MyChildHealth » Dental

Fluoride for Childrens’ Teeth

admin — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:18:57 +0000

Fluoride mineral is essential for healthy teeth. It is necessary that the right quantity of fluoride be administered to children. Both too much fluoride and inadequate quantity of fluoride is bad for the health of the child. Excess of fluoride, if administered to the child, could result in chalky spots on the teeth or improper enamel formation on teeth. In addition to damage to teeth excess of fluoride could result in weight loss, brittle bones and anemia. Consumption of excess of fluoride for a longer time could also aid in development of cancer and fractured hips. One can conclude that a balanced amount of fluoride will aid in development of healthy teeth.

Fluoride requirements for kids

Generally some fluoride is present in the water supplied by the water supply department to households. Kids need fluoride starting at the age of 6 months to 16 years. Even pregnant women are advised to take fluoride supplement from sixth month of gestation to ensure strong teeth development as the child grows up. Correct additional dose required for the kids can be calculated only after ascertaining the quantity present in tap supply. Some fluoride is also present in bottled water but it is not sufficient to prevent tooth decay. The correct ratio of presence of fluoride in tap water should be from 0.7 to 1.2 parts of fluoride per one million parts of water.

In case the child lives in an area where the water does not contain fluorides in it or drinks bottled water or from water purifiers installed at home which removes minerals supplementary dose will be needed to be administered. The dentist is the right person to be consulted in this regard. Fluoride supplemented tooth pastes can help eradicate fluoride deficiency. As a general rule:

Kids below the age of two should not use tooth paste with fluoride unless advised by the doctor.
Kids below the age of six should be properly supervised while brushing the teeth using fluoride tooth paste as they tend to consume too much paste.
Not more than pea size fluoride tooth paste should be given to the children for brushing teeth.
Fluoride supplemented mouth wash should never be given to the kids up to ten years of age. For older kids this may be used with the permission of the dentist.

Your family dentist who has the history of tooth health of the family is the best person to suggest use of supplements.

Is fluoride safe for children?

In case of excess intake of fluoride during short period of time may lead to fluoride toxicity. This is not a serious problem but may lead to hospitalisation for a short duration or even admission to the emergency room. Main symptoms of fluoride toxicity are:

Diarrhea
Vomiting
Pain in abdomen region
Excessive thirst
Increase in salivation

The symptoms start to appear within 30 minutes of consumption of fluorides and continue for 24 hours. It is essential to keep the fluoride supplements including tooth paste and mouth wash containing fluoride away from the reach of the kids.

Fluoride for Childrens’ Teeth is a post from: MyChildHealth

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Home Remedies For Teething Babies

admin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:36:32 +0000

Teething is a major developmental step in the life of a growing baby. It starts earliest in 3 months of age and before 12 months. The time varies in different babies. But the fact is that the formation starts in womb. For some babies teething is so easy that one day suddenly you see a little shining tooth in your baby’s mouth. But for others it becomes punishment. So many health problems the baby has to face swollen, red gums, rashes in lips and chins, pain and irritation in gums, diarrhea, vomiting, fever etc. Many natural and home remedies for teething babies are effective.

In both the cases, either the baby is suffering or not a little irritation is seen. If there is no physical problem nevertheless the baby cries because he/she gets scared of the changes he/she feels inside them. In this case try to distract attention of the baby. Give the baby any toy to play. Walk outside the room. Play a music or song. Thus try to focus the baby’s attention in something else. Keep the baby wrapped to provide warmth and so to give comfort to the baby.

For a quick relief a gentle massage of the gum is also a good remedy. Wash your hand properly, and then give a gentle massage on the gums with your finger. This will soothe the pain and irritation of the gums. There are tinny pills for natural teething in market, which readily dissolves in the baby’s mouth and provides relief in inflammation.

Teething rings can provide relief and also distract his/her attention. Chewing the ring soothes the irritation of gums. Different types of teething rings are in market. Choose the safest one with blunt edges and not too small that the baby can swallow it. Some rubber rings are filled with liquid to make it squeeze.

More preferable is to give the baby a properly washed, damp cloth to chew. For a much better effect cool it in refrigerator. Its cooling effect will numb the gums for some times.

Often adults use clove oil for their gums problem. Same remedy can be applied for babies too but with some precautions. Never apply pure concentrated clove oil on baby’s gum as it can cause blisters. Take few drops of quality clove oil and dilute it in almond oil or any good edible oil. Rub it gently on the gums of the baby. But take care that its much quantity can upset his/her stomach. In homeopathic there are also medicines which help in natural teething.

