start right
PARENTS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
A practical guide to your
baby’s dental health
A PROJECT OF THE
MISSOURI DENTAL
FOUNDATION
A CHARITABLE SUBSIDIARY OF
MISSOURI DENTAL
ASSOCIATION
PROJECT FUNDED BY THE
MISSOURI FOUNDATION FOR HEALTH
Presented by members of the
Missouri Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
& Missouri Dental Association
Importance of Baby Teeth
• Help a child to chew
and speak
• Hold space for the adult
teeth & guide teeth
during eruption
• Aid in jaw and face
formation
• Influence the child’s
overall health
When Teething Starts
• Baby teeth usually start
to come in at 6 months
• 20 primary teeth usually
present in our jaw bone
at birth
• The front four teeth erupt
first, followed by the first
molars and then the cuspids
• The second molars are the last to erupt, usually
by age 2 ½ to 3 years of age
Primary Teeth Eruption Chart
Comforting Your Teething Baby
• Comforting babies who are irritable
because of teething
– Chew on a cool washcloth or spoon
– Chew on a teething ring
– Massage gums with a clean finger
– Give children’s Tylenol or ibuprophen
an hour before bedtime so sleep
isn’t interrupted
Avoid Numbing Medications
• High levels
can be toxic
• Babies can
injure their
numb lips
or tongue
if rubbed
against
their teeth
Tips for Preventing Decay
What parents can do
•
•
•
•
•
Proper Baby Bottle Usage
Good Oral Home Care
Good Nutrition Habits (Eating & Drinking)
Checking teeth regularly
Scheduling child’s first dental visit
Tips for Preventing Decay
It’s not the bottle, it’s the beverage
H2O
X X
Proper Baby Bottle Usage
Tips for Preventing Decay
Proper Bottle & Sip Cup Usage
• Don’t allow your
baby to fall asleep
with a bottle or “sip
cup” filled with
anything other than
water
Tips for Preventing Decay
Proper Bottle & Sip Cup Usage
– Milk and other sugary liquids can pool against
the back of the top front teeth for the several
hours the baby is sleeping
– Because of this, cavities can occur on the
backs of the top front teeth, undetectable to
parents
– Note: Going to bed with bottle can also cause
liquid to pool in ear tubes, causing ear
infections
Decay on Teeth from Bottle
Decay on
the back
side of top
front teeth,
caused
from
improper
bottle
usage, is
not always
visible on
the front of
teeth
Tips for Preventing Decay
Good Oral Home Care
• Have parents get into the habit of wiping the
baby’s gums after feedings, even before
teeth have erupted
• As teeth come in, brush them with a finger
or child’s toothbrush with water or child-safe
(non-fluoride) toothpaste
• Don’t use fluoride toothpaste until child can
spit (can be toxic if swallowed)
Tips for Preventing Decay
Good Oral Home Care
Tips for Preventing Decay
Creating Good Hygiene Habits
• Kids under age 6 need help brushing
• Some kids over age 6 may still need
supervision
• Bedtime is the most important time to
make sure the teeth are free of plaque
• Flossing should be initiated as soon as
teeth begin to touch
Tips for Preventing Decay
Toothpaste & Fluoride
• Fluoride is important for fighting cavities
• However, if children younger than 6 years
old swallow too much, their permanent
teeth may have white spots
• Use only a small amount of toothpaste
(about the size of a pea)
• At about age 3, you can teach child to spit
out the toothpaste and to rinse well after
brushing
Once children reach age 3, a pea-size
amount of toothpaste can be used
Tips for Preventing Decay
Toothpaste & Fluoride
• Replace worn toothbrushes
– Brushes may have bent bristles,
even though “blue” indicator color isn’t gone
– Infants/Toddlers
may wear out
toothbrushes
sooner because
of chewing on
bristles
Tips for Preventing Decay
Good Nutrition Habits
• Food doesn’t cause
decay, but rather
“eating” food in
general
• Children’s dental
health depends less
on what they eat and
more on how often
they eat it
Tips for Preventing Decay
Good Nutrition Habits
• Anything that breaks down into
sugars/carbohydrates can cause
cavities
– Candy and cookies are NOT
the only bad things for teeth!
– This includes starchy foods
like potato chips and
crackers
Tips for Preventing Decay
Good Nutrition Habits
• Sticky foods, like gummy fruit
snacks and raisins can be worse
for the teeth
–Get stuck in chewing surfaces and
in between teeth
–Don’t wash off the teeth as quickly
Tips for Preventing Decay
Good Nutrition Habits
Fruit roll-ups,
gummy fruit
snacks and
raisins
BAD FOR
THE TEETH!
These snacks look nutritious,
but are they?
3 of the Top Ingredients are Sugars!
