Pediatric dentistry

Around 6 months after birth, when your baby’s cute first baby tooth (a lower front tooth) starts to come in, is the best time for a first visit. Rather than full brushing, we start with “practice getting used to having the mouth touched” and “advice for parents on the correct care method,” aiming for your child to be ready for smooth brushing by the time weaning ends.

Ideally, “after every meal,” but demanding perfection from a young child right from the start isn’t easy and just creates stress for both parent and child. Start by building the habit of doing a good, thorough job brushing at least once, before bed, when cavity-causing bacteria multiply most easily, then gradually work up to morning and night, and eventually after every meal. There’s no need to rush — what matters is keeping it up in a way that’s enjoyable.

Having the parent sit on the floor or a sofa, with the child lying on their back with their head resting on the parent’s lap — the “lap brushing” position — gives the clearest view inside the mouth and is the safest. Hold the toothbrush lightly, as you would a pen (pen grip), guard the upper lip’s frenulum with a finger of your other hand, and brush with small, gentle movements of the bristle tips.

They are the “grooves of the molars,” which the bristle tips struggle to reach, and the “spaces between teeth,” where teeth sit tightly against each other. Both spots are highly prone to cavities, so check them carefully during follow-up brushing, and consider using children’s dental floss where needed.

The early years of elementary school, when children become more independent, is exactly when they want to brush on their own — but at this stage their wrist movements aren’t skilled enough yet, and they often miss a lot of spots. It is also a complex period when baby teeth and adult teeth coexist, so to protect those precious adult teeth, we recommend that parents keep up a “final check and follow-up brushing” until around age 10 (4th grade of elementary school) if possible.

The “terrible twos” phase around age two to three is a big hurdle many mothers face. At this stage, what matters more than removing every last bit of plaque is not leaving your child with the trauma of thinking “brushing = scary, painful, getting scolded.” Try preparing a few toothbrushes with characters your child likes and letting them choose “which one today?”, or finishing quickly while singing a cheerful song — get creative, like extending a game. And once you’re done, don’t forget to praise them generously!

Breast milk itself is not a direct cause of cavities, but if your child has a habit of “falling asleep while breastfeeding,” sugar stays in the mouth for a long time and the risk of cavities becomes very high (bottle caries). If your child “can’t fall asleep without nursing,” try getting them more physically active during the day, for example at a park, to adjust their daily rhythm so they can fall asleep naturally, or have them drink some water or barley tea before bed to rinse out the mouth. If you’re concerned, we can also strengthen the teeth with fluoride application here — please feel free to consult us at any time.

Actually, having a certain amount of space (developmental spacing) during the baby-tooth stage is a very healthy, normal condition! Since the adult teeth that will come in next are slightly larger than baby teeth, without these spaces there wouldn’t be enough room for the adult teeth to line up, which makes crowded, crooked teeth more likely. So there’s no need to rush into orthodontic treatment just because of gaps between baby teeth. It’s the opposite case — “teeth packed in tightly with no space at all” — that calls for more attention to future tooth alignment.

Please feel free to raise any concerns with us. A baby tooth and the adult tooth waiting inside the jawbone are completely separate, independent teeth, so nerve removal on a baby tooth has almost no adverse effect on the adult tooth. On the contrary, leaving a cavity that has reached the nerve untreated, letting pus build up at the root tip, can risk discoloration or an irregular shape in the adult tooth forming underneath. That is why it is important to carry out nerve treatment appropriately when it is needed.

Absolutely not! Leaving a cavity in a baby tooth untreated causes severe pain that keeps your child from eating properly, harming their healthy growth and jaw development. What’s more, in a mouth full of cavity-causing bacteria, a newly erupted adult tooth can quickly become infected and decay too. Also, if a baby tooth crumbles and falls out too early, the neighboring teeth tilt into the gap, leaving no room for the adult tooth to come in — which can also cause serious misalignment later on. Rather than dismissing it with “it’ll fall out anyway,” please think of baby teeth as “an important guide that leads the adult teeth you’ll use for a lifetime into the right position,” and treat cavities in baby teeth properly.