Ep 8. Your child’s bright white smile! How to take the best care of your child’s teeth
How to take the best care of your child’s teeth.
In this episode I draw on my experience from the last 10 years working as a Private Dentist in London. You’ll hear all about when to start brushing your babies teeth, how to brush, when to visit the dentist and what kinds of foods are good for their teeth and which ones to avoid!
Season 1 Ep 8
Listen here
0:00:00.080,0:00:04.640
hi mama you’re listening to the mama
podcast it’s sumayya here the co-founder
0:00:04.640,0:00:09.040
of mama ME app
mama me is the first app to exclusively
0:00:09.040,0:00:12.000
connect mothers
across the middle east connect with
0:00:12.000,0:00:15.280
like-minded mamas and create lifelong
friendships
0:00:15.280,0:00:19.279
at mama we are all about connecting
mamas to empower women
0:00:19.279,0:00:22.800
so let’s join together and make this
mission a reality
0:00:22.800,0:00:26.960
in this week’s episode we are going back
to my roots and we are talking all about
0:00:26.960,0:00:31.519
teeth so i’m bringing you my last 10
years of knowledge and experience
0:00:31.519,0:00:35.680
on how to get your children to have nice
white bright smiles
0:00:35.680,0:00:39.040
i’ve asked my friend nadya to join me on
this one to get stuck
0:00:39.040,0:00:44.399
writing nadia thank you so much
for joining me today because we’re
0:00:44.399,0:00:47.440
talking all about
teeth how long have we been talking
0:00:47.440,0:00:50.879
about teeth now we’ve known each other
for about 15 years
0:00:50.879,0:00:55.280
yeah 2006 so it’s a long time we’ve been
uh thinking about teeth
0:00:55.280,0:00:58.320
it’s a small area of the body but it
really
0:00:58.320,0:01:04.239
takes a lot of thinking so if we um
talk about maybe when to first take a
0:01:04.239,0:01:08.000
child to the dentist
and also at what age they should start
0:01:08.000,0:01:09.920
brushing their teeth i think that’s
important
0:01:09.920,0:01:16.080
so the uk guidance is that
it should be from really as young as
0:01:16.080,0:01:19.280
possible
and and definitely from as soon as the
0:01:19.280,0:01:22.720
first
tooth erupts so maybe you can give me
0:01:22.720,0:01:25.840
the insight into what the advice is for
the
0:01:25.840,0:01:30.640
uh i mean unfortunately actually there’s
no formal advice on these things so it’s
0:01:30.640,0:01:37.200
very much up to it’s a patient-led
system here and unfortunately depends on
0:01:37.200,0:01:41.200
your dentist as well to give you that
information it’s not very publicly
0:01:41.200,0:01:45.280
uh known that you know people should be
taking their kids to the dentist at the
0:01:45.280,0:01:48.240
young age they just
bring them when there’s a problem so
0:01:48.240,0:01:50.399
yeah i definitely reiterate what you’ve
said
0:01:50.399,0:01:54.399
to take the children as soon as possible
to the dentist it gets them used to the
0:01:54.399,0:01:56.640
environment it makes them comfortable
there
0:01:56.640,0:01:59.840
they get to see a friendly face it
builds a rapport but
0:01:59.840,0:02:03.920
also as definitely as soon as you see a
tooth in that mouth you need to take
0:02:03.920,0:02:07.200
them to the dentist so that
your dentist can start monitoring their
0:02:07.200,0:02:11.200
dental health um
because it is very important even though
0:02:11.200,0:02:14.560
we have this system in the uk
you’d be surprised how many children
0:02:14.560,0:02:19.360
actually still have dental problems
so you can imagine where maybe there’s
0:02:19.360,0:02:23.120
not such a straight system
you really as a parent have to guide
0:02:23.120,0:02:25.360
these things and think about these
things yourself
0:02:25.360,0:02:29.760
from a mum’s perspective i think um the
first six months are
0:02:29.760,0:02:33.440
probably the time when you’re still
getting to know your child and still
0:02:33.440,0:02:37.440
getting into a routine
and and most children want or most
0:02:37.440,0:02:40.319
babies won’t get their first tooth till
around the six month
0:02:40.319,0:02:45.840
age so if you feel like you’re still out
of sorts and you still can’t get to the
0:02:45.840,0:02:49.840
dentist in those first six months
not to worry but six months or at least
0:02:49.840,0:02:53.360
when you first see that tooth
do make that effort to go in and and
0:02:53.360,0:02:56.160
have it checked and it may be that the
dentist can’t do much
0:02:56.160,0:02:59.599
they probably won’t even be able to look
into the mouth but like nadia’s
0:02:59.599,0:03:02.480
mentioned
it’s mainly the fact that you’re getting
0:03:02.480,0:03:06.080
the child used to the environment
and um you know building that
0:03:06.080,0:03:09.680
relationship with the dentist
yeah i mean it just really helps it
0:03:09.680,0:03:12.400
makes them less scared when they’re
older as well if you suddenly take them
0:03:12.400,0:03:14.959
at the age of
four or five they’re just going to be
0:03:14.959,0:03:17.519
like who is this person in a masking
gloves it can be
0:03:17.519,0:03:20.560
a little bit intimidating so definitely
as young as possible
0:03:20.560,0:03:23.680
some moms i’ve seen here just actually
bring their kids along
0:03:23.680,0:03:26.480
when it’s their own appointment and
they’re just like can you have a look
0:03:26.480,0:03:30.560
even that’s better than nothing
i absolutely agree and you’ll get
0:03:30.560,0:03:34.720
personalized advice as well which
is so as soon as that tooth appears
0:03:34.720,0:03:37.120
brush it
for sure as soon as the tooth appears
0:03:37.120,0:03:40.319
from my perspective as a mom
you can get a lot of these little
0:03:40.319,0:03:43.519
gadgets that um you can put on your
finger that feels a bit like a
0:03:43.519,0:03:47.360
toothbrush and you can brush the gums
really really great to start with that
0:03:47.360,0:03:51.200
because as even though the tooth’s not
there one you’re dislodging any bacteria
0:03:51.200,0:03:54.560
that’s building up the milk obviously
creates a residue on their gums and
0:03:54.560,0:03:57.840
their tongue so yes they won’t have
cavities because they don’t have
0:03:57.840,0:04:01.760
teeth but it really gets them used to
somebody cleaning inside their mouth and
0:04:01.760,0:04:04.000
some like you know their mouth being
cleaned
0:04:04.000,0:04:08.159
um and something being inside the mouth
as soon as they can start grasping which
0:04:08.159,0:04:11.840
is around the age of three months
give them a toothbrush to hold my
0:04:11.840,0:04:14.400
daughter would have a whole um have a
toothbrush
0:04:14.400,0:04:17.120
at the age of three months and she would
just play with it of course she’s not
0:04:17.120,0:04:19.519
doing anything with it she’s just
chewing on the end
0:04:19.519,0:04:22.960
yeah but that’s a great way to get them
used to having a toothbrush brushing
