Baby gum health - why it matters - Basking Babies

Visit any baby section in a supermarket, and you’re met by an array of baby wipes – big ones, small ones, fragranced, sensitive… The list is endless. 

1. Where would we be without them in 2022? 
2. Have we become obsessed with cleanliness? 
3. Have you ever thought to clean your baby’s gums as much as you clean your baby’s bottom? 

Controversial but probably true. Just think how you feel after you have brushed your teeth. Fresh and clean! Not only does brushing your teeth pay off in terms of looking after your dental health but it really makes you feel good too. 

It’s the same for babies! And no, just because you can’t see the teeth, doesn’t mean to say that you’re ‘let off the hook!’ Babies’ teeth are formed very early on whilst in the mother’s womb and are present in the gums when baby is born. They are just biding their time, waiting to appear!  

Baby gums and teeth

Milk teeth are your child’s adult teeth ‘predecessors’. They help shape their face, allow them to chew, and hold the space ‘open’ for their permanent teeth to develop into. Think of them as the foundation to your child’s future oral hygiene. 

Teeth are instrumental to how babies eat, speak and breathe. How we take care of our babies’ gums is one of the most crucial parts of their day-to-day lives.  

There are many reasons to start supporting your child’s oral hygiene journey, from bacteria build-up to gum disease and decay.  

Familiarising a child with an early years oral health routine, prepares a healthy environment for teeth to emerge into, and hopefully helps to minimise any potential tooth brushing battles later on. Start as you mean to go on! 

However, teeth really aren’t the biggest cause for concern! It’s bacteria that you need to look out for. Although there are many strains of helpful bacteria living in our mouths, there are also some oral bacteria that can be more damaging in the long term. 

How to keep baby gums clean

• After a feed, hold baby in the crook of your arm (similar to how a rugby player carries a ball) which will hopefully minimise wriggling! 
• Lean them back and then with a DentalWipe, or clean muslin cloth, dipped into cooled, boiled water, gently clean all around the gums, inside the cheeks and across the tongue. It’s a new sensation, but baby will soon get used to it – especially when you make it part of their routine.  
• As baby develops, cleaning their gums will also give you an indication and insight into the state of play regarding new teeth emerging. 

When to clean your baby’s gums? 

• Ideally clean a baby’s mouth after each feed.  
• Feeding itself probably feels like a full-time job, but if you just add cleaning gums to the end of each feed, it soon becomes an integral part of the feeding routine. 
• Wipe away milky deposits, which contain sugars and if left, can combine with bacteria. Every time you eat, the bacteria present in your mouth digest the sugars of your food to produce acids. These acids are our teeth’s enemy, as they eat away at the enamel and eventually cause tooth decay.   
• If you choose to use a DentalWipe this includes Xylitol. Xylitol is a natural product and has been widely used in children’s dental health for years. It helps prevent decay-causing bacteria from producing the acids that rot teeth. This is because the bacteria are unable to digest Xylitol and so no nasty acid is produced.  

Why clean your baby’s gums?

• A great start for baby’s oral health and helps with teething.   
• Contrary to popular belief, teething doesn’t have to be painful. Newly emerging teeth do not ‘break through’ or ‘pierce’ gums. In fact, gum flaps recede to let a new tooth emerge. Teething pain is often caused by food and debris which becomes ‘trapped’ in the flaps. Hence the reason and importance of keeping gums clean!  

Since Covid and lockdown there has been a greater spotlight on our  general health and well-being, and probably more reliance upon ourselves to look after own welfare and that of others. Simple steps at home can give your little one their best chance of a healthy lifestyle later on.  

From newborn to adulthood, gum and dental health matters. 

For further free information about all things dental for little ones, with suggestions including wipes, teethers, toothbrushes, and accompanying toothpastes, head over to our website www.brushbaby.com and check out the SmileStones Club. It’s FREE! Just pop in your child’s date of birth and sign up to receive regular gum and dental-care updates, sampling opportunities and exclusive discounts for SmileStones members.