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You may wonder what the best toothbrush for your kid is. Toothbrush choice for babies should not depend solely on color or design. Learn how to make the right choice for your child!
Baby toothbrushes
Teeth brushing for babies should start when the first milk tooth appears (around six months of age). In this way, you will avoid the appearance of cavities in the smallest. Of course, a baby who hasn’t come in yet won’t have the exact cleaning needs as a 6-year-old who has all come in. Age is an essential factor that should be considered in choosing a toothbrush. Manufacturers of oral hygiene products now offer a wide variety of toothbrushes that will be suitable for our babies.
You may often wonder what brush you should buy for your little ones under two years of age to start brushing their teeth. You may also wonder if anything is wrong with using a toothbrush for age older than the children.
What should baby toothbrushes look like?
- Compact with small head: A large head that doesn’t fit in the mouth of the baby is useless. They block the way rather than helps when moving around the teeth
- Ergonomic handle: the handle must be made so that the little one can grab it and so that you can hold it and direct it correctly.
- Soft bristles: the bristles must be very soft so that they do not hurt the gums or the delicate enamel of the child’s teeth.
These are the basic characteristics of a baby toothbrush
Tips to keep in mind when choosing a brush for your baby
When choosing a toothbrush for your baby, the first thing we must keep in mind is the security that the brush has passed all the quality controls. If in doubt, we can ask our dentist or pediatric dentist, since they have a lot of knowledge about the correct brushes on the market. Another option would be to buy electric toothbrushes with the seal of approval of a dental association. After this, you must take note of the following factors.
- Look at the size
All toothbrushes must reach the most difficult to access areas of the mouth. In the case of a baby, the right thing would be for the brush to have a small size and its head to have a medium size. On the contrary, when the child brushes his teeth, he will be unable to carry out all the necessary movements to clean the sides of the teeth.
- Pay attention to the type of bristles
most people choose to use a toothbrush with soft bristles. This is because hard brushes easily cause bleeding of the gums and damage the tooth and roots. In the case of a baby, the best brush should be with soft filaments and, at the same time, rounded heads.
- Long and thick handle
So that the child can hold the toothbrush firmly. When toothbrushes cannot be held firmly in hand, they can slide violently during brushing. Violent sliding of the brush can cause trauma to the gums and teeth.
Recommended standards for Babies toothbrushes
If you are unsure when choosing a toothbrush for your baby, it is best to go to the pediatric dentist. Pediatric dentistry classifies children’s toothbrushes according to their age.
We have brushes for children under three years old. Another class is the brushes for children between 3 and 6 years old and, finally, children between 6 and 12 years old.
Note that children’s toothbrushes should be changed every 3 to 4 months.
Likewise, toddlers under three years of age should have their mouth twice a day. It is recommended after breakfast and after dinner. In the case of nursing babies under six months, you should postpone using the toothbrush and toothpaste. Simply make use of damp gauze. From the age of three and up to six, our children must have developed a good habit of oral cleaning. In this case, parents have to be next to their children while they brush to ensure that they maintain a correct brushing technique.
Finally, when our children turn six years old, they should feel responsible for the hygiene of their mouths. Parents still have to supervise it. At this time, fluoride has to be present in toothpaste. In addition, brushing should be much longer to avoid forgetting any teeth, and you can start flossing.
The best manual toothbrushes for babies
Something essential for a toothbrush to be the best manual toothbrushes for children is that they have to be adapted to the age of each child. It is useless that a toothbrush is of color or light if it does not adapt to the child’s hand and mouth. As said earlier, for babies less than six months without teeth, options available are:
- Mouth cleaning with a damp gauze
- Mouth cleaning with a specific silicone thimble for babies
The important thing is to clean the gums from the beginning to avoid future problems.
As the child grows, the brush and brushing will also change. From the gauze or the thimble, we will go to their first brush. This will surely end up bitten in a few days. You must be very constant and establish a good routine so that they learn to handle the brush and use it after each meal.
Up to 6-7 years of age, it is recommended that parents review and review brushing since children’s motor skills are not good enough to assume that all their teeth have been brushed correctly and for the necessary time.
Are electric toothbrushes recommended for kids?
A child should learn first with a manual brush. They have to learn to move it around their teeth. Later, you can switch to an electric one if their dentist advises or the child prefers. What must be clear is that even being electric, the brushing movements have to be done the same. Being electric does not mean they have to pass it through their little teeth without further effort.
Therefore, the important thing is for them to learn to brush their teeth well and if it is manual or electric, take a back seat. It’s no use having 10,000 movements per second if they don’t know how to brush their teeth.