The characteristic of infant and young children not more than 6 years old are as follows:

• Underdeveloped brain causes in adequate hand skills, that is why they can’t brush their teeth properly and they do not know the importance of oral health. Therefore parental aid in dental cleaning is essential for children below six years old.
• Balanced diet is necessary to ensure they obtain enough vitamins and minerals for the proper growth of teeth and jaw.
• They will experience the eruption on of milk teeth and mixed dentition when the permanent teeth start to erupt.

Nutrition

Children at this age need a lot of nutrition. Natural source of nutrition for babies would be breast milk. Breast milk contains the primary source of nutrition and an bodies that a baby needs. Moreover, it is easy to digest and can be easily absorbed into the baby’s body. Breast milk contains enzyme which is important for the development of teeth. Breast milk also contains less sugar therefore less harmful to baby’s teeth. When the mother breastfeeds her baby, she should let the baby sucks at both left and right side to prevent improper development of the baby’s face. A growing child must consume various types of vegetables, fruits, meat and egg. Children that are fussy with food can consume some nutritional supplements such as calcium and spirulina to prevent disrupted growth.

Avoid junk food

Children like to eat sugary junk food. Food that has high sugar content is bad for your child’s health and also cause tooth decay. Parents should avoid offering excessive sweets to their children. However, if it is inevitable, parents are suggested to limit the amount of sweets allowed weekly and to ensure their children brush their teeth each time after eating sweets.

Help your children to improve their oral health

Proper dental care is important and need to commence before tooth eruption. A mother should cleanse her baby’s gum and jaw by using sterilized gauze after each breastfeeding and feed her baby some water after meal in order to clean the oral cavity. When children reach 3 years old, parents can start teaching them the correct brushing technique and making it a regular habit for them. It is better for the mother to personally brush her child’s teeth once a week to ensure thorough cleaning.

Regular dental checkups to ensure good oral health

Your children should have a proper dental examination when their first tooth erupts. Regular visits to the dentist every three months are essential for your child’s dental well-being. Regular visits to the dentist are to identify, diagnose your child’s dental problems at an early stage and to give treatment as early as possible. Topical Fluoride is sometimes applied on teeth which are susceptible to decay. Normally this is not necessary as our country has fluoridated water.

The chewing surfaces of your child’s permanent molars are most vulnerable to decay. A popular and effective way to protect them is to seal the uneven biting surfaces with a sealant.

Beware of children swallowing toothpaste

Parents have to make sure their child understands that toothpaste should not be swallowed, because ingesting too much fluoride may lead to fluorosis. This is not healthy and can cause discoloration of the developing permanent teeth. For young children under three, you need to choose fluoride freetoothpaste that is specially formulated for children or do not use toothpaste at all. In fact, your child only needs to use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste so that they will not swallow too much toothpaste.

Above are some tips of proper dental care. You need to care for your children’s teeth and gums from young as you will beestablishing a healthy routine right away. It is important for parents to learn the correct information on how to help their children achieve good oral health. There is a saying:” The naïve would perish.” It is important to seek true and pure wisdom every day. It is dangerous to think you know everything. May God bless you all.