Brushing baby’s teeth

As soon as the first milk teeth break through at about 6 months of age, it is appropriate to clean them. Even if breastfeeding is still going on, brushing the baby’s teeth is important because breast milk also contains sugar. Proper dental care therefore begins with the baby.

There are special soft toothbrushes for babies with a small brush head to reach the milk teeth. Like the adult toothbrush, the baby toothbrush must be replaced at least every two months to ensure that the toothbrush cleans well. Since milk teeth are less resistant because they contain fewer crystals in the enamel layer and this layer is thinner than the permanent teeth, they must be protected by regular cleaning.

By the age of two and a half, in most cases all twenty milk teeth have broken through, and if they are not regularly brushed by a parent, they will quickly be affected by caries if they consume fruit juices or sugary foods frequently. In addition to special toothbrushes, there is also toothpaste that contains a lower fluoride content especially for small children and is therefore suitable for daily cleaning. Ideally, baby’s teeth should be brushed at least twice a day with a pea-sized amount.

Bridges and removable dentures

Tooth crowns and bridges require special cleaning.Here the focus is mainly on the cervical region. For bridges, cleaning should be done both with a toothbrush and with dental floss. A special Floss dental floss is suitable for this purpose, which can be run well underneath the bridge pontic and thus can also clean areas inaccessible to the brush. The removable denture is of course cleaned outside the mouth, but the remaining teeth are cleaned normally.

Brushing without toothpaste?

If the choice would be to do without toothbrush or toothpaste, the decision would remain clearly with the toothpaste, since the brush is the crucial point in things tooth cleaning. However, it then depends on a very thorough cleaning with a toothbrush and the use of dental floss or interdental brushes to clean the interdental spaces in order to replace the toothpaste. In general, it is a relief to remove all food debris and plaque and leave a fresh taste and smell.

Therefore, it is quite possible that bad breath is caused by not using toothpaste. As an alternative to toothpaste, there are tabs for chewing, which are produced in capsule form. These chewing tablets are particularly suitable for travel.