own teeth, the other half are caps, and he's constantly brushing, constantly flossing ... and his mother worked as a dentist's secretary, so through his childhood he also constantly brushed, constantly neurotic about his teeth ... his whole family has crappy teeth. My whole family has strong teeth.

DS#1, poor little guy, got DH's teeth and my hair.
DD, lucky little girl, got my teeth and DH's hair.

That's the way the DNA ball bounces.

Really, it's mostly genetic. IMHO.

[Piglet68]

Actually, merpk, research seems to support your belief that genetics plays a huge role.

Mothering magazine had an article about breastfeeding and cavities, I think it was about a year ago.

I'm going to have to move this thread to the dental forum now...a mod's gotta do what a mod's gotta do!

[mamakarata]

i agree with the genetics thing. my brothers NEVER brushed their teeth consistently, and never got cavities. i was a totally consistent and always got cavities.

my denstist says some teeth are softer than others.

ds is almost 2 and won't let me get more than one or two strokes in his mouth before he refuses. so i give him his toothbrush with toms mint or stawberry flavor (sometimes both at his request!) and hope he gets them clean.

i can't do the holding him down thing. too brutal. he'd freak.

and, yeah right, we are NOT brushing teeth after every nursing. let's see, i can picture the scenario:

"okay honey, now that you fell asleep for your afternoon nap, let me wake you up to brush your teeth?!?"

NOT!

[malamamama]

Well NormaJean, if you cross paths with my 3 year old dd and notice her two front missing teeth and 2 capped ones, KNOW THIS! I do care!!!!!!!!:D
S.Mutans, the bacteria in our mouths is more prevalent in some mouths more than others. This is introduced into our little ones mouths by sharing utensils, "bites", kisses...etc. And once its there, if consistent, frequent, thourough brushing is not practiced then the bacteria starts the decay.
I did not realize the importance of brushing the teeth when she was eating so few solids between 9 & 14 months. I tried but wasn't diligent enough to do a thourough job amidst her protests. I wasn't lazy, I just didn't know the importance. None of my books talked much about the teeth at this age and I didn't know about MDC. I learned the hard way. My dd's decay was noticable at 15 months.
So in answer to your question eilonwy, start now! They will most likely go thru a stage where they absolutely fight it, but then they also pass into the stage of non or minimal resistance. Move thru the time but don't give up!!!! Soft, tiny brushes are fine. They are often month & age-coded.

[Vanyalos]

As soon as DS' first teeth appeared ( at 5.5 months ) I started wiping them after every feeding .

Once he turned one he got his own toothbrush and milk teeth toothpaste .

[slightly crunchy]

--

[normajean]

I'm sorry to any who I have offended by my post. I have strong feelings on this subject (as you could see) because of the stress and pain I have seen several of my neices and nephews go through.

Both my DH and I have genetically soft enamel. I have a tooth condition where my teeth erupt before they are completely developed causing susceptability to cavities almost as soon as they erupt. However, I had only 5 fillings in my mouth. (DH has more.) I brush, floss, and waterpik daily. I told you in my earlier post I'm compulsive about teeth!!

I was only able to nurse my DS for 6 weeks because I had to have benign tumors removed from my breasts and by the time the bruising had subsided what little milk I had to begin with was gone. :( However, he was weaned to a cup by 7 months. His first tooth was at 5.5 months old. By his 12 month visit, he had the beginnings of tooth decay on his front top teeth. We had been brushing twice daily until that point. His pediatric dentist recommended brushing after every meal and topical flouride once a day. Six months later the damage is completely reversed.

My nephew--the one I mentioned with the 2 silver implants--was exclusively breastfed, (no bottles ever) until he was 15 months old. His front teeth had to be removed because of "baby bottle tooth decay" that was the dentists diagnosis. I'm not a dentist, or a dental researcher, but I know my nephew never had a bottle. He came across one of my son's bottles once and did not know what to do with it, although he did enjoy spilling it out by squeezing the nipple.... I do know that my SIL does not supervise brushing, or even remind her kids to brush their teeth. When I used the term lazy, I was referring to her, so please don't take offense at my choice of words. Of course I am not a dentist and can't say what the exact cause of it was. I'm not downing extended nursing or anything like that, but I am saying my nephew had portions of the top of his front teeth completely rotted through and brown, and I doubt if he has ever even had mommy "check" his brushing job.

I'm not criticizing anyones else's parenting choices, but my experience has lead me to make teeth a priority. I do believe preventative care is worth the effort.

[eilonwy]

:LOL Thanks, I guess daddy's going to be bringing home a toothbrush for my little man!

About genetics: My mother has *horrific* teeth. They're scary, they're so nasty. Fort Knox hiding behind a mountain of nastiness. My teeth, however, were textbook perfect until I was 22 years old, and I did not have what you'd call stellar brushing habits. When I developed my first toothache, I didn't even know what it was; I thought I had a sinus infection until I couldn't eat anymore. I needed a root canal on that tooth, and it was my first experience with pain in a dentists chair. When I got home, I was thrilled; ever since that tooth had come in, it had been very sensitive to hot, cold, and sweet, to the point where I always ate cold things on the other side of my mouth. I thought that was normal.

My mother said "You know, your father had that tooth pulled before I met him. And your sister has a peg tooth there. What a strange thing to inherit!"

I hope to instill better brushing habits in my kids than I had! ("Brush your teeth, you have a dentist appointment tomorrow!") I guess now that he's walking is a good time to start!

[mamakarata]

well i just visited my dentist a week ago and he said that as our teeth mature, they become less susceptible to cavities- so for those with soft teeth (myself included)- this is good news!

of course, i have one tooth that had been hit as a child that never had a cavity, but that died, so guess what? i get to have root canal on that one! oh well...