“From Pregnancy to Childhood: A Mother’s Guide to Caring for Children’s Teeth”

It is unfortunate and psychologically exhausting to see our children being bullied about their teeth, especially by their relatives and neighbors, while it is highly possible to avoid this problem from the beginning through early awareness and taking practical steps to mitigate it towards caring for children’s teeth.

In this article, we have created a concise guide starting from pregnancy to the eruption of teeth and the early years – each sentence constitutes an important piece of advice in itself, so be sure to have your notebook ready for your notes.

Caring for Children’s Teeth During Pre-Pregnancy: Many women may be unaware of this critical information, that caring for your child’s teeth starts before and during pregnancy, not after birth.

You might ask, “But I already have a child, is it too late for me to apply this article and this information?” The answer is: you might have unknowingly applied this information, but read with the intention of preserving your next child’s dental health and caring for it early, and also advise those close to you if they are in the same situation.

The tips during pre-pregnancy are as follows: Some women lose their teeth after pregnancy or suffer from gum infections that worsen after pregnancy due to bacterial activity, hormonal changes in the body, as well as vomiting accompanied by stomach acids and gastric juice. Therefore, addressing this problem before pregnancy is essential to prevent it from multiplying and worsening after pregnancy, through the following advice. Visiting the dentist is not a recreational activity, nor is it only for emergencies. It is your duty, as a concerned mother, to have your teeth and gum condition examined, correct misconceptions, and provide treatment services such as fillings and cleaning if necessary (consistency in visits is important). Using a toothbrush and toothpaste may seem like a basic and known piece of advice, but it needs to be emphasized and focused on using them three times a day.

A toothbrush and toothpaste routine alone will not be the best in dental care habits unless it is combined with some dietary habits known for their effectiveness, such as fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, meat, and fish. Thus, we are now entering the stage of caring for your child’s teeth during pregnancy.

Caring for Children’s Teeth During Pregnancy: We mentioned that taking care of your health reflects on your teeth, your life, and also it is important to understand the close relationship between your diet, your interest in it, and the fetus’s health.

As it is known and certain that the fetus feeds and gets its nutrition through the placenta to obtain the necessary vitamins for its growth. Therefore, the more you care about consuming fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, meat, and fish, the more positively it reflects on the fetus and benefits it. But

You may wonder, “What does the fetus’s teeth have to do with my dietary habits?” Here we must clarify that there are common diseases such as early tooth decay, deformities in the shape of the teeth, delayed eruption of the teeth, or their appearance with a dark color due to not knowing that baby teeth begin to form between the sixth and eighth weeks of pregnancy.

Baby teeth begin to form in the twentieth week, and it is necessary for the fetus to receive sufficient and healthy nutrition at this time, especially. Regular doctor visits are also important to review the medications you are taking so that they do not conflict and do not affect the fetus’s natural and healthy growth without any future deformities.

Caring for Children’s Teeth After Pregnancy “Birth”: The mother completes her treatment plan and regular consultations. There is also a new member to be examined after birth, and consulting the doctor about the method of breastfeeding compared to artificial feeding is essential.

Assuming artificial feeding, attention must be paid not to leave the bottle in the child’s mouth while sleeping, which causes inflammation of the gums and tooth decay. Then we return to asking where the tooth decay comes from. Besides, washing the bottle well, sterilizing it, and ensuring its cleanliness when used are important. The child starts losing the acquired immunity from breast milk when he completes six months of age, coinciding with the appearance of teeth, swelling and slight redness of the gums, some pain, and the child’s desire to alleviate this pain by chewing and biting, and expressing pain by crying more and waking up at night until we reach the age of two.

At the age of one, utilize your child’s ability and love to explore and put things in his mouth by including the toothbrush in his toys, discoveries, and close acquaintances.

At the age of two, making the child see you brushing your teeth continuously is an important and effective step in building a habit of brushing teeth from a young age.

Reward systems, gifts, praise, and fun are important methods that must be followed to instill the value of maintaining teeth in your child. Let him choose the shape of his next toothbrush. Finally, be sure that the correct information is one of the reasons for the healthy health of you and your child, so do not hesitate to consult our dentists and book an upcoming appointment for a healthy smile for you and your child.