How much do you know about protecting your baby’s teeth? A. As a dentist, I suggest that mothers do this Around the age of 1, a few milk teeth have just erupted and cannot be brushed with a toothbrush, so mothers can feed some plain water to wash away the food residue in the baby’s mouth after eating sweets; they can also use clean gauze or skim cotton with warm boiled water to gently wipe the teeth and gums. At 1.5 years old, when the milk molars start to erupt, mothers can try brushing their children’s teeth in the morning after waking up and at night before going to bed. Some mothers like to stick a bottle of milk or juice in their baby’s mouth and wait for him/her to fall asleep, which is not right. Milk and juice stored in the baby’s mouth will produce harmful acidic liquid, and if the baby goes to sleep at this time, the acidic liquid will corrode the tooth enamel, so do not give your baby anything to eat or drink before bedtime. Second, correct bad habits baby only breathe with the mouth, regular sucking fingers, spitting tongue, biting the lower lip will cause the upper incisors to protrude; baby biting the upper lip habit will form the “ground”; always eat with one side of the teeth, will make the two sides of the face asymmetrical development; often sleep with hands, elbows or fists pillowed under one side of the face. or usually like to use the hand to hold the cheek, may affect the development of teeth, resulting in malformation of teeth. Mothers should correct such bad habits of their babies. In addition, babies should eat more food rich in coarse fiber to strengthen the chewing activities of the dental system, increase the self-cleaning effect of the mouth and teeth, and reduce the incidence of dental disease. Control candy and sweets, and do not eat milk candy with sticky teeth. Avoid containing sugar for too long, and you should rinse your mouth or brush your teeth thoroughly after eating candy. The sulcus point gap of new teeth just erupted at the age of 6~12 years old is deeper and most prone to dental caries, so a protective barrier can be coated on the surface of teeth to prevent bacteria and food residue from entering the sulcus to form caries, which helps babies spend the most decay-prone years in protection, which is often mentioned as sulcus closure. Many parents think that the baby’s milk teeth will be replaced sooner or later, so it doesn’t matter if they are decayed, they will grow new teeth in the future, but this is not correct. The reasons are as follows: 1. It takes about ten years from the formation of the milk teeth to the formation of the permanent teeth (from 2 to 12 years old), during these ten years, the baby needs his milk teeth to chew food. If the baby teeth are lost early due to various reasons, the gap between the baby teeth and the permanent teeth will be insufficient, resulting in crowded teeth. 3. The milk teeth play a guiding role in the eruption of the permanent teeth, guiding the permanent teeth to erupt from the correct position. 4. Long-term inflammation of the milk teeth will cause premature resorption of the alveolar bone and affect the development and mineralization of the new permanent teeth below. Fourth, frequent checkups Babies should visit the pediatric dentist regularly from the time they get their first teeth. Generally, children aged 0 to 12 should have an oral checkup every 3 to 6 months, and children over 12 years old can have a checkup once every 6 to 12 months. If you find that the milk teeth are gray in color, lusterless, or even you can see black cavities, it indicates that your baby has already suffered from tooth decay, and your mother should take your baby to the dentist as early as possible. Taking baby to the dentist frequently for health care is to let baby gradually get familiar with the environment there, observe and understand the doctor’s treatment, so that when dental care or treatment is needed, it can be accepted easily and happily. Mother’s love is like sunshine, let mothers take good care of their babies’ little teeth!