0:04:22.960,0:04:25.759
their teeth
and it doesn’t i mean ideally when
0:04:25.759,0:04:28.240
you’re brushing your teeth is the best
time to give it to them so you’re
0:04:28.240,0:04:32.160
they’re modeling but um
yeah absolutely as soon as you can let
0:04:32.160,0:04:34.479
them play with it even if it’s in the
middle of the day just give them a
0:04:34.479,0:04:37.280
toothbrush to play with
and definitely get that thing that goes
0:04:37.280,0:04:40.160
on your finger or you could
you don’t necessarily have to have the
0:04:40.160,0:04:42.880
thing that fits onto the thing i don’t
even know what it’s called you know what
0:04:42.880,0:04:45.919
it’s called nadia
no i’m not actually i i don’t think it
0:04:45.919,0:04:49.360
has a formal name to be honest they’re
just like
0:04:49.360,0:04:54.400
finger tooth brush aren’t they but yeah
so it’s just like a silicone toothbrush
0:04:54.400,0:04:57.280
that you slide your finger into
so you can put your finger into the
0:04:57.280,0:05:01.919
mouth but it’s got like very soft
silicone type bristle things on the end
0:05:01.919,0:05:05.840
um or bumps some of them have just bumps
so that you’re just literally massaging
0:05:05.840,0:05:08.960
the gums
it helps when they’re teething as well
0:05:08.960,0:05:11.600
when you’re feeling it can be quite
comforting to do that
0:05:11.600,0:05:16.080
yeah so if like maybe that um or even if
you don’t want to use that and you don’t
0:05:16.080,0:05:18.479
want to invest in that just get a
children’s toothbrush
0:05:18.479,0:05:22.720
um it really doesn’t matter the type of
toothbrush that you should i mean
0:05:22.720,0:05:26.240
you can get different children’s
toothbrushes a lot of people come in
0:05:26.240,0:05:30.560
with the really really soft ones
personally i’m not the biggest fan of
0:05:30.560,0:05:33.199
those i don’t think they actually remove
plaque that well
0:05:33.199,0:05:36.639
so even for a child a young child i
would say at least
0:05:36.639,0:05:41.199
i would say a medium firmness toothbrush
so with yes so medium or soft
0:05:41.199,0:05:44.479
some of it depends on the brand very
much so it depends on the brand
0:05:44.479,0:05:48.560
because um some brands soft bristle
toothbrush
0:05:48.560,0:05:52.000
is very very soft i do like the soft
bristle
0:05:52.000,0:05:56.160
brush because maybe because i’m a
slightly heavy-handed so i know that if
0:05:56.160,0:05:58.960
i’m brushing my daughter’s teeth i don’t
want to like
0:05:58.960,0:06:02.800
traumatize her gums at the same time i
still want to be able to clean so i
0:06:02.800,0:06:05.919
think it very much depends on the person
and this is something where you’d be
0:06:05.919,0:06:09.199
able to discuss it with your dentist
because your dentist will be able to see
0:06:09.199,0:06:12.639
the type of brushing technique and how
well you are brushing so that’s
0:06:12.639,0:06:16.479
where we spoke about earlier about
personalized as a guide
0:06:16.479,0:06:20.160
just to try and help figure out like
what sort of um
0:06:20.160,0:06:24.080
brusher you are for yourself for your
kids as well just take a toothbrush
0:06:24.080,0:06:27.440
and massage your skin because your skin
over
0:06:27.440,0:06:30.639
the back of your hand actually has the
very similar texture
0:06:30.639,0:06:33.840
and composition to where your soft
tissues are attached to your bone in
0:06:33.840,0:06:36.160
your mouth
so just massage over there and see how
0:06:36.160,0:06:39.600
much it’s moving if your skin is
actually moving around a lot then you’re
0:06:39.600,0:06:42.960
probably quite heavy-handed and for you
that softer toothbrush is better
0:06:42.960,0:06:47.120
if you’re finding it’s not moving that
much then you could go to a medium one
0:06:47.120,0:06:50.319
but as a general rule if your bristles
are splaying
0:06:50.319,0:06:53.680
a lot so for example they look like a
little hedgehog by the time you finish
0:06:53.680,0:06:56.240
brushing your teeth
then yeah you’re definitely heavy-handed
0:06:56.240,0:06:58.479
so you need to be a little bit more
gentle
0:06:58.479,0:07:03.680
just think of it like massaging a sports
car you wouldn’t put a wire brush to it
0:07:03.680,0:07:07.120
you would you know gently massage it
same thing with your with your gums and
0:07:07.120,0:07:09.360
your teeth because you don’t want to rub
them away once
0:07:09.360,0:07:13.680
once it’s gone it’s gone so just be very
gentle yeah i agree that’s a great
0:07:13.680,0:07:17.759
analogy thanks daddy
this is something that we see a lot in
0:07:17.759,0:07:20.880
the dental practice
where parents will come in with a
0:07:20.880,0:07:22.880
children’s toothbrush and they’ve either
got an
0:07:22.880,0:07:25.919
adult sized toothbrush or a really large
head
0:07:25.919,0:07:30.240
um and if you now look at the a lot of
the electric toothbrushes
0:07:30.240,0:07:34.160
you’ll see that the the heads of the
toothbrushes are very small
0:07:34.160,0:07:38.000
and so even for an adult the smaller the
head the better because you can actually
0:07:38.000,0:07:42.160
get to certain areas
much better so don’t think that the
0:07:42.160,0:07:46.800
bigger toothbrush is going to do better
the smaller toothbrushes or the smaller
0:07:46.800,0:07:48.720
head toothbrushes are much better and
cleaner
0:07:48.720,0:07:53.599
yeah definitely because um just to
reiterate um as you said it just gets to
0:07:53.599,0:07:55.919
all those areas a lot better so for
example
0:07:55.919,0:08:00.160
you want to get all the way right to the
back so for those areas if you’ve got a
0:08:00.160,0:08:02.400
very big toothbrush it’s very very
difficult
0:08:02.400,0:08:06.080
another thing that i find actually helps
is to not open your mouth too much when
0:08:06.080,0:08:09.199
you are brushing your child’s mouth
so don’t ask them to stretch the mouth
0:08:09.199,0:08:12.319
open really wide because all you’re
doing is flexing all those
0:08:12.319,0:08:16.240
really tight muscles around their cheek
and then just getting in your way
0:08:16.240,0:08:19.360
just ask them to open their mouth just
enough for you to get your toothbrush in
0:08:19.360,0:08:21.440
there
you are going to know your child’s mouth
0:08:21.440,0:08:24.319
very well you will be able to figure out
where you need to brush
0:08:24.319,0:08:27.919
but the less open that mouth is the
easier it is for you to get into there
0:08:27.919,0:08:30.240
they’re not going to gag as much their
tongue and their
0:08:30.240,0:08:32.959
cheeks aren’t going to fight against you
as much so it’s just more comfortable
0:08:32.959,0:08:36.080
for you
and your child when to brush their teeth
0:08:36.080,0:08:38.640
first thing in the morning before
breakfast
0:08:38.640,0:08:42.159
and if they’re brushing after breakfast
then they need to be waiting at least
0:08:42.159,0:08:45.360
