How to Brush And Maintain Your Teeth

Brushing your teeth is the single most important activity, which can maintain your teeth healthy and save your money. The main objective in carrying out oral hygiene (term for cleanliness in the mouth ) procedures is to remove bacterial plaque (thin film of bacteria) from the teeth. The most important reason for establishing good plaque control is to prevent and treat gum disease and dental cavities.

Most people brush their teeth for social reasons - they want 'fresh breath' and white teeth. We can use these reasons to help motivate people, but at the same time, we must educate them so that they understand what they are doing and why they are doing it.

Tooth brushing
This is still the most important method of cleaning the teeth available but it will not clean the areas in between the teeth so efficiently.

Children's Teeth: The Importance and the Precautions

Our teeth are one of the most important parts in our face. After all, they define our smile! But thats not all. Apart from adding the zing to your smile, your teeth and jaws also define your entire facial structure.

Taking care of teeth is not so difficult - it only requires brushing atleast once a day (after dinner) and simple measures, such as not taking sweets at the end of a meal, or in between meals. Unfortunately, out of lack of knowledge, or sheer laziness, we ignore to follow these guidelines.

The result is a decayed tooth. While we may still be a little cautious about our own teeth, we tend to be careless about our children's teeth, as long as they are 'just' milk teeth. This is where we go terribly wrong.

Why bother about milk teeth, we wonder. After all, no matter how bad it gets, it'll always be replaced with permanent teeth. Let our babies enjoy with all the sweets they want, right? WRONG.

Latest research has been increasingly proving this line of thought not only wrong, but also more and more dangerous for your child. 

Know Your Teeth

As a dentist, I have often observed that patients don’t give themselves the opportunities to maintain their teeth in a healthy state. That patient could be you.

And as mothers, you are underestimating your influence on your children’s lives and their health. Teeth are for lifetime and in this series of articles on oral health we will try to tell you things which will help you maintain teeth for your family and have a bright shining smile.

The Baby teeth Myth

The teeth start coming in the mouth of the newborn from the age of six months. There can be variations and some kids have their first teeth coming even at the age of 12 months. If its later than this better get it checked by a dentist who will X ray and check for the presence of teeth.

There are twenty baby teeth and this set is complete by the age of 30 months on average. Count and see in your kid's mouth, five on each of four sides should make twenty. The maintenance should begin right from the first year by wiping your kids teeth with wet cotton before he goes to bed. From the age of three years encourage him to brush his teeth at bedtime using a pea size quantity of toothpaste.

teetings toots

Teething, the emergence of the first teeth through a baby's gums, can be a frustrating time for little ones and their parents. It helps to know what to expect when your child is teething and how to make the process a little less painful.

The Teething Process

Teething can begin as early as 3 months and continue until a child's third birthday.

Between the ages of 4 and 7 months, you'll notice your baby's first tooth pushing through the gum line. The first teeth to appear usually are the two bottom front teeth, also known as the central incisors. These are usually followed 4 to 8 weeks later by the four front upper teeth (central and lateral incisors). About a month later, the lower lateral incisors (the two teeth flanking the bottom front teeth) will appear.

Next to break through the gum line are the first molars (the back teeth used for grinding food), then finally the eyeteeth (the pointy teeth in the upper jaw). Most kids have all 20 of their primary teeth by their third birthday. (If your child experiences significant delay, speak to your doctor.)

In some rare cases, kids are born with one or two teeth or have a tooth emerge within the first few weeks of life. Unless the teeth interfere with feeding or are loose enough to pose a choking risk, this is usually not a cause for concern.