Yeah, It seems like a pretty common thing for a child’s fingers to find their way into a parents mouth. Sometimes my daughter just jams her hand in my mouth for no reason at all.
An hour ago I had no idea what caries were so did a little looking and from what I saw it is the combination of bacteria and food staying in the mouth too long that cause tooth decay. Sticky foods are worse so I suppose because candy is stickier than most food that it would be worse for the teeth.
One site suggested rinsing your child’s mouth with water after they have candy to dilute the residue left on the teeth. I’ll have to keep this in mind because I live in a pretty friendly neighborhood and the neighbors love to give my 2 1/2 year old daughter candy
I might be going way out on a limb here, feel free to rag me out as a Neurotic Overprotective Parent, you’re probably right, but I myself have always maintained a strict policy of never letting strangers lick my kid anywhere…
I know, I know, I’m opening the door to massive future trauma…
I might be going way out on a limb here, feel free to rag me out as a Neurotic Overprotective Parent, you’re probably right, but I myself have always maintained a strict policy of never letting strangers lick my kid anywhere…
I know, I know, I’m opening the door to massive future trauma…[/quote]
Wow! So I must have sneaked under the radar that time I stole a chip off her plate. Understandable I suppose, seeing as how you were so mesmerised by the men dressed in skirts.
Regarding toothbrushes, I recently bought a very soft, rubbery kind of brush with bristles on both the top and bottom, which my 20-month-old can actually use himself and brush his teeth. he also liked to chew on the traditional-type brush but we had a hard time getting to the top and bottom gum areas of his teeth. i have noticed a big difference in how clean his teeth are with this new brush. it is also much safer for toddlers.
also, our dentist says flossing and rinsing with mouth wash is more important than brushing with toothpaste, we floss our son’s teeth and he actually likes it.
and… apparently many people floss incorrectly and thus kill off their gums so it is important to have your dentist show you the right technique.
I gotta stop reading forums, I’m becoming more obsessive than ever.
Last night my wife and daughter were sharing a lollipop. I’m thinking that can’t be good at all, whether you stand on the sugar side of the fence or the communicable “caries” side.
I’ve read that you should floss your kids teeth every day, something that I admit I have not been doing, but have started. The regular string floss is pretty useless but now I use the floss picks and don’t have any trouble at all. She actually seems to like it.
Wendy,
I got the brush at a drugstore in JingMei. It’s called “QQ Intelligent Baby Brush”… there are others being sold online by Japanese and North American online baby stores.