20 minutes yeah all of our food is
actually contain
0:08:45.360,0:08:49.279
certain amount of acid so it softens the
enamel and the dentine of our teeth so
0:08:49.279,0:08:53.120
you don’t want to be scrubbing onto that
again it’s the same analogy with the
0:08:53.120,0:08:55.680
with the car right
if you’re going to put acid onto there
0:08:55.680,0:08:57.680
it’s going to make the car paint more
porous
0:08:57.680,0:09:01.120
then you’re going to brush on it even
with something soft it’s going to wear
0:09:01.120,0:09:03.839
away
that paint so again same thing with your
0:09:03.839,0:09:06.320
teeth
you have to give it some time for your
0:09:06.320,0:09:10.080
saliva to buffer the action of
all those harsh acids that are in our
0:09:10.080,0:09:13.839
food so it can be easier to brush first
thing actually in the morning as well
0:09:13.839,0:09:16.800
especially if you’re
a working mom it’s really hard to where
0:09:16.800,0:09:20.880
do you find that extra 20 years to wait
we don’t all have that time you know
0:09:20.880,0:09:23.200
unless you can find something else to do
in that time brush
0:09:23.200,0:09:26.640
brush the hair of something else which
will take 20 minutes but yeah definitely
0:09:26.640,0:09:29.519
better if you can
first thing in the morning otherwise
0:09:29.519,0:09:33.600
after eating do wait 20 minutes even
after drinking something acidic which
0:09:33.600,0:09:36.800
we would definitely say is a no-no but
sometimes it happens so yeah
0:09:36.800,0:09:41.440
do wait 20 minutes at least and then
last thing at night so there should be
0:09:41.440,0:09:44.480
no food or drink intake in between
brushing
0:09:44.480,0:09:50.800
and bedtime and other than water yeah
absolutely the one thing that i will
0:09:50.800,0:09:53.279
point out here
is that a lot of children at a very
0:09:53.279,0:09:58.000
young age will drink milk
either to fall asleep or they’ll drink
0:09:58.000,0:10:02.560
milk very close to falling asleep
and of course like looking at this from
0:10:02.560,0:10:06.480
a realistic perspective
the advice that i started to give after
0:10:06.480,0:10:09.440
i had my daughter
definitely changed because you really
0:10:09.440,0:10:12.079
truly understand what a parent has to go
through
0:10:12.079,0:10:19.120
um do one get a child to sleep
um so you know of course we understand
0:10:19.120,0:10:21.360
that that’s
definitely a thing especially when
0:10:21.360,0:10:25.200
they’re younger um
and so it’s acceptable just make sure
0:10:25.200,0:10:28.160
you are still brushing twice a day so
brush before
0:10:28.160,0:10:31.440
milk if milk is the last thing they’re
doing before they’re falling asleep
0:10:31.440,0:10:35.040
but as they get a little bit older
that’s something we need to work towards
0:10:35.040,0:10:40.720
getting them out of that habit so
you know slowly try and bring their milk
0:10:40.720,0:10:44.399
time a little bit forward so they’re not
falling asleep drinking milk
0:10:44.399,0:10:47.519
um it’s that pooling of the milk on the
on the teeth
0:10:47.519,0:10:51.519
over time will start causing cavities
now if it’s just in the first six months
0:10:51.519,0:10:54.720
in the first
year then we’ve got fluoride in the
0:10:54.720,0:10:57.519
toothpaste
we’re brushing regularly we’re going to
0:10:57.519,0:11:01.360
monitor what we’re having during the day
so they’re not having frequent sugary
0:11:01.360,0:11:03.839
snacks
the impact that we’ll have long term on
0:11:03.839,0:11:07.440
their teeth health
and cavities is very low so i wouldn’t
0:11:07.440,0:11:10.720
worry about it as a mom
but at the same time be aware that you
0:11:10.720,0:11:14.880
know if this continues on for five
six seven years then yes they will it
0:11:14.880,0:11:18.560
will start to cause cavities so
be realistic with when we start to get
0:11:18.560,0:11:21.839
them out of that habit
obviously we’re not here to preach but
0:11:21.839,0:11:25.839
yes if at a certain point you can
prevent giving milk lasting at night
0:11:25.839,0:11:28.320
time and just make sure they just brush
their teeth
0:11:28.320,0:11:31.920
and then nothing to eat or drink apart
from water it is much better in the long
0:11:31.920,0:11:34.880
run
for their teeth the way i did it
0:11:34.880,0:11:39.360
personally was
um we would give my daughter
0:11:39.360,0:11:45.040
milk 30 minutes before she was due to
sleep so we would know that she was full
0:11:45.040,0:11:48.480
um and then obviously she would then
brush her teeth
0:11:48.480,0:11:52.160
um before we read the books and then
we’d read books and then she’d go to bed
0:11:52.160,0:11:56.880
so i think that worked for us um
but obviously everyone’s schedule is
0:11:56.880,0:12:00.079
slightly different and it’s it’s
whatever suits you and whatever works
0:12:00.079,0:12:05.440
but just be aware and mindful of
of how the milk does impact overnight um
0:12:05.440,0:12:09.360
a lot of children a young age will also
drink milk overnight as well
0:12:09.360,0:12:13.279
so um i mean babies will drink milk
overnight so
0:12:13.279,0:12:16.880
um of course this is something they’ll
grow out of anyway and i’m sure most
0:12:16.880,0:12:20.079
moms will
be working towards getting the child to
0:12:20.079,0:12:23.440
stop drinking milk in the night because
that means they have to wake up too but
0:12:23.440,0:12:27.200
that and if it’s happening for a very
long time in their in their childhood
0:12:27.200,0:12:31.920
then again that can have an impact also
that is a short-term issue but it is
0:12:31.920,0:12:34.800
better to try and avoid it becoming
something that is a
0:12:34.800,0:12:38.240
little bit more long-term just for your
own ease as well
0:12:38.240,0:12:43.440
when or how to get child to brush is
usually the question we get asked
0:12:43.440,0:12:47.120
the most in dental practices and i’m
sure nadia you’ve probably got the same
0:12:47.120,0:12:50.399
question too
yeah not something that is fun it’s just
0:12:50.399,0:12:53.040
something that we have to do and
especially because you have to do it
0:12:53.040,0:12:55.839
every day they’re like oh but i did it
yesterday
0:12:55.839,0:12:59.120
so obviously it does help like you said
when they’re modeling you
0:12:59.120,0:13:02.720
if you’re doing it as well make it into
a fun activity that’s what i always used
0:13:02.720,0:13:06.000
to tell my patients
put on your favorite song if you think
0:13:06.000,0:13:09.040
about the average length of a song right
it’s about three minutes
0:13:09.040,0:13:12.720
brush to your favorite song you can both
stand there and hum along right
0:13:12.720,0:13:15.760
and you can just brush your teeth make
an activity out of it so that it’s a
0:13:15.760,0:13:19.279
bonding experience for both of you
you’re interacting and they’re copying
0:13:19.279,0:13:22.639
you as well
you can get fun little egg time as well
