> Date:    Mon, 22 Jul 1996 19:38:52 -0400
> From:    Susan Smylie <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: dentist--HELP
>
> She needs suggestions for keeping her son's mouth clean and for trying to
> reduce his nursing.

Dear Susan,

        Has this mother tried actually using a toddler toothbrush?  With
both my kids (who nursed frequently at night), I first used soft cloths
to clean their mouths from 6 months to 12 months, then at 12 months I
started using toothbrushes (without toothpaste or with a extremely minimal
amount of Tom's children's toothpastes).  We would make a game of it,
singing 'ah' on some musical note for open mouths, and 'ee' for brushing
the front of the teeth (I happen to be a professional singer as well as
programmer so making this a sing-song game was natural for me).  I would
get those silly cartoon toothbrushes, sometimes that the child chose
him/herself.  I also would state, 'let's get those germies out of there,
horsies, Barneys, Baby Bops,' whatever, to make a game of catching all the
critters that live inside our mouths.  Just this morning, my now
3-year-old, wanted me to brush his teeth and he automatically sang 'ah'
on opening his mouth!

        We brush our kid's teeth morning and night, and actually floss
the close-together ones once a day, as well.  This mother just has to
make a game of it, somehow.  And after a while, the kids don't mind and
find it a pleasant part of the morning/evening/afterlunch cleaning
rituals.  I would suggest she try it 3 times a day (I'm not a dentist,
but that seems like a good goal considering the child's current problems).

One thing I remember reading (can't remember where) was that when you
nurse at night, try to have the child roll over after nursing so that he
will automatically swallow, which releases saliva into his mouth which
will naturally cleanse the mouth to a certain extent (maybe I got this
from Dr. Sears' somewhere?).  I remember up to age two, I really did try
to do this with both kids, as well as the cleaning/brushing twice a day.

As far as dentists go, perhaps check with a good dental school faculty
practice (there's one here at the Harvard Dental School).  Maybe they'd
have some ideas on specialists for this problem.

Good luck!
                                ,,^,,
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Janna M. Frelich                             [log in to unmask]
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