Tips for Preventing Decay
Good Nutrition Habits
• Don’t allow children to "graze" throughout
the day on snacks/drinks (except water)
• Encourage balanced meals at “mealtimes”
• Sugary snacks/drinks should be
consumed within a short period of time
– This will give the mouth a chance to clear
away the sugary foods from the teeth
• Have kids brush after meals
Tips for Preventing Decay
Good Nutrition Habits
• Provide better choices
– Healthy snacks like
fresh fruit and cheese
are better not only for
the teeth, but for the
overall health of
the baby
Tips for Preventing Decay
Good Nutrition Habits
• Stop the Pop!
• Soda should never be
encouraged
• Diet soda can also
cause cavities due to the
acid in the carbonation
Tips for Preventing Decay
The First Dental Visit
• It is recommended the
first dental visit be within
6 months of the first
tooth eruption
• This is usually around
the child’s first birthday
Tips for Preventing Decay
The First Dental Visit
• Pediatric dentists are
specially trained and
may feel more
comfortable examining
young children than
general dentists
• A child’s pediatrician
should be able to assess
if a child is at high risk
for dental decay
Tips for Preventing Decay
The First Dental Visit
• This 3-year-old is
at the dentist for
the first time
• Unfortunately,
one of his teeth is
already infected
and an abscess
is present
About Dental Decay
Did you know?
• Dental caries is the most common chronic
disease in children, 5 times more common
than asthma
• More than 40% of children have tooth
decay by the time they reach kindergarten
• More than 51 million school hours (85,000
school days) are lost each year due to
dental related illness
About Dental Decay
Did you know?
• 80% of dental cavities are found in 20% to 25%
of children
• 18% of children between the ages of 2 to 4 have
visible cavities
• Infants of low socioeconomic status, whose
mothers have a low education level, and who
consume sugary foods are 32 times more likely
to have caries at age 3 than children in whom
those risk factors are not present
About Dental Decay
Did you know?
• Tooth decay is a disease that is, by and
large, preventable
• The ultimate goal of early assessment is
the timely delivery of educational
information to prevent decay
Screening for Dental Decay
Getting Started
• Following are guidelines only
• Goal is to help parent educators feel
comfortable educating parents
• Empower parents to do screenings on
their child and know what to look for
Screening for Dental Decay
Getting Started
What you need
• Dialogue with
parent/consent
to do screening
• Good light
source to see
teeth
Screening for Dental Decay
Getting Started
• The knee-to-knee lap exam allows
the parent to
help hold child’s
hands while
the examiner
is able to look
at the teeth
Screening for Dental Decay
What do cavities need to start
TEETH
No
Caries
PLAQUE
(BACTERIA)
No Caries
REFINED
CARBOHYDRATES
(FOOD)
DECAY
No
Caries
No Caries
TIME PLAQUE IS ON
TEETH
Screening for Dental Decay
What do cavities need to start
What to look for:
• Plaque along the gumlines
• White chalky lines along the gumlines
• Brown spots or discolorations on the fronts
of teeth
• Holes in the chewing surfaces of the teeth
Plaque is an invisible film that is
noticeable when scraped off the teeth
White or chalky areas can turn
into brown spots (cavities)
Lift the lip to see gumlines better
Large cavities can damage the nerves
of the teeth, leading to abscesses
Primary molars do not fall out until
age 10-12. Cavities in these teeth need
to be treated right away.
Screening for Dental Decay
• Large cavities can be repaired, but it’s
expensive and the child is always more
cavity prone…
As a Parent Educator
What’s your role?
• Educate parents about
good early childhood
oral hygiene
• Provide parents with
tips to make healthy
choice and prevent
decay in primary teeth
As a Parent Educator
What’s your role?
• Conduct screenings to
identify children at risk for
dental disease
• Help parents learn to
know what to look for
when checking their
child’s teeth for decay
• Direct parents with any
concerns to dental health
professionals
The Dental Community
Thanks you for your interest
in helping the children of
Missouri obtain good oral
hygiene and healthy brushing
and eating habits to prevent
early childhood decay
Starting Right
Means a Lifetime of Smiles
Contact Information
Missouri Dental Association
• www.modental.org
• 573-634-3436
Program Coordinator
• Melissa Albertson
• melissa@modental.org
Start Right: Parents Make the Difference
A project of the Missouri Dental Foundation
The charitable subsidiary of the
Missouri Dental Association
The Start Right project is funded through a
grant provided by the Missouri Foundation
for Health. The Missouri Foundation for
Health is a philanthropic organization whose
vision is to improve the health of the people
in the communities it serves.
All “Start Right” materials and presentation © Missouri Dental Foundation & Missouri Dental Association