Home Remedies For Teething Babies is a post from: MyChildHealth

Baby Teething Or Ear Infection

admin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:33:50 +0000

Teething of babies is a developmental milestone. It’s a natural but troublesome process. There are 20 teeth in the total set of milk teeth. It takes 2-3 years to come out all the 20 teeth. Initial time of teething is difficult. Due to pain and irritation the baby has tendency of biting everything and pulls his/her ears. Crying and fussy, disturbed sleeping pattern, slight fever, refusing feeding are the symptoms of teething. But tugging and pulling of ears are common symptoms of teething and ear infection. So its important to be sure whether its ear infection or teething. For ear infection proper medical check up is needed.

Parents will have to understand the difference between the symptoms of teething and ear infection. Baby can’t express and symptoms are very similar so carefully watch little differences. When it is ear infection baby refuses to feed, pulls ears, highly irritable ears, but almost all these symptoms are of teething also. If it is teething as well as ear infection, baby may suffer from high fever. Due to pain and discomfort baby cries and fussy all the time. But in case of teething baby only cries when teething pain arises. Only slight fever is seen and never high fever in case of teething. The chance of getting ear infection increases, if the baby has recently suffered from cold. Fluid is formed in ears and discharges out. This can affect the hearing ability temporarily. In this case the baby should be checked up by doctor immediately.

Teething doesn’t cause much discomfort. To soothe simple home remedies are available. Give teething ring to bite. Refrigerated wash cloth chewing will also provide relief. You can give chilled banana to eat. Its cool effect will numb the gums for sometimes. Massage gently the gums with your washed finger. Diluted clove oil can be applied on the gums. These remedies will comfort the baby.

Why ear is affected in teething, how these are connected? Jaw muscles and ear are close. So pull in jaw muscles affects ear. Pain of gums spread up to ears and cheeks.

There is nothing to do for mild ear infection. It resolves on its own. No drug is required. For relief warm compress can be given on the ear. Without doctor’s prescription don’t apply any drop or ointment. In case of high fever, it must be treated by doctor. For the babies under 6 months doctors don’t prescribe antibiotics. Now the doctor will decide how to treat high fever.

Generally ear infection is caused by cold, flu or any allergy. So its better to take precautionary measures to prevent the baby from getting cold. Even then if the baby gets infected, don’t take it easy and checked it up as soon as possible.

Baby Teething Or Ear Infection is a post from: MyChildHealth

Does Teething Cause Fever In Babies?

admin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:46:00 +0000

The baby is crying excessively, rubbing nose and ears, slight fever, doesn’t sleep whole night and not even let you too. Is the baby between 3 months to 12 months of age? It may be teething problem. Check the gums of the baby. Is it red swollen accompanied with diarrhea, cough and slight fever? The symptoms are of teething. Due to pain and irritation in gums, the baby wants to chew everything whatever he/she gets. Even his/her thumb or fingers. Pressing over the gums gives relief from pain. Painful gums with fever makes the baby fussy and sleepless. Slight fever is a normal symptom, however high fever with diarrhea shouldn’t be neglected.

Does teething cause fever in babies is a common question in mind of every parent. Low grade fever during teething may be due to ear infection. New teeth ready to break out of the gums create pressure on the baby’s ear canal and sinus cavities. Due to this pressure in the tender ear of the baby, infection is stimulated. Fluid gets filled in ear canal, which causes bacterial infection in ear. The baby suffers from fever because of the infection. High fever is not a normal phenomenon. It should be checked with doctor. Some health problems like pain in gums, slight fever and diarrhea is associated with teething. But the problem should not last more than 1 or 2 days, otherwise treatment is necessary.

To soothe the baby from gum’s irritation give him/her teething ring. Teething rings are made up of soft plastic and liquid is filled inside it, which makes it soft. Chewing it provides relief to the baby. Wet it in cold water or ice. Its cooling effect will soothe the baby even more. It will provide relief in the inflammation of gums. Chill a banana in refrigerator and give a slice of it to the baby to eat. Any cooling effect on the gums will soothe the baby. You can give a properly washed carrot also to chew. These pressures over the gums will relief in the baby’s gum irritation. But don’t give any small object to chew otherwise the baby can swallow it and it will be very dangerous.

If the weather allows, bathe the baby in lukewarm water to ease the body pain. If the weather is too cold, just give a sponge bath to the baby. Water should not be too hot or too cold. Clothing should be comfortable according to weather.

First of all the parents will have to recognize the symptoms whether the problem is related to teething or its anything else. High fever is not due to teething. It may be due to viral or bacterial infection, which must be treated by pediatrician.

