TAKING CARE OF YOUR TEETH
“MOMMY, WHEN SHOULD I BRUSH MY TEETH?”: • Brush your teeth with a toothbrush two times each day. • Brush your teeth every morning and every night. “MOMMY, HOW DO I BRUSH MY TEETH?”: • Use soft brush toothbrushes. • Brush your teeth for 3 minutes (The time it takes for a song to play on the radio). 1. Hold toothbrush by the handle 2. Wet brush portion of toothbrush 3. Place toothpaste onto the wet brush
4. Brush all sides of your teeth the side near your tongue, the side near your cheeks the front, and the top of your teeth
5. Don’t forget to gently brush along the gum line 6. Always spit out toothpaste when have finished brushing your teeth. Don’t swallow toothpaste. 7. Use water to rinse your mouth when you have finished brushing your teeth. 8. Rinse your toothbrush 9. 10. Finally, rinse and spit again. Now do a final brush of your teeth to make sure they are clean.
You are have finished brushing. Good Job!!
OTHER TIPS ON TOOTHBRUSHES AND TOOTHPASTE: • • • • • • Do not share toothbrushes with anyone. Sharing toothbrushes shares germs. Get a new toothbrush every 3 months. After you have been sick get a new toothbrush. Do not eat after you brush your teeth at night. Use toothpaste with fluoride. It will make your teeth strong and healthy.
“MOMMY, WHAT IS FLOSS?”: • Dental Floss is a thin string used to clean your teeth. • Floss gets rid of the germs that live between your teeth. • There are spaces in your teeth that a toothbrush can not reach. Floss gets to those places and cleans them. “MOMMY, HOW DO I FLOSS?”: 1. Pull out floss out of the box and cut it so that is it is about the length from your hand to your elbow. 2. Wrap the floss around your middle finger on each hand and separate your hands by 1 inch and hold floss in a straight line. 3. Guide the floss with your index fingers by wiggling the floss between your teeth until you reach the gum line. 4. 5. Do not floss too deeply if you do that it will hurt your gums. Move the floss up and down around your tooth, not side to side. Be gentle.
“MOMMY, HOW DO I USE MOUTHWASH?” • Never swallow mouthwash. 1. Mouthwash should be used before you brush and floss. 2. Pour a little mouthwash into a cup 3. Swish it in your mouth for 30 seconds. 4. Spit it out. “MOMMY, HOW DO I USE A TONGUE SCRAPER?”: • A tongue scraper stops bad breath. 1. Hold the handle and scrape from back to front on the top of your tongue. 2. 3. Be gentle. Don’t press too hard. Rinse the scraper. Repeat steps 1 and 2.
• It can make you sick if you swallow it.
HEALTHY TEETH FOR CHILDREN AGES 6‐9
“MOMMY, MY TOOTH IS LOOSE”: • When adult teeth are ready to come in children around ages 5‐7 you will have loose baby teeth. • Let the loose baby teeth fall out. o Do not pull them out.
• Sometimes your child’s front adult teeth will grow in before the baby teeth have fallen out and they may have two sets of front teeth. This is normal. • If their loose tooth bothers them and make it hard to eat, let them eat soft foods. • When their baby teeth fall out and they will get new adult teeth. They might not understand what is happening and may be scared. • Sometimes children lose their baby teeth too early if they have cavities or if the teeth get knocked out. • You will know it is too early because you will not see an adult tooth growing. You will only see a space.
• Take your child to a dentist if their tooth falls out too early. They may need a space saver put in to prevent speech problems or problems with adult teeth. • Brush the new adult teeth well as they grow. They should be there for the rest of your life. Take good care of them. • Reward your child for brushing their teeth twice a day and flossing. “MOMMY, MY TEETH STICK OUT”: • Sometimes children’s teeth, lips, and jaw do not line up correctly. This condition is called bad bite. • Bad bite makes teeth look crooked, or as though the bottom or top teeth stick out too far. • Bad bites and crooked teeth are harder to clean. • Make sure your children are cleaning their teeth well. • Tell your dentist about the bad bite. o Your child may need to see a special dentist to fix the problem. The special dentist who fixes crooked teeth is called an orthodontist. • Seeing an orthodontist early will help your child’s adult teeth grow in better and make their teeth and lips line up better.