0:13:22.639,0:13:25.120
which egg timers which help with the
time
0:13:25.120,0:13:29.040
i mean but i prefer the like singing
along aspect of it because it makes it
0:13:29.040,0:13:31.440
into something fun makes it into
something
0:13:31.440,0:13:36.160
enjoyable um gimmicks can help as well
you know with kids electric toothbrushes
0:13:36.160,0:13:39.600
with these flashing lights and
all of that or with their favorite
0:13:39.600,0:13:42.320
characters on them paw patrol or
whatever it is
0:13:42.320,0:13:46.320
these things actually really help with
children and it just gets them into
0:13:46.320,0:13:51.040
doing something which is unfortunately
a boring everyday chore but if you can
0:13:51.040,0:13:54.160
bring some sort of activity into it it
really helps
0:13:54.160,0:13:58.320
um please if possible do try and observe
their toothbrushing till around the age
0:13:58.320,0:14:01.680
of seven we would definitely advise
that parents should if they’re not
0:14:01.680,0:14:05.920
actively doing it themselves which
i i would advise that you try if you can
0:14:05.920,0:14:08.959
but otherwise at least observe what
they’re doing until the age of seven
0:14:08.959,0:14:12.959
because you really want to make sure
that those initial baby teeth
0:14:12.959,0:14:16.240
that will later on fall out and then
they’ll be
0:14:16.240,0:14:19.199
blazed by the adult teeth you want to
make sure that they have a good
0:14:19.199,0:14:22.880
foundation because our baby teeth guide
the adult teeth into the right place
0:14:22.880,0:14:26.240
they act as a path
so you want to protect both both are
0:14:26.240,0:14:29.120
important it’s not just that our adult
teeth are more important
0:14:29.120,0:14:33.279
they’re both important so yeah make it
into a fun activity sing along have a
0:14:33.279,0:14:36.160
little dance
just make it fun yeah i totally agree
0:14:36.160,0:14:41.519
with that so the activities really help
and there’s also some apps that you can
0:14:41.519,0:14:45.519
get so orob
have released an app which um has a two
0:14:45.519,0:14:49.040
minute timer and
the as you brush so the idea is as you
0:14:49.040,0:14:53.120
brush the
puzzle um becomes exposed so
0:14:53.120,0:14:57.120
it’s a new picture every day so the
child gets to see the picture
0:14:57.120,0:15:00.800
becoming exposed the biggest thing that
i can say from
0:15:00.800,0:15:03.920
the perspective of being a dentist under
mom is that
0:15:03.920,0:15:07.440
modeling has the biggest biggest impact
so
0:15:07.440,0:15:10.880
um i find that sometimes my daughter
will say no i don’t want to brush but if
0:15:10.880,0:15:13.680
she sees me brushing
then she’ll want to brush because she
0:15:13.680,0:15:17.120
sees me doing it so that does have a
huge impact
0:15:17.120,0:15:20.639
another thing that does help is starting
them at a young age so the younger you
0:15:20.639,0:15:24.160
start brushing
the more it will become part of routine
0:15:24.160,0:15:26.240
and the norm
so it’s something they expect to do
0:15:26.240,0:15:29.360
every day um
if this means that you know you’ve got a
0:15:29.360,0:15:34.160
slightly older child and you didn’t
introduce it at younger age just um the
0:15:34.160,0:15:37.040
things that nadia
mentioned really do help so having a
0:15:37.040,0:15:39.680
song to sing along to whilst you’re
doing it
0:15:39.680,0:15:43.279
and let the child choose the song you
know let them choose which song it will
0:15:43.279,0:15:46.720
be on that day
and things like that can really help but
0:15:46.720,0:15:49.680
like you say it’s just making it
like the flavor of toothpaste helps
0:15:49.680,0:15:53.040
because adult toothpaste for a child
that can be really offensive right the
0:15:53.040,0:15:57.360
minty taste even sometimes
we find them too strong so you can get
0:15:57.360,0:16:00.320
um
toothpaste which have a very mild taste
0:16:00.320,0:16:03.440
so i think there’s the toothpaste
available it should be available on
0:16:03.440,0:16:07.040
amazon ae
or noon it’s called nurse aid so it has
0:16:07.040,0:16:10.240
a really really mild taste it has
the correct amount of fluoride as well
0:16:10.240,0:16:14.480
but it’s a really gentle
um mild toothpaste the flavor is not too
0:16:14.480,0:16:17.040
offensive and then
you know if they want to copy you you
0:16:17.040,0:16:21.360
can slowly start introducing your
toothpaste to for them to get the flavor
0:16:21.360,0:16:24.560
as well
but uh having good a nice tasting
0:16:24.560,0:16:27.600
toothpaste help as well and
i think that brings us nicely on to
0:16:27.600,0:16:32.480
actually fluoride toothpaste right
fluoride is incredibly important for
0:16:32.480,0:16:36.480
your teeth
yeah absolutely i mean for a child of
0:16:36.480,0:16:40.000
less than three years old you want a
smear of toothpaste
0:16:40.000,0:16:44.880
um now when we say yes smear we
literally mean
0:16:44.880,0:16:48.079
like along the center of that small
toothbrush head just a smear of
0:16:48.079,0:16:52.160
toothpaste it’s a very thin layer
when they’re a bit older three to six
0:16:52.160,0:16:56.480
year olds then you want a pea sized blob
so an average pea we’re not talking
0:16:56.480,0:16:59.759
about big fat
you know marrow peas we’re talking about
0:16:59.759,0:17:02.160
a small garden piece so it’s a very
small amount
0:17:02.160,0:17:05.839
and actually out here in the uae the
water is not fluoridated
0:17:05.839,0:17:09.520
in the uk we actually in some areas we
have fluoridated water
0:17:09.520,0:17:14.319
so even with that we find that children
still have problem with their teeth so
0:17:14.319,0:17:17.919
out here you don’t have fluoridated
water the amount of fluoride that should
0:17:17.919,0:17:22.240
be in the toothpaste
so just as a rule of thumb it’s just
0:17:22.240,0:17:24.000
easy
i mean you can check on the back of your
0:17:24.000,0:17:27.039
toothpaste tube that will tell you how
much fluoride is in it
0:17:27.039,0:17:29.919
now there can be different types of
fluoride so sometimes they can split
0:17:29.919,0:17:33.120
that amount
uh over two or three ingredients but
0:17:33.120,0:17:37.840
when when you combine that figure
try to make sure it contains
0:17:37.840,0:17:42.480
approximately 1
350 parts per million of fluoride up to
0:17:42.480,0:17:46.320
1
500 parts per million of fluoride so on
0:17:46.320,0:17:50.640
average it’s generally 1450 but try and
make sure it’s within
0:17:50.640,0:17:54.480
within that region and you have to be a
little bit careful sometimes with
0:17:54.480,0:17:57.360
children’s toothpaste i’ve seen some
which actually don’t have enough
0:17:57.360,0:18:01.440
fluoride
so do be aware of that own massive side
0:18:01.440,0:18:05.200
effects
at all so what i generally say is
0:18:05.200,0:18:09.919
as soon as you start using toothpaste
use adult toothpaste and use a smear
