Prevent Cavities in Babies

Prevent Cavities in Babies Dr. Jim Sears: We’re going to talk about baby cavities. Now, a lot of people don’t really worry about baby teeth because “Oh, I’m going to lose them” and not worry about it too much. But the baby teeth are actually really important. First our babies need it to chew for one thing but they actually help the gums and the jaw develop. They help keep the space open for the adult teeth. So, if your baby teeth are healthy, your adult teeth will be much healthier too when you get those. But a lot of people know juice and candies, sure it can cause cavities but a lot of people don’t realize that milk in formula can cause cavities too. Dr. Travis Stork: Right. Dr. Jim Sears: So, as soon as the teeth start to come in, you want to get the baby in the habit of getting their gums rubbed. We have to use a washcloth or gauze. Put it around your finger like. You just kind of rub the gums and that kind of like just helps wipe off all the sugar from the milk and stuff and do that. Mainly it gets the baby used to it and then once his teeth are actually in, you want to use a little baby toothbrush with some fluoride free toothpaste. Dr. Travis Stork: Right. Dr. Jim Sears: Babies should not get the extra fluoride because they don’t know how to spit it out. They’re going to swallow that and it’s going to be too much. So, you just give them a little brush. Dr. Lisa Masterson: And you know Jim, that’s so important because the babies don’t come with manuals. Dr. Jim Sears: Right. Dr. Lisa Masterson: And a lot of parents don’t know how to do this. Actually, I didn’t do this with Daniel’s teeth. He ended up loosing, having to actually have pulled his forefront teeth and getting prosthesis. Dr. Jim Sears: A good way to prevent what happened to Daniel is see the dentist early at age one, we’re saying. Dr. Lisa Masterson: That was traumatizing. Dr. Jim Sears: The first dentist visit.