SMILE ALL THE WAY!

“Start early! Oral hygiene is a must to concentrate and follow from early years,’’ suggests Dr. Heman Verma. Teeth, tongue and gums are the three crucial elements of oral hygiene. To keep teeth in good health, the care must begin early- as young as a toddler. It is not only important to keep teeth clean but also protect them from things that can harm them.

Teething in toddlers

Teething is often a tough time for babies and their parents. As a new tooth erupts, they cut the tender gum of a baby. As outcome, they gums may become sore. Babies who are teething often exhibit signs such as the continuous dribbling of saliva from their lips. The irritation in their jaws may even make them restless and interfere with their sleeping patterns. Teething has often associated with several health issues such as diarrhea and fever. Use good quality teether, which should be regularly sterilized and cooled in a refrigerator before giving to the child,” says Dr. Verma. Finger brushes are available these days which is a really great tool and can be easily placed on a finger and gently use to clean gum pads even before eruption of teeth. If a tooth has just erupted that can also be cleaned.

Different reasons such as accidents, tooth decay and dental erosions can damage the teeth of children. “Children can have problems like pain in teeth, difficulty in chewing, poor appetite, irregular teeth, crowding of teeth and eruption problem. A serious care and attention is important when a tooth problem shows up.  “Pain is mainly due to a deep cavity; pain starts when the nerve of the tooth is infected. Small cavity can be treated by restoring it with a filling. Crowding and irregular teeth could be treated initially by avoiding early extraction of milk teeth or by orthodontic treatment (braces),” adds Dr. Verma.

Root canal is becoming increasingly common in children due to 
reasons like high carbohydrate diet- sugar and starchy food, improper
oral hygiene, improper treatment to milk teeth and irregular dental 
checkups.

Toddler oral care

• Start wiping the gum pads with a clean cloth from the time of birth till one year of age after every feed.
• Infants should be held while feeding and should always be burped after feeding to ensure that the baby has swallowed the milk.
• Night feed should be avoided once the first tooth has erupted.

This article was first published in the print version of SUBURB August 2017 issue.