0:18:09.919,0:18:13.039
um and that way you know that they’re
getting the right amount of fluoride
0:18:13.039,0:18:16.720
like nadia mentioned earlier you can get
toothpaste that aren’t as strong in
0:18:16.720,0:18:20.240
terms of their minty taste
the other downside to using a children’s
0:18:20.240,0:18:24.559
toothpaste is that they get used to this
very mild or
0:18:24.559,0:18:28.480
flavor reverse or their fruit flavors
and the problem with that is then they
0:18:28.480,0:18:31.039
get to the
age of six when or seven when they need
0:18:31.039,0:18:34.400
to start moving to an adult toothpaste
and they really struggle with that with
0:18:34.400,0:18:37.520
the taste because they’ve just never
they haven’t used it for six or seven
0:18:37.520,0:18:40.000
years so it’s
i think it’s actually better just to
0:18:40.000,0:18:44.240
start them very early
from an adult toothpaste and another
0:18:44.240,0:18:47.039
thing
to just point out is if you do not want
0:18:47.039,0:18:49.679
to use fluoride then that is a personal
choice
0:18:49.679,0:18:53.600
um we of course when you’re going to see
your dentist your dentist will have the
0:18:53.600,0:18:57.760
discussion about you with you about this
but if you choose not to then it’s even
0:18:57.760,0:19:02.880
more important that you see your dentist
regularly because those early signs of
0:19:02.880,0:19:06.240
cavities and decay
needs to be picked up before it becomes
0:19:06.240,0:19:10.960
a huge problem yes
and like you said if you’re against uh
0:19:10.960,0:19:14.640
fluoride then do let your dentist
be aware of these things as well because
0:19:14.640,0:19:19.360
sometimes offer
um to put fluoride varnish on your
0:19:19.360,0:19:22.640
child’s teeth
or sealants which also contain fluoride
0:19:22.640,0:19:25.679
so it’s important for them to know
what are your preferences and things as
0:19:25.679,0:19:30.160
well now cavities form not
just because we don’t brush our teeth
0:19:30.160,0:19:34.000
but cavities can form because of the
types of foods that we eat as well
0:19:34.000,0:19:38.400
now everybody thinks of sugar as sweets
and chocolates
0:19:38.400,0:19:42.240
um but there are so many foods that
actually have
0:19:42.240,0:19:46.799
sugar in them or have a form of sugar
that can impact your teeth
0:19:46.799,0:19:51.280
in negative way these this is what we
call hidden sugars
0:19:51.280,0:19:54.559
yeah i mean they’re in everything right
actually there’s
0:19:54.559,0:19:58.000
just basically there’s sugar in all our
foods so it’s not only
0:19:58.000,0:20:01.280
um it’s not only how many times a day
you’re eating
0:20:01.280,0:20:04.640
it’s what you’re eating as well they
make a really big difference in
0:20:04.640,0:20:08.000
the thing that is most surprising to
parents is fruit
0:20:08.000,0:20:11.919
actually so fruit has a lot of sugar in
and especially
0:20:11.919,0:20:16.640
dried fruit so we often and
i’m sure you’ll have seen this amaya
0:20:16.640,0:20:21.039
that children walk in with a
little packet of um raisins in their
0:20:21.039,0:20:24.400
hand or something like that and
they’re massively sticky aren’t they not
0:20:24.400,0:20:28.320
only do they stick to your children’s
teeth so you’ve got a lot more
0:20:28.320,0:20:33.120
um sugars available for those bacteria
to be um
0:20:33.120,0:20:37.200
eating on but also it’s just packed full
of sugar
0:20:37.200,0:20:41.360
and you don’t realize it’s a it’s quite
a harmful food so it’s much better to
0:20:41.360,0:20:43.520
have
with your main meal straight after or
0:20:43.520,0:20:45.919
before your main meal right yeah so
fruit
0:20:45.919,0:20:49.919
is definitely one of the biggest ones
because of course
0:20:49.919,0:20:53.600
you know fruits and vegetables are good
for you and so people
0:20:53.600,0:20:59.679
and parents opt to give their children
fruit as a snack um but being high in
0:20:59.679,0:21:03.919
sugar it can really
impact your teeth so like you said um
0:21:03.919,0:21:09.679
try and give them at meal times instead
of in between meals and then to try and
0:21:09.679,0:21:14.880
limit the sugary foods between meals so
we’re trying to stick to sugar-free or
0:21:14.880,0:21:18.559
things that are very low in sugar or
less available sugar
0:21:18.559,0:21:23.120
for your teeth in between meals so this
can get quite complicated
0:21:23.120,0:21:26.640
in terms of the biology and how it all
works but
0:21:26.640,0:21:29.679
all types of food will have some level
of sugar
0:21:29.679,0:21:33.360
now whether that’s a sugar that’s
available to your teeth to digest and
0:21:33.360,0:21:37.840
form into a cavity or that other forms
of sugar which is where
0:21:37.840,0:21:41.760
it gets into your tummy and then is
digested ideally you want to be giving
0:21:41.760,0:21:44.720
them foods
where the food is actually being
0:21:44.720,0:21:47.679
digested in the tummy and not
necessarily on their teeth and that will
0:21:47.679,0:21:52.720
limit the the chances that they can
or they will get cut cavities so some
0:21:52.720,0:21:59.520
examples of this type of food is nuts
cheese yogurt milk
0:21:59.520,0:22:05.120
um avocados it’s like an easy snack
carrot and hummus cucumber cucumber and
0:22:05.120,0:22:08.000
hummus sticks cucumber and hammer sticks
is another good one
0:22:08.000,0:22:14.640
um generally the thing to think of is if
the food is high in fat generally it’s
0:22:14.640,0:22:19.440
low in sugar
that’s a very general rule but
0:22:19.440,0:22:24.960
that’s generally what you’ll find the
other thing to be aware of is crisps
0:22:24.960,0:22:28.480
are sugary they add sugar to crisps a
lot of crisps
0:22:28.480,0:22:32.080
they’re now very child you can find some
brands that are actually child
0:22:32.080,0:22:35.600
friendly read the back of the pack make
sure they’re not adding sugar to the
0:22:35.600,0:22:37.840
pack if you look at a general sort of
adult
0:22:37.840,0:22:42.000
crisp packet or chips if you want to use
the american term
0:22:42.000,0:22:45.520
it will have sugar added there’s a lot
of hidden sugar in a lot of foods where
0:22:45.520,0:22:48.960
we would
we would expect it not to have sugar if
0:22:48.960,0:22:52.400
you actually read the pack there will be
sugar added to those foods
0:22:52.400,0:22:56.559
now we’re not saying don’t give your
children snacks of course children need
0:22:56.559,0:23:00.720
snacks they they survive of eating
little and often
0:23:00.720,0:23:05.679
so it’s your three main meals plus one
other sugary snack a day so you may
0:23:05.679,0:23:09.360
still use fruit
as a sugary snack so you might have your
0:23:09.360,0:23:12.320
breakfast
a fruit snack in the middle of the day
0:23:12.320,0:23:14.720
in the middle of the morning sorry and
then your lunch
0:23:14.720,0:23:18.720
then one other snack in the afternoon
