Baby teeth require lots of prevention at home
Proper toddler oral hygiene involves brushing your child’s teeth three times a day, and flossing once a day. Although young children may like to brush their own teeth, it is important that until about age seven, parents brush and floss for their children, as they will miss areas. Parents can give rewards for this activity, like when finished, a TV show can be watched. Another way of encouraging your child is to make a game of it! You could sing “row row your boat” while brushing their teeth. If your child is very keen on brushing for themselves, let them first try. When they seem to be done, then you should re-brush for them to make sure no areas were missed. This is a great team effort to clean teeth and prepare them to brush on their own.
What else can be done to prevent cavities
Fluoride is an important method for prevention of cavities. Fluoride is often added to community water supply. However not all communities add fluoride in the water. A call to your health unit can verify this. Some families have well water. Fluoride also occurs naturally and may be present already in well water. A fluoride water test can be done with well water. This test is available from your municipality. If your water supply lacks a proper level of fluoride, pharmacies have chew-able fluoride tablets. If you decide to give your children chew-able fluoride tablets, all directions for use should be followed on the label. Only the proper dosage for your child’s age should be taken.