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Home › Articles › Dental Health › Dental Dangers

Dental Dangers

Why Taking Care of Baby's Teeth Starts Now

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stand that's what's going on in their child's mouth when they have decay."

Parents with decay, such as periodontal disease, may be unknowingly endangering their baby's dental health in another way. When children put their fingers in Mom or Dad's mouth and then their own, when the parents blow on Baby's food or even when they kiss, the bacteria that causes tooth decay can be transferred from parent to child, she says.

Another misconception is that since the baby teeth are going to come out anyway, there's no need to be concerned with them.

"The baby teeth form the pattern for the adult teeth," Dr. Hayes says. "So when a baby tooth is lost, everything else in the mouth shifts and that can lead to many other problems now and later." That's especially true in the case of certain baby teeth – like the back molars – which aren't supposed to come out until the child is 10 to 14 years old.

In many cases when baby teeth are lost too early, a child is "probably going to need orthodontics later," says Dr. Hayes.

Dr. Mello agrees. "If they lose a tooth too soon, they can't chew right, the permanent teeth don't come in properly, bone forms over that space, makes it painful and causes it to take longer for the permanent tooth to come in. And if the decay is big enough, they can get a painful abscess and fever from the infection. That's why we have to do things like baby root canals."

To prevent dental decay when teeth start coming in, parents should switch from using a cloth to clean the baby's teeth to using a special baby toothbrush. But until your child is old enough to spit on his own, be sure to use a non-fluoride toothpaste, Dr. Hayes says. "Fluoride toothpaste is essential to good hygiene, but it' meant as a topical agent, not to be ingested. Once the child can spit it out, it's important to use a toothpaste with fluoride."

Baby's First Visit to the Dentist

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