might be cheese or yogurt and then in
0:23:18.720,0:23:22.640
the evening your dinner
and ideally that would be the ideal
0:23:22.640,0:23:27.360
spread of meals for a child
and that would range from like as soon
0:23:27.360,0:23:31.600
as they start eating
up until sort of adult really
0:23:31.600,0:23:37.200
we say four sugary attacks a day yeah
i mean it’s exactly it’s not only what
0:23:37.200,0:23:40.400
you’re eating so as you said
pretty much everything has got a certain
0:23:40.400,0:23:44.400
amount of sugar but obviously we cannot
stop eating or drinking that would be
0:23:44.400,0:23:48.559
completely opposite unhealthy as well
but we can limit what we’re eating and
0:23:48.559,0:23:52.799
the number of times a day
so for example if you do want to have
0:23:52.799,0:23:55.679
something
extra a little bit sweet and maybe you
0:23:55.679,0:23:58.159
don’t want to give it to your child at
snack time
0:23:58.159,0:24:02.000
give it just before after the main meal
because then it’s not as harmful to your
0:24:02.000,0:24:04.080
teeth you’re already actually eating
your main
0:24:04.080,0:24:07.600
meal so that slightly different sugar at
that point is not
0:24:07.600,0:24:11.440
as harmful we obviously wouldn’t avoid
that we wouldn’t advise this at every
0:24:11.440,0:24:13.679
meal time
but once in a while there’s nothing
0:24:13.679,0:24:17.760
wrong in that because obviously
you know you do need to have variation
0:24:17.760,0:24:21.600
in the diet it is
good to have um lots of different things
0:24:21.600,0:24:25.039
in the diet and it makes it easier for
yourself and the child
0:24:25.039,0:24:28.400
but yes try and limit the to the five
times a day
0:24:28.400,0:24:32.000
and drinks as well do be careful of
drinks sort of
0:24:32.000,0:24:38.240
squash juices
um carted drinks you really want to
0:24:38.240,0:24:43.440
avoid anything like this
i would advise sort of even until the
0:24:43.440,0:24:47.279
child is six years old avoid these
things if you can keep it to milk and
0:24:47.279,0:24:51.919
water it would be much better because
these actually have a lot of added sugar
0:24:51.919,0:24:55.840
yeah something to point out there so
natural fruit juice so if it’s
0:24:55.840,0:24:59.600
if it’s a blend of fruits that have just
been cold pressed
0:24:59.600,0:25:02.880
that’s still got sugar the sugars are
released as soon as the
0:25:02.880,0:25:07.440
the fruit is blended so even if they
haven’t added sugar there is still sugar
0:25:07.440,0:25:10.400
in that drink
the other thing to add is a lot of
0:25:10.400,0:25:14.559
marketing on
um fruit juices for children
0:25:14.559,0:25:19.200
says no added sugar that literally means
that they haven’t added any sugar to it
0:25:19.200,0:25:22.000
that doesn’t mean there’s no sugar in
the actual item itself
0:25:22.000,0:25:25.039
so there will be some naturally
occurring sugars in those as well
0:25:25.039,0:25:28.480
so i agree with you there so try and
limit them to meal times
0:25:28.480,0:25:33.360
only so i would say water only between
meals or milk if this if the child is
0:25:33.360,0:25:37.520
still drinking milk
and if you’re going to give them juice
0:25:37.520,0:25:41.120
or you want them to have a juice then at
meal times is the best time for them to
0:25:41.120,0:25:43.679
have it
now most people think that dentists are
0:25:43.679,0:25:47.360
really against sugar and snacks and
dessert and cakes
0:25:47.360,0:25:50.320
look there’s a time and place and as a
parent you decide whether you want your
0:25:50.320,0:25:53.679
child to have those things or not
we’re not here to say don’t give them
0:25:53.679,0:25:56.640
those things we’re just saying
just choose the right times to give
0:25:56.640,0:25:58.799
those things so give it after their
meals
0:25:58.799,0:26:02.559
don’t wait 30 40 minutes an hour after
their meal let them have it straight
0:26:02.559,0:26:05.600
after the meal as a dessert
that’s going to do less damage to their
0:26:05.600,0:26:11.440
teeth than if you let them
have like cakes as snacks or sweets as
0:26:11.440,0:26:14.480
snacks
so just we’re not here to preach and say
0:26:14.480,0:26:18.240
don’t give them sugar at all that’s a
personal choice as a parent
0:26:18.240,0:26:22.159
whether your child eats sugar or not is
up to you but just having them at
0:26:22.159,0:26:25.520
certain times in the day will definitely
cause less damage to their teeth
0:26:25.520,0:26:28.799
than if they were snacking on these
things throughout the day yes
0:26:28.799,0:26:33.120
and i mean if you’re going to give juice
which think carefully about it juice or
0:26:33.120,0:26:37.600
smoothies
try and limit to your portion about like
0:26:37.600,0:26:43.760
should be 150 mls is about one portion
try to limit that to just once a day
0:26:43.760,0:26:47.120
and um the other thing that just popped
into my head
0:26:47.120,0:26:50.559
while we’re talking about sugars
sugar-free medicines if your child is on
0:26:50.559,0:26:54.960
any medication please ask
your doctor or dentist to prescribe the
0:26:54.960,0:26:57.840
sugar-free version because they
generally are available
0:26:57.840,0:27:01.120
so sugar-free version is massively
helpful great job for remembering that
0:27:01.120,0:27:05.360
an idea because cal poly
and neurofen are like two things that we
0:27:05.360,0:27:07.760
use
um quite frequently especially when the
0:27:07.760,0:27:10.799
children are teething or when they’re
unwell especially when they’re young
0:27:10.799,0:27:13.279
because
they get sick quite a lot it reminded me
0:27:13.279,0:27:16.480
of honey as well honey
obviously it’s a it’s good for your
0:27:16.480,0:27:19.440
health and things like that
but again try and keep it to the main
0:27:19.440,0:27:22.159
meals and don’t necessarily sometimes we
see
0:27:22.159,0:27:27.520
um kids who would come into clinics
um with the dummy in the mouth or the
0:27:27.520,0:27:31.919
pacifiers it’s sometimes also called
you’d see people dipping it into honey
0:27:31.919,0:27:36.240
so just be careful of that because
it’s again very very sticky and it has a
0:27:36.240,0:27:40.480
lot of sugar yes it’s a natural
sugar do be careful of that try and keep
0:27:40.480,0:27:42.000
it with the main meals if they’re going
to happen
0:27:42.000,0:27:46.320
yeah just one thing to point out there
so a child is under one honey is not
0:27:46.320,0:27:49.600
recommended anyway because it can cause
botulism
0:27:49.600,0:27:54.080
so we are going on quite a long time
with teeth and you can see that you know
0:27:54.080,0:27:57.520
there’s a lot more to
um looking after teeth um than you may
0:27:57.520,0:28:01.360
have first imagined
we’re just gonna end this with briefly
0:28:01.360,0:28:07.679
with beakers cups bottles and dummies
as a brief overview this is probably and
0:28:07.679,0:28:11.440
