Healthy%20Mouths%20for%20Babies

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Healthy Mouths for Babies
NHS
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Well be looking at

• Baby teeth and teething
• Tooth decay in babies
• What it looks like
• What causes it
• How you can stop it from happening
• How to look after your own teeth

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Baby teeth are important.

• Help children eat and grow
• Make the shape of the jaws and face
• Help children speak
• Keep the space for the permanent teeth
• Help to have a healthy smile

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Teething

• Teething ring or cold, clean flannel
• Talk to a doctor or a child and family health
  nurse

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Tooth decay
is one of the most common childhood diseases

• but it can be stopped

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Tooth decay

• is a serious dental condition that
• gets worse quickly
• can cause pain and trouble with eating and
  sleeping
• can cause children to feel bad about themselves
• might need an operation

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What causes tooth decay?
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Best advice for babies

• Breast feeding provides the best nutrition.
• Exclusive breast feeding is advised for the
• first six months.
• Infant formula and cooled, boiled water if
• not breast fed.
• Infants should not be put to bed with a feeding
  bottle.

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Drink well

• Demand feed up to 6
• months
• Keep bottles for meal times ONLY
• Use water at night and between meals
• Encourage use of a cup at 6 months
• Stop the bottle at 1st birthday

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Moving from milk to family foods
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Dummies

• Never dip the dummy or teething ring into fruit
  syrups, honey, fruit juices or anything
  containing sugars, particularly at bedtime.

• These contain harmful sugars and acids

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How to clean your babys teeth
Acknowledgement of graphic source NSW Department
of Health. Early childhood oral health guidelines
for child health professionals. Sydney. NSW
Department of Health, 2009
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Your own dental health

• Have regular dental check-ups
• Brush floss
• Drink water
• Eat healthy food

Be a good role model.
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Lets work together
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Thanks to

• Centre for Oral Health Strategy NSW
• NSW Oral Health Promotion Network
• Devon Dental Access Centre