The foundation for a healthy mouth is laid when the first tooth erupts, and toothbrushing becomes a natural part of your child’s day. When that first baby tooth emerges, it’s time to start brushing and continue to help your child with their oral care until 10-12 years old.
Children´s dental care
Caring for children's teeth
Our best tips for healthy teeth throughout life
How can I create healthy habits from the start?
The first baby tooth usually breaks through at around 6-8 months, but it can be earlier or later. Signs of tooth eruption may include increased salivation or drooling, sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, and increased biting.
How to brush your baby’s teeth
Use a small toothbrush such as the TePe Mini and apply a smear layer of TePe Daily Baby, a mild toothpaste without SLS, on the tip of the bristles. Brush twice a day, in the morning and before bedtime.
Try to make toothbrushing something fun by singing a song or doing something playful while being close and having eye contact. It’s convenient to have your child laying down on the changing table, head nearest to you. Gently lift the child’s lip so that you can see and reach better.
Here are some other things to think about during those first years:
- Encouraging healthy eating habits for the whole family helps your baby transition away from breast or bottle feeding. Enjoy three meals and two snacks per day, a good habit for everyone.
- Make water the natural thirst quencher
- Avoid sweets for as long as possible and when introduced, try to keep them to one day a week
Keeping those healthy habits as the child grows older
Continue to brush your child’s teeth as they grow. As they get bigger, they can sit on your lap, leaning their head on your arm for better accessibility. Don’t rush through the brushing – that brushing time in the morning and evening is well-invested for the future. For children 2-6 years of age, the amount of toothpaste used should equal the size of a pea. If your child prefers an unflavoured toothpaste you can continue to use TePe Daily Baby. You can also try the TePe Daily Kids, which has a mild peppermint flavour. When the child can spit, often around 3 years of age, the toothpaste should be spit out and not swallowed.
Around 5-6 years of age, you can switch to a bigger toothbrush; try the TePe Kids or TePe Select Compact.
For children 7 years and older, use 2 cm of toothpaste (this recommendation varies from country to country). Remember they still need a mild, SLS-free toothpaste since the oral tissue of children is quite sensitive. It’s great if you can give some extra attention to the new molars, which are teeth that emerge behind the last baby teeth at around age 6. Their chewing surfaces are irregular and extra sensitive to cavities. The TePe Compact Tuft is a precision brush used to keep chewing surfaces free from food debris and plaque.
When it's time to brush by yourself
With age, children can start practicing brushing their teeth, but we do recommend you help and support them until 10-12 years of age. From the age of 12, the TePe Supreme Compact or the TePe Select Toothbrush are good choices.
Cleaning between teeth is usually not recommended until all the permanent teeth have emerged completely around the age of 12-13. If your dental professional advises you to start cleaning between the teeth earlier than that, you should, of course, follow their recommendation.
FAQ
Milk teeth, baby teeth, primary teeth, deciduous teeth?
It’s all the same! They are just different names used for the first set of teeth.
How many baby teeth are there?
There are 20 baby teeth, and they will normally all have erupted before 3 years of age.
Why are baby teeth important if they come out anyways?
Baby teeth help children eat well, are important for speech development, and they are a placeholder for future permanent teeth. They come out at different ages for a reason – they help guide the permanent teeth into the right position. Healthy and cavity-free teeth also might mean that the child won’t need any future dental treatments.
How many adult teeth are there?
There are 32 permanent teeth, however, it’s quite common for the last tooth, the wisdom tooth, not to erupt or to be missing. The first permanent tooth emerges around age 6-7 and the second molar emerges around age 12-13.
How much fluoride toothpaste should I use?
For children 0-2 years, a smear layer of toothpaste should be applied to the bristles of the toothbrush. For children 2-6 years, the amount of toothpaste used should equal the size of a pea. When the child can spit (often around 3 years of age), the toothpaste should be spat out and not swallowed. For children 6 years and older, use 2 cm of toothpaste.