actually is a topic in itself so we
won’t go into too much detail and we’ll
0:28:11.440,0:28:14.720
probably cover this as a separate
podcast in itself
0:28:14.720,0:28:19.200
but just to give you an overview the
advice is that
0:28:19.200,0:28:24.399
a dummy and a bottle source anything
that has a sucking motion
0:28:24.399,0:28:30.320
should be stopped by the age of one
now this is the advice i know it’s way
0:28:30.320,0:28:35.440
more difficult in practice
than it is in theory
0:28:35.440,0:28:39.919
but that’s the advice and so it’s good
to know what the gold standard should be
0:28:39.919,0:28:43.039
um and so you can make that decision of
whether
0:28:43.039,0:28:46.640
like you know it just should hopefully
will encourage you to move away from
0:28:46.640,0:28:50.480
that
sooner rather than later and
0:28:50.480,0:28:54.000
i’m sure an idea will explain why in a
second
0:28:54.000,0:28:58.000
having more experience in orthodontics
she’ll be able to tell you more detail
0:28:58.000,0:29:02.000
as to why when your child is sucking
from the pacifier the dummy
0:29:02.000,0:29:05.039
bottle it creates a suction motion right
and
0:29:05.039,0:29:08.559
that can obviously as your child is
growing their
0:29:08.559,0:29:12.399
facial structure is forming their jaw
bones
0:29:12.399,0:29:15.760
both top and bottom which are two
separate entities they’re forming
0:29:15.760,0:29:21.440
so it can almost um force your bone
and your teeth to go in a certain
0:29:21.440,0:29:24.880
direction
which means afterwards it can lead to
0:29:24.880,0:29:30.159
complications and
possibly they might need to wear braces
0:29:30.159,0:29:32.720
sometimes you can get slightly more
severe cases which
0:29:32.720,0:29:36.080
require slightly more invasive
treatments so if
0:29:36.080,0:29:39.679
if possible it’s better to avoid these
things um
0:29:39.679,0:29:44.960
i mean i would say that after six months
try if you’re if your child is using a
0:29:44.960,0:29:49.679
bottle after six months
try to move over to a free-flowing cup
0:29:49.679,0:29:54.240
it’s it’s much better and definitely
like you said discourage bottle feeding
0:29:54.240,0:29:56.799
from
12 months onwards it it’s quite
0:29:56.799,0:30:00.880
important because
we’re really forming at that stage you
0:30:00.880,0:30:04.399
you want to prevent problems later as
well i know it can be a lot easier at
0:30:04.399,0:30:07.520
this stage to just go with it
but honestly the problems that you can
0:30:07.520,0:30:11.200
face afterwards are much more severe and
significant so if you could just avoid
0:30:11.200,0:30:14.480
it in the first place
it’s much easier yeah that’s the same
0:30:14.480,0:30:16.880
with thumb sucking as well so that can
have a
0:30:16.880,0:30:20.320
similar impact it’s much more difficult
to get a child to stop
0:30:20.320,0:30:23.679
thumb sucking and we find that often
children will be
0:30:23.679,0:30:26.960
a much older age before they can stop
doing that
0:30:26.960,0:30:31.200
now i know some babies just start thumb
sucking without a sort of
0:30:31.200,0:30:34.399
it’s not an intervention by the parent
usually it’s often something that the
0:30:34.399,0:30:37.760
child does to self-settle
so if that happens speak to your dentist
0:30:37.760,0:30:42.480
they’ll give you advice on to
as to how to sort of discourage that
0:30:42.480,0:30:47.840
habit and maybe um help
support you in trying to stop that habit
0:30:47.840,0:30:50.000
there are things that you can buy on the
market that will
0:30:50.000,0:30:54.080
help but again that’s very sort of
specific to the individual
0:30:54.080,0:30:58.640
and it’s best to discuss that with the
dentist or with your regular dentist
0:30:58.640,0:31:02.000
another thing i’d like to point out is
we’re not saying that you can’t give
0:31:02.000,0:31:05.519
your child milk
it’s the actual the fact that you’d be
0:31:05.519,0:31:08.799
using a bottle
um to give them a milk so it’s the
0:31:08.799,0:31:13.039
sucking motion that causes the problem
we’re not really talking about milk here
0:31:13.039,0:31:17.360
um and so
yeah with with if they are drinking from
0:31:17.360,0:31:20.960
a bottle itself and not breastfeeding so
if they’re drinking from a bottle
0:31:20.960,0:31:28.000
then um you can buy these sort of um
transition bottles so the company nuk
0:31:28.000,0:31:32.960
nook um does a good transition bottle so
it’s been designed so that it
0:31:32.960,0:31:37.200
transitions them away from the sucking
motion into a free-flowing cup now often
0:31:37.200,0:31:40.399
what we find is children are very good
at drinking things like water from a
0:31:40.399,0:31:44.320
free-flowing beaker
or cup but then they really struggle to
0:31:44.320,0:31:47.760
drink milk from those kinds of things
just because i guess they’ve
0:31:47.760,0:31:51.039
created an affinity to a bottle or
they’ve created
0:31:51.039,0:31:54.880
they’ve associated the sucking motion
milk with the sucking motion
0:31:54.880,0:31:59.039
so it is more difficult in theory i mean
in practice sorry than in theory
0:31:59.039,0:32:02.640
so i do sort of understand where parents
will be struggling
0:32:02.640,0:32:06.480
with this and there’s not much in terms
of what we can do other than just try
0:32:06.480,0:32:09.200
and encourage
the change in habits and the sooner or
0:32:09.200,0:32:12.159
the earlier you can do it
the quicker your child will actually
0:32:12.159,0:32:15.679
transition into
the new habit because the the longer
0:32:15.679,0:32:19.279
they’ve been doing it the harder it will
be for them to transition out of
0:32:19.279,0:32:22.799
and that also just finally reminds me of
the fact that
0:32:22.799,0:32:26.640
water should be from so you can get
beakers which are free flowing
0:32:26.640,0:32:30.880
which means that if you tip the beaker
upside down the water should just
0:32:30.880,0:32:35.039
fall out that’s what you want anything
that stops the water from flowing out so
0:32:35.039,0:32:40.399
these non-spill
beakers that you can buy non-spill cups
0:32:40.399,0:32:44.880
are generally not free-flowing so
that will mean that your child will have
0:32:44.880,0:32:49.039
to suck to drink
um and again long-term use of a sucking
0:32:49.039,0:32:51.440
motion can
impact and also you just want them to
0:32:51.440,0:32:55.360
get used to a free-flowing cup
because the quicker they get used to
0:32:55.360,0:32:58.720
drinking from a cup
the easier it will be for you as well
0:32:58.720,0:33:01.760
yeah absolutely
i think that’s pretty much everything
0:33:01.760,0:33:06.159
i’ve just got yeah
totally i think um we didn’t really
0:33:06.159,0:33:11.360
touch on teething so much
and i think it may be good just to run
0:33:11.360,0:33:14.320
over that
for a few minutes before you need to
0:33:14.320,0:33:19.440
dash off yeah i mean
um that’s a you’ll have experience
