Idaho CareLine: Dial 2-1-1 or 800-926-2588

Remember Moms: Have your dental checkup before your baby is born! When giving a bottle, always hold your baby. Never put your baby to bed with a bottle. After feeding, wipe your baby's gums and teeth with a clean, soft cloth. At about six months, help your baby learn to use a cup. At one year, help your baby begin to use a toothbrush. Check with a dentist if you see white, chalky spots on your baby's teeth along the gumline. First birthday is the time for your baby's first visit to the dentist. Visit the dentist every six months throughout life. For help finding a dentist who accepts Medicaid insurance, call the Idaho CareLine at 2-1-1 or 1-800-926-2588.

Start Early for Good Oral Health

There are many ways you can help your child have good oral health. The key to success is to start early!

1. Schedule your child's first visit to the dentist by the first birthday. The dentist will evaluate your child's oral health, risk for tooth decay, and other problems, and provide preventive guidance. The infant's developing teeth are affected by many things: the mother's nutrition during pregnancy, feeding habits, pacifier use, oral hygiene, medications and medical history, fluoride level in the drinking water, and even the oral health of the mother and other family members. By starting early, parents and the dentist can work together to prevent problems.
   
   
2. Avoid sharing eating utensils and other saliva-to-saliva contact with your child. Early childhood tooth decay is an infectious disease. It is possible for mothers or other caregivers to pass cavity-causing bacteria to an infant. Mothers, family members, or caregivers with a history of tooth decay should seek dental treatment to lower their bacteria levels and eliminate dental disease in their mouths.
   
   
3. Check your child's teeth regularly for white spots, which are early signs of tooth decay. A child's teeth are susceptible to decay as soon as they begin to erupt. If white spots are present, seek immediate dental care. The early stages of decay can be reversed with topically-applied fluoride, which remineralizes the tooth enamel.
   
   
4. Brush your child's teeth with a small, soft-bristle toothbrush. The first tooth often comes in around 6 months of age. When your child is able to rinse, a pea-size amount of fluoride toothpaste should be used daily. Infants and young children can get too much fluoride if they regularly swallow toothpaste. Supervise your child's tooth brushing until age 7 or 8 to make sure they are getting all surfaces of their teeth clean.
   
   
5. Begin fluoride supplementation at six months of age, if the drinking water supply has less than 0.3 ppm fluoride. Topical application of fluoride gel or varnish is indicated for high risk children to promote tooth remineralization and reduce susceptibility to tooth decay.
   
   
6. Protect your child from developing baby bottle tooth decay, a particularly severe form of early childhood tooth decay. Be aware of the following:
   
   
   • Any liquid that contains sugar, including medications, can contribute to tooth decay;
   • Infants should not be put to bed with a bottle or use the bottle as a pacifier during the day;
   • Prolonged nighttime breastfeeding should be discontinued after eruption of the first tooth;
   • Children should learn to drink from a cup by their first birthday;
   • Infants and young children need a balanced diet in accordance with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Idaho Resources for Oral Health

For help finding a dentist, or information about getting dental services through Medicaid and the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP), call the Idaho CareLine at 2-1-1, 1-800-926-2588, or (208) 332-7205 (TDD).

For dental health information, contact the Oral Health Program, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, at 208-334-5964.

The National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health — NCEMCH is a national resource center on maternal and child health, offering searchable databases, lists of projects and organizations, publications, bibliographies, and links with other organizations.

Bright Futures in Practice: Oral Health — Addresses the oral health needs of children ages 0-21 and presents specific health promotion and disease prevention guidelines for creating a foundation for lifelong oral health. Part of the Bright Futures series of guidelines for health supervision of infants, children and adolescents.

American Dental Association — The ADA is the professional association of dentists dedicated to serving both the public and the profession of dentistry. The ADA offers consumer information for parents and children on a variety of oral health topics.

American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry — The AAPD is the professional organization whose dentist members are specifically trained to provide both primary and comprehensive preventive and therapeutic oral health care for infants, children, adolescents, and patients with special health care needs. AAPD offers parent information on commonly asked questions, news releases on emerging dental issues, Internet links, and even activities "just for kids."