A Healthy Baby Has a Healthy Mouth
If you have cavity-causing germs in your mouth, you can easily pass those to your baby. Sharing utensils, cleaning a pacifier with your mouth or other activities that share saliva can pass germs that could cause problems for your baby’s earliest teeth. Click on a card below (English left, Spanish right) to read more about how to keep your baby's mouth healthy.
Make Sure Your Child Has a Lifetime of Healthy Smiles
Think baby teeth don’t count? They do. If infected, they can have a big impact on your child’s overall health and set the stage for infection, pain and unhealthy tooth loss in their childhood years.
Tooth decay is the most chronic childhood disease in the U.S.—five times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever. Two out of every ten kids aged two to three years old have a tooth with an untreated cavity. Yet tooth decay is nearly 100% preventable.
A child’s teeth are affected by many things, including what they eat, if they use a pacifier, and the oral health of the parents. Children who fall asleep with a bottle or drink high sugar beverages may be more at risk for tooth decay. Parents with tooth decay can pass along harmful bacteria to their children by sharing a spoon or cleaning a pacifier with their mouth.
The American Association of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that children see a dentist by their first birthday. The dentist will check for potential problems, oral growth development, and evaluate if fluoride treatment is necessary. Parents can also ask questions about teething, bottles, pacifiers and thumb sucking. A dentist can recommend treatments if your child is at risk so he/she won't suffer from the pain of infections later in life.
A pediatric dentist is often a good choice for a first dental visit, but many general dentists are experienced with young children as well. Click here to find an oral health provider for your child.