Know Your Teeth

As a dentist, I have often observed that patients don’t give themselves the opportunities to maintain their teeth in a healthy state. That patient could be you.

And as mothers, you are underestimating your influence on your children’s lives and their health. Teeth are for lifetime and in this series of articles on oral health we will try to tell you things which will help you maintain teeth for your family and have a bright shining smile.

The Baby teeth Myth

The teeth start coming in the mouth of the newborn from the age of six months. There can be variations and some kids have their first teeth coming even at the age of 12 months. If its later than this better get it checked by a dentist who will X ray and check for the presence of teeth.

There are twenty baby teeth and this set is complete by the age of 30 months on average. Count and see in your kid's mouth, five on each of four sides should make twenty. The maintenance should begin right from the first year by wiping your kids teeth with wet cotton before he goes to bed. From the age of three years encourage him to brush his teeth at bedtime using a pea size quantity of toothpaste.

Do Not allow Baby teeth to Be lost

Most people believe that baby or milk teeth are going to fall and they need not be taken care. Nothing could be farther from truth. These teeth are very important for your child's development and help him smile and chew well. The last milk tooth falls only by the age of about 12 years. Untimely loss of milk teeth is also one of the main causes of poor health of your child and also leads to crooked teeth in future.

At the age of six years the first permanent tooth comes in the mouth. It is called the molar. It will serve you to chew food for rest of your life. This tooth is last one at the end of milk teeth and comes without replacing any milk tooth, most people mistake it for milk tooth and neglect it. This often leads to the decay of this very important tooth and cripples chewing for rest of your life.

It is the duty of the parents to look in the mouth of their kids to see if all the teeth are in good condition and without any decay or "back spots". Children who are taught good mouth cleaning habits at early age continu

Most kids have 28 teeth in their mouth by the age of 12-14 years. Only wisdom teeth remain to come out, which is between the age of 18-25 years.

Many parents worry about the kids thumb or finger sucking habit. Use of undue force reaching almost a level of torture can afflict your child with psychological problems. Persuade the child and if the habit persists, consult your dentist. In any case most habits are not going to cause any harm if stopped before the age of about four years.

Good nutrition with calcium during early years is important for strong teeth. Once the teeth have formed calcium can not be of any help. Other things to keep in mind are to avoid too many candies, pacifiers or leaving the bottle in baby's mouth for long periods. Sweet liquids or juices are very dangerous for teeth if left in kid's mouth for long periods.

Also read this important article about your Kids teeth