Teeth Brushing Frequency

I'd be keen to hear your advice about teeth brushing.

In my attempts to just keep my head above water (this whole mother thing isn't my cup of tea) I have not prioritised teeth brushing. My girl is 20 months now and we probably only brush once a week.

Do I need to prioritise teeth brushing?
I know a lady that said 'their the baby teeth so it doesn't matter too much'... sounds dodgy I know.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

I'd be keen to hear your advice about teeth brushing.

In my attempts to just keep my head above water (this whole mother thing isn't my cup of tea) I have not prioritised teeth brushing. My girl is 20 months now and we probably only brush once a week.

Do I need to prioritise teeth brushing?
I know a lady that said 'their the baby teeth so it doesn't matter too much'... sounds dodgy I know.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Yes you do need to prioritise teeth brushing, teeth are teeth whether they are baby teeth or adult teeth and need to be brushed twice a day every day.

It is very important to look after their baby teeth as the health of those directly impacts the health of their adult teeth. Not only that you dont want your little one to be in pain from tooth decay, infection and the trauma of having teeth pulled at an early age... because you didnt take care of them.

It is so important to brush their teeth every day.

Definately aim for twice a week, and they'll get use to their routine of brushing their teeth. We sing the alphabet, it not only teaches them the abc but forces them to keep their mouth opened longer.

Teeth brushing is extremely important as pp's have said. We brush our toddlers teeth twice a day (as well as our other kids too), it can be difficult at times, but they really need a routine early on so it becomes second nature to them. smile

definately brush them! rotten teeth are not a good look

we brush our kids everyday normally twice (after breakfast and at bathtime before bed) i sometimes forget in the mornings roll eyes depends on if ive had a coffee or not lol

ive heard someone say 'oh it doesnt matter too much as their baby teeth fall out and they get new ones anyway'...no no no. if your baby teeth are rotting then your gums are also in bad shape..adult teeth are developing under those diseased gums and they will come out already damaged, its not reversable.

not to mention the look of it sad a beautiful little girl came up to us the other day and asked my DD what her name was and smiled sad her smile broke my heart all her top front teeth were brown and black and her gums were bright red, she was about 4

I'd be keen to hear your advice about teeth brushing.

In my attempts to just keep my head above water (this whole mother thing isn't my cup of tea) I have not prioritised teeth brushing. My girl is 20 months now and we probably only brush once a week.

Do I need to prioritise teeth brushing?
I know a lady that said 'their the baby teeth so it doesn't matter too much'... sounds dodgy I know.

I'd appreciate your thoughts.

I would aim for twice a day as already mentioned. Sets her up for future good habits. (that being said I don't manage to get my 11 month olds brushed everyday. But I know I should!

BTW, your comment "this whole mother thing isn't my cup of tea" has me a little concerned. Are you ok? Sounds like your struggling a little... Do you feel generally happy? Don't take this the wrong way, sometimes I'm not so sure about the whole mother thing either..

Hi, I am going to say the same as everyone else and say that you must brush her teeth every day.

Baby teeth do fall out but there is more to it than that.

The bacteria that causes decay once introduced to you mouth is very hard to get rid of, so if your child baby teeth are decayed then the bacteria is there to attack the adult teeth and cause decay too.

I have been told that if you have fillings etc as an adult then you also shouldn't put things in your mouth and then into your babies because that also transfers bacteria.

I don't know a lot about this but I am sure that there is more info avalible that will go into more detail

Just to let everyone know, I recently asked our dentist how old kids should be before they can brush their teeth by themselves. She advises around 8 years of age. My DD is 5 1/2 so I sometimes let her brush them herself but I watch to make sure she's doing it well. And I always make sure she does them herself no more than once a day, so I'm doing them at least once too.

Thanks for all the feedback.

Yes, I will try and do it more. I hear what is being said about the gums and bateria and routine stuff. It makes sense I just need to find a way to remember and add it to the routine.

Thanks also for enquiring about my comment 'the whole mum thing isn't my cup of tea'. Yes, I am fine. I am being treated for PND and have some fairly good supports and such in place... on the scale of priorities though I think that is why the teeth brushing hasn't made the cut so far smile

I'll keep trying.

brush her teeth when you do yours thts what i do with DS twice a day

I brush DS teeth when I do mine in the morning and at night we do it straight after his bath/shower that way I don't forget.

You'll be happy to hear that I have brushed her teeth two nights running now! Yay.