Articles

Infant Dental Care

Children are the future of any country. Keeping our young ones free from diseases will give us a healthy, progressive generation in future. The expectant females and mothers should be informed and educated regarding following:

• Importance of Nutrition: Well balanced diet for expectant mothers for proper development and growth of the body as well as healthy teeth and gums.
• Not to take any medicine without consulting a qualified doctor. They must always inform the health care provider about the pregnancy, so that any medicine, which can have adverse effect on baby. Certain medicines, especially if taken in the first three months of pregnancy, can cause malformation of face, jaws and teeth.
• When born, bay's mouth is free from bacteria. The germs are transferred into the baby's mouth from parents during cuddling and kissing. It is important for parents to keep their own mouth clean and avoid kissing on baby's mouth. Also sharing of spoons and utensils etc. should be avoided as far as possible.
• It has been observed that milk bottle is the major cause of early childhood caries. Therefore, mothers should be encouraged to breast feed the baby for the 1st year and then directly use cup or spoon feeding rather than using nursing bottle.
• After every feed the child should be given a sip of water to clear residual milk from the mouth and hold the child upright thereafter for five to ten minutes.
• The mothers should clean the gum pads and the tongue of the infants with clean, wet, soft cotton cloth after every feed. A clean/ boiled soft cotton cloth is wrapped around index finger and then the upper and lower gum pads should be cleaned in single sweeping motion. After this, the position of the cloth should be changed and tongue should be cleaned in a sweeping motion.
• When first erupt in the mouth of a child, use of a soft baby tooth brush must be started.
• At the time of tooth eruption, children get itching sensation in their gums and tend to put different objects such as toys etc. into their mouth. These habits lead to various infections and frequently result in diarrhoea. Mothers should keep a close watch on the child's activities during this time. Fruits and rusks etc. can be given during this time to help in reducing irritation and development of chewing habits.
• It is very important to take care of milk teeth since healthy, decay-free milk teeth create a healthy environment for the permanent teeth and guide its eruption in proper position.

Nursing Bottle Caries

In case of children, when bottle-feeding is done for prolonged periods and at night, a special pattern of dental caries occurs. In this disease, there is a fast destruction of upper front and lower back teeth sparing lower front teeth because they are covered with tongue during feeding. This particular pattern of dental decay is called as Nursing Bottle Caries. This condition requires early and proper treatment otherwise it may lead to to many other problems and may cause abscess or swelling in the oro-facial region.