Does Teething Cause Fever In Babies? is a post from: MyChildHealth

Teething And Diarrhea In Infants

admin — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 04:49:58 +0000

Teething is a developmental step of a baby, which brings about many health problems with it. It’s a general conception since long that during this period the baby suffers from diarrhea and vomiting. But its true that baby doesn’t seems cheerful and jolly these days. But the symptoms are not directly related with teething.

Babies get their first teeth between the ages of 3 months to 12 months. When the teeth are trying to come out, gums become tender and swollen, which causes irritation and inflammation. Therefore the baby cries excessively and becomes cranky and fussy. To get rid of irritation the baby chews everything, whatever in his/her hand, even his/her own thumb or finger. Due to which too much saliva is produced. Immediate effect of saliva is that the baby feels cool and relieved for few moments.

Side effects of teething in infants are diarrhea, vomiting, fever, running nose, congestion, sleep disorder etc. But are these symptoms really related with teething or its only a myth? Let’s go inside the real cause of the problem.

People have misconception that due to excessive swallowing of saliva by the baby causes his/her stool to loosen and stimulates bowel to move, thus causes diarrhea. But this theory is not scientifically accepted. The reason is something else. Vomiting and diarrhea in babies teething is not directly related, in fact these are the symptoms of infection from outside of the body.

The baby gets immunity from his mother inside womb and after birth from breast milk. But after sometime the gifted immunity from mother becomes insufficient and the baby has to develop his own. This time the baby has lowest level of immunity, until he develops it’s own. So becomes easy prey of infection. When the baby chews toys, thumb or anything else, swallows bacteria or virus present on its surface. The baby’s immune system can’t fight with these and get infected. The result is diarrhea and vomiting.

Fever and running nose is caused by inflammation of gums. Bacteria and acids passed out with stool causes bottom rashes. All these problems make the toddler fussy and crying excessively.

Proper feeding and supplement of vitamin and calcium should be given to make the immune system stronger, so that the baby can fight with the attack of bacteria and viruses.

To soothe the baby from irritation of gums, rub the gums gently with your properly washed fingers. You can give the baby something to chew, like carrot, a rubber ball etc. But wash it properly before giving it to the baby.

The baby should be given something to eat which controls the symptoms of diarrhea, like banana, rice etc. Avoid the food items which can aggravate diarrhea, like apricot, peaches etc. If diarrhea and vomiting is not in control, consult your pediatrician.

So as it is said that diarrhea and vomiting is caused by teething, is totally wrong. In this article we have gone through the actual reasons. So when these symptoms appear, consult your doctor.

Teething And Diarrhea In Infants is a post from: MyChildHealth

Preparing Your Child For Dental Braces

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 13:44:35 +0000

Any medical procedure is frightening for a child. Coupled with this is a fear of the unknown. The fitting of dental braces is one such medical attention a child may require at a young age. The earlier crooked and uneven teeth are corrected the better the result. The child will have a beautiful smile before he is a teenager, an age when he will be conscious of his appearance and want to look his best.

The fitting of teeth braces is not a painful process but is an uncomfortable one. Parents can prepare their child by explaining the procedure to him. He can be shown a video, if available, or the help of internet can be taken where graphic descriptions are presented.

Patiently listen to the child’s fears and concerns and do your best to alleviate them. Answer any questions he may have to the best of your knowledge. Do not try to bypass the fact that the child will have to spend a lot of time with his mouth open while the dentist goes about his work, and that the braces will have to be worn for a long period. His trust in you will increase as he will realise that you state facts correctly and do not push uncomfortable things under the carpet.

To counter this, enlist the help of friends and relatives who have worn dental braces and introduce him to the children around you who are using braces. They will be able to share their experiences and when your child sees that he is not the lone one undergoing this process, he will be comforted. You can show him pictures of teen movie stars and other celebrities who have worn braces.

List out the positive aspects of well aligned teeth. Less place for the bacteria to hide, healthier teeth and improvement in looks are some of them. This will give him encouragement when the dentist takes impressions by shaping wet plaster around the upper and lower teeth. The fitting of the actual braces can take up the better part of two hours so the child’s attention can be diverted by video or TV viewing.

Since you will have explained all the steps to him he will be less anxious but a sympathetic doctor and attendant will always help. Take the child out for a treat later. Extra care will have to be taken to brush, floss and rinse teeth properly. To keep the area around the braces clean, extra effort will be required. This will pay off in about two year’s time when the braces come off.

