A Child’s Teeth

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Dec 21, 1905

A Child’s Teeth

A CHILD’S teeth should receive attention as soon as they are through. While the child has only liquid food, the ordinary mouth-washing will answer, but as soon as he begins to take solid food of any kind, there will be trouble if care is not exercised. The softest of tooth-brushes should be used on the teeth, and one that is very narrow. Clean the little teeth carefully twice each day, brushing up and down as well as across the teeth. When there are double teeth, be careful to have the child open his mouth far enough to brush across the crown, as there are many little crevices here in which the food may hide. See that every particle of food is dislodged, especially the foods that form a pasty mass in the mouth, such as crackers, cereals, etc., for it is the tiny portions of this kind of food which lodge in and between the teeth, causing decay. It is not necessary to use tooth washes, powders, or pastes to clean the teeth of children; water will suffice. Never use extremely cold or hot water. Decay begins from the outside of the tooth, not inside, and good sound teeth depend largely on the every-day care of the mouth.—Harper’s Bazar.