Baby teeth matter.
They’re temporary. Their impact isn’t.
A four-minute read for parents
They do more than hold a smile.
Baby teeth help children eat, speak, and hold the space that adult teeth grow into.
2 in 5
children aged five to ten have had decay in their baby teeth.
Source: National Child Oral Health Study 2012 to 2014, reported by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
“They’ll fall out anyway.”
They will, eventually. The back baby teeth stay put until around age eleven or twelve.
That’s a decade of chewing, speaking and school photos. Decay in the meantime still means toothache, infection and dental work for a child who is still very small.
What actually protects them.
- Brush morning and night from the day the first tooth appears.
- Water only until 18 months, then a small amount of low fluoride toothpaste, about the size of a pea.
- Spit, don’t rinse. Rinsing washes away the fluoride that does the work.
- First dental check by their first birthday, or within six months of the first tooth.
- Keep helping until about age eight. Small hands can’t reach the back teeth properly.
- Nothing but water in the bedtime bottle.
Based on Australian Dental Association and NSW Health guidance for children under five.
If brushing is a battle, try this.
- 1Let them brush first, then you finish the job. They get control, you get the back teeth.
- 2Brush your own teeth beside them. Children copy long before they listen.
- 3Two minutes is one song. Let them pick it, and the argument turns into a routine.
That’s where Tooth Club comes in.
We turn brushing into something children understand, enjoy and repeat, so you stop negotiating it every night.
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This guide is general information for parents. It isn’t a substitute for advice from your child’s dentist.
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