Brushing teeth

[The Vern]

When do you start brushing teeth?  As soon as they come in? And do you use toothpaste right away or just water?  DD is 8 months and has 2 teeth.  She loves rubbing the tooth brush on her gums and biting the brush.  Is that ok/enough at this time or should I make it more formal, i.e. I brush the teeth twice a day?

[Samuel's mum]

I brushed from the first teeth once a day at first and then from around 10 month twice a day. I did use toothpaste but a tiny amount. I was told the size of a grain of rice and it was a low fluoride variety.

[mari]

I think that it should be when they first have a tooth, I think that it helps DD with her teething too.  I do have problems, she just wants to eat the toothpasste.  Here is how I have overcome it, I either play a game at tickling her teeth, or get her to clean mine shilst I am cleaning hers, she loves this.

[* Paula *]

We started as soon as DS had a tooth and twice a day.

Our HV said that they can use normal toothpaste as long as the flouride content is less than 1000.  We still use the baby toothpaste as we were given a few tubes.

[Erin M]

Just read that it's a good idea to brush twice a day (after breakfast and before bed) with a low/no flouride toothpaste for 30 seconds at a time.  I started brushing DD's teeth first with just a finger brush and now with a real toothbrush (she's got 16 teeth now so putting a finger in her mouth is very dangerous). 

[Kimberly®]

We started when DD was about 6 months with the finger tooth brush. Now we use that and then give her a brush of her own to use. She mostly just chews on it, but we're hoping it will make brushing her teeth easier as she gets older.

[* Paula *]

We started out using a small toothbrush - DS has always liked it.

He too likes to try and brush his teeth and gets very frustrated if I try and take it to help him 

[maxysmum]

DS has his tooth brush in the bath and just kind of sucks on it  , but then i give his 3 teeth a quick rub with a little bit of low flouride toothpaste on the brush, he thinks its quite good fun, and we'll start to do it in the morning once this 4th tooth has broken through.

Love

[Knonie]

I started doing them twice a day with my dd as soon as she got her first teeth. In the mornings she sits on my lap and I brush her teeth, she is then allowed to 'practice' doing them herself while I do mine. I don't let her do her own at bedtime though as she gets far too excited parading around the bathroom doing them, then trying to get the toothbrush back is like retrieving a bone from a dog followed by a full on tantrum!!!

[MDHmommy]

What about a dentist's visit? I was reading somewhere the other day that you should take your baby to the dentist when the first 2 teeth pop through. We don't have dental insurance...so I'm not too keen on that idea, since it really seems kind of pointless to me. What are you guys reading/hearing on that?

[mari]

I havent taken dd to the dentist yet, I am about to make an appointment for me and Nathan and she will come along.  When I first took Nathan though, the dentist advised me to lay on the chair and have him lay on top of me so that I could hold him and the dentist only took a quick look and he advised that he come back again quite soon so that he could get used to him for the future.  He soon did, and also the prospect of a sticker is a good one.
My dentist is softly spoken and gentle so that also helps.

[Knonie]

I'm in the UK so am with a National Health Service Dentist.. he recommends that he see's my dd when she's 3 as he says that a certain amount of understanding on the child's part really helps on both sides. He has strongly suggested that she comes to my appointments so that she can see my reactions and therefore isn't in anyway apprehensive when she gets her first appointment. Hope this helps...

[Tonya]

I tried to get a dental appt at age 2, and my dentist won't even see a toddler that young unless there is a problem.

They start at age 3 for regular check ups.

We have a battery powered toothbrush right now that spins and such....it's worked WONDERS on getting Nathan to brush his own teeth!

[MDHmommy]

Thanks for the thoughts! It's hard to figure out what you should really do when there are so many "experts" out there handing out advice ... that's really just PR for toothpaste companies! 

[* Paula *]

I too heard that you should take them to the dentist when their first teeth pop through, but I feel my lo is too young to understand having someone look in his mouth.  I mean he screams his head off when the doc looks at his throat.