Children’s Dentistry

Your child’s deciduous teeth also known as baby teeth are just as important as their permanent teeth. Most dental experts would recommend bringing your children in to the dentist before their 1^st birthday. Bringing your child in early will help them become familiar with the dentist and they can begin to treat a dental visit as an ordinary event.

Dr Morris will be able to explain the prevention of early childhood caries (ECC).

Some tips to prevent ECC:

• Clean your child’s teeth before bed time.
• Offer your child a bottle of water or a dummy to settle them. Do not dip the dummy in honey or other sweet products. Bacteria feed on the sugar in products like honey, jams, flavoured milk drinks, cordial, soft drink and fruit juice which forms a sticky coating of plaque. Plaque acids eat into the tooth enamel and cause decay.
• Phase out bottle feeding by the age of 12 months and start to teach your child to drink from a cup.
• Start brushing your child’s teeth as soon as they start to erupt, prior to erupting you can gently wipe your baby’s gums with a warm, moistened face washer after every feed.