When do I need to start brushing my child's teeth?
The answer may surprise you! Brushing your baby's mouth should start even BEFORE he has his first tooth! How? After each feeding (whether breastfeeding or formula feeding), wipe your baby's gums with a soft, wet gauze or cloth. Studies have shown that the bacteria which causes cavities start to develop in the child's mouth from birth, and latch on to areas like the TONGUE, GUMS and even TONSILS! By wiping the gums after feedings, you reduce the amount of "food" remaining in the mouth, so less bacteria will be able to grow there.
Wiping baby's gums is important to keep his mouth healthy
You can use any soft, wet cloth to do this, but one good option is Baby Buddy Wipe-N-Brush, which also has xylitol- an ingredient which also reduces the bacterial load in the mouth.
Once your baby starts to get his first teeth, you can move on to a silicone finger toothbrushto help brush those little teeth! I prefer this to a regular toddler toothbrush with a hard plastic because usually baby will be biting down as you are trying to brush, and the plastic may hurt his gums. The silicone toothbrush goes around your finger, and the bristles can also help to massage his gums and help relieve teeth
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