How to clean your baby’s teeth

You may be wondering when to start cleaning your baby’s  teeth. You should start cleaning your child’s teeth as soon as the first tooth appears.  If you start early, your baby will get use to brushing her  teeth. Before the teeth appear, you should clean  the gum by doing the following

• moisten a soft  washcloth. You can also use a piece of gauze to
• gently wipe your baby’s  gum at least twice  a day
• it is important to wipe your baby’s gum after feeding and before bedtime

When the first tooth  erupts , you can use a damp soft cloth or a clean gauze  with a tiny smear of toothpaste to clean your baby’s teeth. If you prefer a brush, you have to choose one with

• soft brush
• large handle
• small head

You just need a tiny smear ( about the size of a grain of rice)  of  toothpaste with fluoride. You have to make sure it is tooth paste designed for babies. When the child is 3, you can increase it to a pea size of fluoride tooth paste. Brush gently  all around the child’s teeth, front and back. You need to brush your child’s teeth until she is old enough to hold the brush. Replace the baby’s tooth brush regularly about every month to 3 months. A sign  that the tooth brush needs to be changed  is when the bristles starts to spread out. You should continue supervising teeth brushing until the child can rinse and spit on her own.

Your child should go to her first dentist appointment by age 1.