Preparing Your Child For Dental Braces is a post from: MyChildHealth

Causes Of Bad Breath In Children

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 06:54:18 +0000

Oral hygiene is very important for all. If you take care of your teeth, it is helpful for you to keep your heart in the pink. Bad breath is a well-known problem that affects persons belonging to any age group. Sometimes you must have had experience of talking to those whose mouths stink while they have a smile on their face. Such persons are advised to drink plenty of water at regular intervals to overcome this problem.

This problem not only affects adults but children also. Actually, children are the easy targets of this disease because children don’t think before eating things. They eat whatever they like at any time. Children even avoid brushing their teeth before going to bed. So if your child is also a victim of this disease, don’t create panic. It is not that this condition cannot be avoided. By taking some preventing steps, you can free your child from the clutches of bad breath.

It is your duty to educate your child regarding healthy habits of eating and cleaning. What you have to do is to advise him to take care of his mouth and teeth in an appropriate way. Ice creams, chocolates, candies, junk food and sweets are a center of attention for children. This food generates germs in their mouth and due to bacterial activities in mouth, nose and teeth, children face the problem of bad breath.

Once bacteria attack your child’s mouth, they tend to spread very fast and cause pain in teeth. Healthy habits and good exercise of teeth is very essential to counter the attack of bacteria. Before going to doctor you can try some homely treatments. You can give your child sugar free chewing gum to chew, or you can guide him to eat corn in good quantity.

There are many other causes of bad breath, which every individual must know. Allergy, cold, temperature, etc. can also cause bad breath. Some children have the habit of trapping some food particles at the backside of their teeth. If this food remains in their mouth for a considerable period, it creates a ground for bacteria to play their toxic role. Make sure that your child does brush his teeth before going to sleep. When our body is suffering with any disease or allergy, our mouth turns out to be dry and in a dry mouth suit bacteria very much.

Sometimes a small particle in the air gets stuck in the child’s nose. It creates infection and becomes the cause of bad breath. Sometimes our toothbrush is not of good quality. Toothbrush should be of soft nature for a child up to the age of 8 years and after this age, children should use medium natured toothbrush.

Drink water in good quantity and also guide your baby to do the same. Your child not only needs your care and love but also your wisdom too.

Causes Of Bad Breath In Children is a post from: MyChildHealth

How To Deal With Children With Special Needs?

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 11:31:07 +0000

Children who face developmental difficulties have to struggle with the condition when there is no proper correspondence between their mind and body. This condition also becomes a challenge for those who look after such children. A number of special need children may be violent because they don’t know the right method to express what they feel or need. Some may suffer from some hearing problem or may not be physically able to do all things – which a normal child can do with ease.

Whatever be the cause of problem, but as a parent, teacher or a caretaker it is very important that while dealing with these children, you take resort to lot of calmness and thoughtfulness. Some people are of the view that these special need children are not good for anything. This is a totally wrong view because these children deserve the same panorama of life like any normal child. He has the right to play, read, and enjoy the things or to do whatever he is capable of.

It’s not an easy task to care of a child with disability. Brain is the main running part of our body. It controls the things in an accurate manner. If it starts working erroneously, it is easier said than done to carry things in appropriate manner and to finish the tasks.

If you are dealing with a child of some physical disability, provide him a room where everything is well set. His chair, his table, his bed and cupboard should be organized according to his convenience. If the child is unable to listen, the teacher can make him sit closer to him. Parents and teachers should use sign language books to understand such children. Pictures and videos can also be used.

Music is the diet of mind and heart. Pleasant sounding selections can help special needs children to get emotional control to a considerable degree. Teachers and parents should highlight on equilibrium and smooth actions to teach self-regulation to such children. Many books and toys are easily accessible in the market that relate to different kinds of disabilities. It is enormously constructive if we educate parents and our society that these children can do significant things and can touch new heights if we cooperate with their special needs.

It is the prime duty of teachers and parents to lay great focus on the physical, social, mental and emotional growth of a special child. They should provide opportunities to regulate their muscles through special games designed for them. They should motivate a special needs child to increase his muscle control, emotional control and his strength by practicing yoga and gross motor activities.

It is a must for parents to always keep in touch with a specialist in case. God has given them responsibility of nurturing a special child. By using all-inclusive fitness programs, you can inculcate confidence in the special needs child and help him march forward in a constructive direction.

How To Deal With Children With Special Needs? is a post from: MyChildHealth

Early teething in babies

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 04:25:34 +0000

A baby who is taking breast-feed is a matter of great concern for the mother. If this baby starts teething, he can become even trying for his loving mother, as babies often tend to bite hard on the nipples at the time of sucking milk. The mother usually experiences great pain and sometimes even suffers from sore and bleeding nipples. Let’s discuss some methods to be safe from such a situation.