0:33:19.440,0:33:24.080
as a mum regarding this my experience is
more from sort of a dental point of view
0:33:24.080,0:33:26.559
but obviously it can be quite
uncomfortable for the children you see
0:33:26.559,0:33:28.240
them
come into the clinic and they’ve got
0:33:28.240,0:33:31.679
their little red cheeks and they’re
salivating not sleeping as well
0:33:31.679,0:33:35.120
so that can be quite comfortable
uncomfortable but um
0:33:35.120,0:33:39.120
any sort of i use i do actually see a
lot of people at that point rubbing
0:33:39.120,0:33:41.440
honey and things over their children’s
gums
0:33:41.440,0:33:46.320
because that taste is it’s also a
distraction you can get special sort of
0:33:46.320,0:33:50.399
um toys and things like that which they
can have a little chew on
0:33:50.399,0:33:53.519
that just helps sort of it’s like
pressing onto
0:33:53.519,0:33:57.440
a bruise really sometimes it can ease
that discomfort in the short term
0:33:57.440,0:34:01.039
and i think it goes along the same sort
of psychology when when they apply
0:34:01.039,0:34:04.799
pressure to that area it can just give a
little bit of momentary relief
0:34:04.799,0:34:08.960
you can get medicated things as well
that you can apply on there which some
0:34:08.960,0:34:12.159
people i suppose
have found helpful but again try and
0:34:12.159,0:34:16.800
find um
a sugar-free um alternative did you find
0:34:16.800,0:34:19.520
with your daughter as well that any of
those actually helped
0:34:19.520,0:34:23.440
so what my experience with seeing
children in clinic and then
0:34:23.440,0:34:27.359
obviously friends that have had children
as well is that it does really vary from
0:34:27.359,0:34:31.440
child’s child as to how much
discomfort they will feel with teething
0:34:31.440,0:34:34.960
so some children will go through
teething and not have any
0:34:34.960,0:34:38.399
or the parents will not notice they
won’t notice much at all and then other
0:34:38.399,0:34:41.599
parents will have a lot of discomfort
or their child will have a lot of
0:34:41.599,0:34:44.240
discomfort with teething and my daughter
was
0:34:44.240,0:34:48.720
on definitely the other end where she
had quite a lot of discomfort with it so
0:34:48.720,0:34:52.480
the teething powders help it is very
temporary so you
0:34:52.480,0:34:56.399
what i found really helped was giving
using the teething powders just before
0:34:56.399,0:34:59.200
meal times
so it soothes the gums a little bit and
0:34:59.200,0:35:02.720
it just helps with
feeding so often children will go off
0:35:02.720,0:35:06.079
food when they’re teething
and it’s quite common for them not to
0:35:06.079,0:35:09.440
eat very well when they’re teething
that’s very very common in children it
0:35:09.440,0:35:13.200
happens when they’re
sick as well or when they’re going to
0:35:13.200,0:35:16.480
become sick so sometimes you might have
a couple of days of them not eating well
0:35:16.480,0:35:19.280
you just don’t know why
it’s often because they’re either going
0:35:19.280,0:35:23.920
to the teething or something
in terms of a bug might be coming up um
0:35:23.920,0:35:26.000
and so
healing powders really helped just
0:35:26.000,0:35:30.160
before meals and the other thing was on
the days that there was quite a lot of
0:35:30.160,0:35:34.240
discomfort
cal poly neurofen definitely for us some
0:35:34.240,0:35:39.440
children don’t need it
but really the painkiller was required
0:35:39.440,0:35:42.480
for us so we
tried not to give it too often and this
0:35:42.480,0:35:45.760
was more from a personal perspective
we generally used to give it just before
0:35:45.760,0:35:48.560
bed so she was a bit more comfortable
when she was going to sleep
0:35:48.560,0:35:51.760
um but again if you need to use it
during the day i guess that’s up to you
0:35:51.760,0:35:55.839
whether you want to use it
um carrot sticks or carrots are great
0:35:55.839,0:35:58.640
for chewing on
and because they’re quite hard and again
0:35:58.640,0:36:03.280
it can massage the gums
and some children like the teething toys
0:36:03.280,0:36:06.079
other children don’t so it’s a case of
just trying them
0:36:06.079,0:36:09.440
we tried about 15 20 teething toys she
didn’t like
0:36:09.440,0:36:13.280
any of them and the other thing that
really helps
0:36:13.280,0:36:17.440
is ice lollies or and i don’t mean the
ice lollies that you can buy
0:36:17.440,0:36:20.560
from the supermarket i mean making your
own at home so just freeze
0:36:20.560,0:36:23.680
some yogurt as well sometimes that helps
i’ve seen yeah
0:36:23.680,0:36:27.839
yeah freeze some yogurt freeze some milk
as well as an alternative so anything
0:36:27.839,0:36:31.839
that’s like sort of frozen
and but good for your baby will be great
0:36:31.839,0:36:34.960
for their gums because it will just
massage and cool the gums so it just has
0:36:34.960,0:36:37.200
that cooling effect which will help as
well
0:36:37.200,0:36:40.800
um so all of those things are things
that you can try the last thing that
0:36:40.800,0:36:44.240
comes to mind is you can buy ambisol and
ambersol
0:36:44.240,0:36:50.800
is a topical local anaesthetic it is
really good for numbing the gums but be
0:36:50.800,0:36:55.599
be aware that it is a local anesthetic
so you’re applying an anesthetic to
0:36:55.599,0:36:59.520
their gum so it will numb their gums and
it will settle the pain
0:36:59.520,0:37:03.520
it’s short term in that it’ll last about
30 to 40 minutes
0:37:03.520,0:37:07.280
but it is a local anesthetic so use it
sparingly and use it
0:37:07.280,0:37:11.440
only when and if yeah and if you want to
obviously get advice from your dentist
0:37:11.440,0:37:14.320
on how to apply it
where to apply it that that can
0:37:14.320,0:37:16.640
sometimes be helpful as well you could
take it long
0:37:16.640,0:37:19.839
to with you to the dentist and they
could actually apply it once so that you
0:37:19.839,0:37:22.240
can see
because like you said you don’t want to
0:37:22.240,0:37:26.000
be applying too much of that
um they will be licking it off as well
0:37:26.000,0:37:30.079
so they’re going to have a bit of a num
tongue for a little while
0:37:30.079,0:37:35.359
yeah totally so um nadia not the most
exciting topic to talk about i’m sure
0:37:35.359,0:37:40.960
you’ll agree
yeah very important and i hope it’s been
0:37:40.960,0:37:44.880
useful for the listeners and i hope
um it can really help and encourage them
0:37:44.880,0:37:48.800
to make some
changes or just to make changes and just
0:37:48.800,0:37:51.839
to help
guide them
0:37:58.800,0:38:02.320
don’t forget to share our episode if you
think it’s going to help one of your
0:38:02.320,0:38:05.599
other mama friends
and if you share it on instagram don’t
0:38:05.599,0:38:19.839
forget to tag us at
my mama
0:38:32.880,0:38:34.960
you
Find more blog posts here