We created this resource centre to help you keep your children’s teeth healthy and beautiful.

Expecting? Here’s a primer about your developing child’s teeth.

Babies may be all gummy smiles when they’re born but their teeth have been developing the entire time they were in your stomach. Not surprisingly, your wellbeing and what you eat and drink during pregnancy has a direct impact on the smile of your developing child. Your dental health can also affect the baby in your body; mothers with periodontal disease are more likely to have premature babies.

The facts about nursing bottle syndrome.

Whether they’re drinking milk, juice or formula, children who bottle-feed can develop tooth cavities if they’re allowed to fall asleep with the feeding nipple in their mouths. Watch for white or discoloured spots on their teeth – the first warning signs of decay.

Brushing your child’s teeth

Give your children a head start with good oral hygiene by brushing their teeth even when they’re still very young. No toothpaste should be used at this stage. Even when your child is ready to use toothpaste, squeeze just a tiny drop onto the toothbrush. It is also important to teach your child to spit out excess toothpaste and rinse their mouth with water after brushing.

Save the date! Your child’s first dental appointment

Here at Cataraqui Woods Dentistry, we help your children develop a positive attitude about going to the dentist. We recommend bringing them in for their first dental visit when they are about two years old. This visit will likely not involve any treatment but will serve as an introduction to the world of dentistry.

Depending on what we see in your child’s mouth, we may decide to take X-rays at this point but during this first visit, the focus is on getting acquainted, having fun, and starting our relationship off on a positive note.

Protecting your child’s smile with fluoride

Fluoride has long been proven effective in making teeth resistant to acid-producing bacteria. To apply fluoride to your child’s teeth, we either gently insert a fluoride tray in the mouth or paint it directly on their teeth. We may also give a fluoride rinse if your child is old enough and knows to spit it out.

Healthy foods, healthy smiles

Proper nutrition is just as critical to dental health as good oral hygiene and regular dental visits. As much as possible, limit your child’s intake of refined sugar, such as those found in candy, soft drinks, and crackers. Refined sugar sticks to teeth and reacts to the bacteria in plaque, producing an enzyme that affects the teeth’s enamel.  Concentrated natural sugars found in dried fruits such as raisins also have a tendency to stick to teeth, which promotes decay. On the other hand, natural sugar found in fruits and vegetables usually clear the mouth before the sugar is converted.

To prevent decay, teach your child to brush after every meal. If this isn't always possible, then get your child to rinse his or her mouth after eating or taking vitamins or Aspirin, which has an acid base and contains sugar.

Seal it! The scoop on pit and fissure sealants

Pits are the deep grooves on the teeth’s chewing surfaces while fissures are channels that run down the sides of teeth. To protect your child from tooth decay, we strongly suggest applying pit and fissure sealants on the first set of permanent molars. This is especially recommended for primary or permanent teeth with deep, narrow pits, which trap bacteria that cause tooth decay. Ideally, pit and fissure sealants should be placed soon after permanent teeth start to come out.

Protect your young athlete with a mouthguard

Does your child engage in sports? We recommend a protective mouthguard to prevent traumatic injuries to your young athlete’s teeth. Talk to us today about an athletic mouthguard for your child – we make them right in our clinic.

All children's teeth begin to form before a child is born. As early as 4 months after birth, the first primary, (baby teeth) to erupt through the gums are the lower central incisors, followed closely by the upper central incisors. Although all 20 primary teeth usually appear by age 3, the pace and order of their eruption varies.

Oral care should begin soon after a baby's birth. Gums should be cleaned after each feeding using a piece of gauze to clean the mouth of residual food (milk) and also to desensitize the child's mouth to having items to clean their mouth going into their mouth.  It will be a lot easier to introduce a toothbrush into a child's mouth when the teeth appear, if they have already been desensitized in this manner.. You can begin brushing your child's teeth as soon as they appear with a child's toothbrush.

Permanent teeth begin appearing around age 6, starting with the first molars and lower central incisors. This process continues until approximately age 12-14 with the eruption of the second permanent molars.  The final teeth to erupt into the mouth are the wisdom teeth, which can erupt anywhere from age 17-21.

Adults have 28 permanent teeth, or up to 32 including the third molars (or wisdom teeth).

Primary Teeth Eruption Chart

Please note: When you look at the tooth chart, you are looking into a person's mouth with the jaws open. You're facing the person, so their upper right jaw will be on the left of this image.

Always clean your infant's gums after feedings.
Wipe gums with a clean, damp cloth or gauze pad. Parents should brush children's teeth daily with a soft wet toothbrush and no more than a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste. Schedule a dental visit between 6-12 months of age. Brush at least once daily or as directed by a dentist or physician. Do not allow the child to swallow toothpaste - use no more than a pea-sized amount for children under six.
 

To prevent nursing bottle decay, if you must give your baby a bottle at nap or bed time, fill it with plain water- never with milk, formula or juice.

Your dentist may recommend regular fluoride treatments to strengthen the child's enamel and resist tooth decay. Whenever possible, drink fluoridated water and always use an CDA-accepted fluoridated toothpaste.