Children with four teeth in both jaws can brush their teeth twice a day using a soft toothbrush.

You can use fluoride toothpaste specially produced for children for the care of milk teeth. If a special toothpaste containing fluoride is used, the amount of paste applied to the brush should not exceed the size of a chickpea. Another way to clean your teeth is to use only water.

Children will prefer to swallow used toothpaste while brushing. Ingestion of large amounts of fluoride in children can lead to cosmetic problems with permanent teeth (fluorosis). For this reason, children should be taught the importance of spitting toothpaste while brushing instead of swallowing it and should be taught how to do it. However, the areas where there are no teeth should be wiped with sterile gauze or a clean wet cotton. The use of dental floss should be started once a day when the child’s teeth begin to touch each other. Children do not have hand coordination skills and the ability to apply the correct brushing technique until the age of 8. Therefore, let them brush their teeth.

If the baby is not given breast milk with carbohydrates, it does not cause tooth decay. However, it is thought that children who are fed breast milk in addition to other additional foods are at risk of tooth decay.

What your child drinks and how often they drink is important. The longer your child holds any liquid other than water in his or her mouth, the higher the risk of tooth decay, so it is dangerous for your baby to sleep with a bottle in his or her mouth or to use a bottle or pacifier all day. Even if other teeth are affected by bottle decay, the teeth most affected are the upper front teeth.

The upper incisors are the teeth most susceptible to bottle-feeding decay. The decay usually starts in the back of the teeth, where it is not easily recognisable. The back teeth in the upper jaw are affected, followed by the back teeth in the lower jaw. The lower incisors are usually not affected. The tongue prevents the lower incisors from contact with liquids and prevents them from being affected by bacteria by covering them from above.

It should not be forgotten that when any liquid containing carbohydrates stays on the teeth for a long time, this leads to caries in the so-called bottle on the teeth, but the mere presence of water in the mouth does not cause caries.

Paediatric dentists offer services such as teeth cleaning, fluoride application, caries treatment, tooth extraction, orthodontic assessment and dental health education.

Paediatric dentistry protects children’s oral health, prevents dental caries and ensures that children have healthy teeth for life by providing education on dental health.