InTouch with Southern Kentucky February 2020 | Page 33

Oral health spans a lifetime. It
begins with the very first tooth
growing in a baby’s mouth—signal-
ing when you should begin brushing
their teeth. Typically, you need to
continue doing this until they are
two-years-old.
“It can help with teething,” Prath-
er says. “It will also help get them
familiar with getting their teeth
cleaned as well.”
Even though they are temporary
and will fall out within a few years,
baby teeth are still vulnerable to de-
cay without proper care—leading to
cavities, painful gums, or difficulty
with chewing and eating. Additional-
ly, they hold the space that waits for
the arrival of permanent teeth.
“Letting your child go to bed with
a bottle or sippy cup is the number
one cause for infants and toddlers
getting cavities,” Prather says. “It
can cause what is known as baby
bottle tooth decay, usually result-
ing from milk or juice sitting on the
teeth all night long.”
F ebruary 2020
“You want to
establish good
oral health
habits early on
in a child’s life,
It gets them
familiar right
away with
brushing their
teeth and
becoming a
natural habit.”
Brandi Prather
D.M.D.
I n T ouch with S outhern K entucky • 33