My baby’s teeth

• Help baby teeth come through.
During teething, it is recommended to use a teething ring and put it in the refrigerator, but not in the freezer: cold is an excellent pain reliever. You can also massage your baby’s gums with a clean finger and a specific balm to soothe them. However, you should not rub the gums with hard bread or sugar, as this would increase the risk of cavities.

If your child has a fever related to teething, give a fever-reducing medicine at a dose appropriate to the child’s weight and age.

• Cavities before age 3: is it possible?
It is entirely possible. Early childhood tooth decay first affects the incisors before spreading to all the teeth. It can affect children from 6 months of age and have significant repercussions on permanent teeth and on oral development and learning.

• Cavities are caused by a sugary diet.
They are caused by prolonged, repeated exposure to sugary liquids (for example, a bottle sipped during the day and/or at night). If your child needs a bottle to fall asleep, choose water. But if they must drink something other than water before bedtime, brush their teeth right afterwards to prevent the teeth from staying in contact with sugar all night.

• Good oral hygiene is essential to prevent cavities.
Brush teeth twice a day as soon as the first baby teeth appear, using a suitable toothbrush. Spit out excess toothpaste without rinsing. Brushing should be done by an adult up to age 5 and supervised by an adult up to age 7–8.

• You must also be vigilant about parent/child transmission.
Tooth decay is a contagious bacterial disease. Although these bacteria are not present at birth in a child’s mouth, they are often transmitted by parents. To limit the risk of bacterial transmission and the development of cavities, make sure to avoid:
– Using your child’s spoon to check whether the food is too hot;
– Using the same cutlery as your child;
– Putting the pacifier in your mouth to clean it;
– Kissing your child on the mouth.

• Your child sucks their thumb or uses a pacifier: what are the risks?
In both cases, the consequences can be significant for the child’s development. In addition to dental misalignment, there are risks of palate deformities and impaired jaw growth, with repercussions on breathing, swallowing, and speech. It is not always up to parents to decide, but an anatomically shaped pacifier has fewer consequences than thumb-sucking. In all cases, these habits should be stopped as early as possible and before permanent teeth appear.

(source: UFSBD)