Haven’t we all heard this one before… my dad and mum had bad teeth, so I will have bad teeth. They now wear dentures, so I am destined for false teeth.
There is nothing further from the truth, but let me paint you a picture.
All babies have mothers who have just been through a pregnancy, lived through the hormonal changes and poor oral hygiene. Crazy sleep patterns and with little time to brush and floss, gum inflammation with bleeding is a constant companion. This gets aggravated by brushing hard and soon mums feed irregularly, and their diet is lacking. Very quickly, the bacteria in their mouths matures into the more virulent forms that cause gum disease.
Often, mums feed their babies and use the same spoon to taste the food they are feeding baby, thereby introducing the virulent bacteria into baby’s mouth – Ah !!!! so that’s how it begins. Mums and dads can easily break the transfer chain by using fresh spoons and being vigilant on what goes into baby’s mouth.
Wonderful teeth begin with early Preventive Care and the team consists of the dentist, parents and the child. No child likes to have their mouths, ears or nose invaded by someone else, but mums can gently plan their baby’s acceptance of the dentist and hygienist by introducing baby to the clinic and becoming a friend of the practice.
At Caring 4 Smiles, we invite mums to visit as many times as they wish, with baby. We train mums and dads to care for the tender mouth, and slowly, baby enjoys coming to the practice, learns oral care skills and the results are sparkling.
Yes, mums and dads can transfer bad bacteria to their baby – with love, but this is easily prevented, and a beautiful smile is the best gift to every Child.
It is a myth, that we inherit bad teeth from our parents.