“MOMMY, MY MOUTH HURTS”: There are two main things that cause your child’s mouth to hurt, mouth sores (also called ulcers or canker sores) and herpes sores. Call your dentist if you think you have these. Ulcers • The sore is red and open and may turn yellow or white. • Ulcers can last one or two weeks and heal without a scar. • Ulcers may come back. • Ulcers hurt and children won’t want to eat when they have them. o Make sure they eat and drink. o Do not give your child spicy, salty, or acidic foods. • You can give them Tylenol for pain. Do not give aspirin. Do not use gel. • Ulcers are not contagious. You can’t catch ulcers or give ulcers to someone else. Herpes Sores • Herpes Sores are caused by a virus. They are sometimes called cold sores or fever blisters. • Herpes Sores look like blisters filled with water. You can seen them on your lip, mouth or nose. They may crust over or ooze.
• Before the sores show up your lip may tingle or itch. • The blisters can be by themselves or in a group. • They may last one or two weeks. • Do not touch the sore. Do not let your child touch the sore. Wash your hands before and after if you touch the sore. • You can catch herpes sores. Do not kiss, share utensils or drinking glasses. OTHER TIPS HEALTHY TEETH FOR YOUR CHILD: • Take your child to the dentist every 6 months. • Around age 6 children get 6‐year molars (the 4 teeth in the back of their mouth). • 6‐year molars are big teeth and have long roots. o Clean the molars well. • Call your dentist when you see the child’s molars growing.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DO NOT TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEETH
“MOMMY, I HAVE A HOLE IN MY TOOTH”: • When teeth rot, a hole called a cavity forms. • This hole can be yellow, brown, or black. • You may have a cavity if your tooth aches when you chew, eat cold, hot, or sweet food. o If your child’s tooth aches, call your dentist. • Children who live with people who smoke have more cavities. o Tell your dentist if anyone lives in your house smokes. • Cavities will come if you eat foods with sugar and don’t brush your teeth twice a day. • Cavities can form from dental tartar or plaque. o Dental tartar is hard and crusty. It is at the gumline on your bottom front teeth. Your dentist must take away tartar. o Dental plaque is fuzzy, sticky, & soft made of germs that live on your gums and teeth. Stop plaque by brushing twice a day.
“MOMMY MY GUMS ARE PUFFY AND BLEEDING”: • When there is too much plaque on your teeth around the gumline, gums can get sick. This gum sickness is called gingivitis. • You will know that your child’s gums are sick if they get puffy, red, and start bleeding. The sick gums may hurt as well. • Gingivitis should go away in two weeks. Call your dentist if it does not, or if the gums bleed a lot or hurt very much. • If your child gets gingivitis you can help them: 1. Use a soft wet toothbrush to gently massage their gumline. If the gums bleed don’t worry, you must clean the plaque on the gumline to make your child better. 2. To get rid of puffiness, add ½ a teaspoon of salt to ½ glass of warm water. Have your child rinse their mouth with the mixture.
EMERGENCIES
“MOMMY, MY TOOTH GOT KNOCKED OUT”: 1. If your child tooth gets knocked out, don’t panic. If it is a baby tooth just use a sterile gauze and hold pressure for 15 minutes. • Call the dentist if it does not stop bleeding in 15 minutes. 2. Call the dentist right away if it is an adult tooth, go the dentist within 30 minutes. 3. Rinse the tooth with salt or cold water. Do no hold the tooth by the root. 4. Get a glass of milk, salt water, or a clean cloth 5. Place the tooth in the milk, water or cloth. 6. Go to the dentist and take the tooth with you. 7. Do not scrub or rub the tooth. Tell your child to use a mouthguard to protect their teeth when playing sports.
“MOMMY, MY TOOTH IS CHIPPED”: 1. Call the dentist 2. Do not put any medicine on the broken tooth. “MOMMY, I BIT MY TONGUE ”: 1. Rinse your child’s mouth with cold water. 2. Apply pressure with a cloth to the bleeding tongue. 3. Call your dentist if the bleeding does not stop in 15 minutes. 4. If you can’t get a hold of the dentist and the bleeding won’t stop go to the hospital. “MOMMY, THERE IS FOOD STUCK IN MY TEETH”: 1. Use floss to attempt to remove the food 2. Tie the floss into a double knot. Use the knot in the floss to try to removed the food. 3. Call the dentist if you can’t remove the food. Do not use a sharp tool to remove the food. Do not medicate with asprin.
ALWAYS REMEMBER:
• Brush twice a day. • Floss everyday. • Use mouthwash. • Take care of your children’s teeth • See a dentist two times a year.