Baby early teething signs

It is a common experience that babies tend to bite at the end of the feeding session. They become tired of sucking so resort to some other thing. You, as a mother, can judge as to when your baby has slowed down his sucking speed considerably. Then, you should detach your baby from the nipple by putting a finger in the baby’s mouth so that the baby does not feel any discomfort. The finger will open his mouth with ease. If you try to pull out your nipple you may get a very hard bite at it.

How to relief teething gums ?

Babies also tend to bite because they have sore gums. So, you should give teething rings or toys to your baby frequently so that he eases himself out. It’s better to keep the toys in the freezer because the sensation of cold actually relieves your baby of the pain from sore gums. Avoid, those rings that contain water as they may get punctured by our baby’s newly emerging teeth.

Ice creams, pieces of ice, Popsicles etc. produce cold sensation in the mouth of the baby and reduce the soreness as well as the tendency to bite. Actually, the gums become temporarily numbed and hence the soreness vanishes.

You can even rub the gums of your baby with a cold cloth. Make sure that the cloth is clean and hygienic. A frozen cloth is also a good alternative, as babies like to bite on this manageable thing. Mothers also like this method very much as it is quite manageable both for the mother as well as the baby.

You must also keep in mind that during teething babies tend to avoid taking feed frequently because the sore gums and the pain that results thereof grip their attention. This is not something unnatural or worrisome and you should not try to force your baby in taking feed.

Even if you are trying all the above methods and still your baby is not responding to them, you should allow time to heal the soreness of the gums. You should also resort to expressing your milk as the baby is not interested in it and you have to save yourself from engorgement of your breasts for the benefit and future nurturing of the baby.

Treatment with teething gels and tablets

Various teething gels like Dentinox and Bonjela are quite effective at easing the painful gums of your baby. Apply them before feeding your baby. Similarly, some tablets that readily dissolve in the baby’s mouth also help a lot in this regard.

Early teething in babies is a post from: MyChildHealth

What Is Baby Bottle Tooth Decay ?

admin — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:38:19 +0000

Infants and toddlers often fall prey to the baby bottle tooth decay. This type of tooth decay hurts a lot and is a cause of much discomfort to the baby. In its initial stage it appears in the form of cavities in the baby’s four front teeth. It’s just an indication as the cavities can be present elsewhere also. With the passage of time cavities start appearing near the gum line and eventually the teeth get decayed so much that they become brown in colour.

Problems arising out of tooth decay

Various emotional and physical problems confront the child. The child does not look pretty and handsome to look at (especially while smiling or laughing) and may develop inferiority complex or low self-esteem. Baby teeth also reserve the space for adult teeth. If some of these teeth get decayed, their place may be occupied by other baby teeth. Thus, no space would be left out for the adult teeth to grow.

Causes of baby bottle tooth decay

It usually occurs when the child falls asleep with the bottle in his mouth and the bottle contains any other liquid except water. This can also be caused if the mother and the baby sleep during feeding. Actually what happens is that when a baby sleeps with bottle in his mouth, his mouth contains a small amount of milk or feed for the whole night. This results in the overgrowth of bacteria that are naturally present on the plaque. The bacteria produce various types of acids as a result of their digestive system. These acids gradually erode your baby’s teeth. The sugar in the feed is the main culprit and it may also lead to gingivitis or periodontal disease.

Prevention and Treatment

Never allow your baby to sleep with the feed bottle in his mouth. If the baby insists a lot, fill his bottle with simple water. Else, don’t allow the baby to sleep for 20-25 minutes after his nighttime feed.

Also don’t allow the child to keep on sucking at the bottle all the daylong. This is only a bad habit and is not linked to the nourishment of the child.

Clean the gums of your baby with a clean cloth after every feed and brush his teeth daily with soft and quality baby tooth brush.

You should get fluoride free toothpaste for this purpose, as it is safe for your baby. It’s best if you brush your baby’s teeth twice, once in the morning and second time before he falls asleep at night.

When your child grows and is able to brush his teeth, always use a toothpaste having fluoride. Even give supplements to your child like vitamin supplements, so that he gets his daily requirement of fluoride. Always consult your doctor before giving such supplements.

Don’t allow your child to stick to bottle feed even when he has grown up. You can use a sippy cup at that time. Don’t be careless as regards the dental health of your child and keep on paying regular visits to your dentist.

What Is Baby Bottle Tooth Decay ? is a post from: MyChildHealth