Children visiting the dentist in Holmfirth and Huddersfield

We always recommend you bring your child to the dentist as early as possible,  as it gets them used to what happens at the dentist.

Here are some top tips on how you can help to look after your children’s teeth:

• Start brushing your child’s teeth as soon as the first  tooth erupts; use a tooth brush that has a small soft head.
• Brush their teeth twice a day, once last thing at night before they go to bed and at least one other time during the day
• We would recommend the one other time to be BEFORE breakfast –  if brushing  in a morning is part of your family routine
• For children up to the age of  3 years use a smear of toothpaste containing 1000ppm fluoride
• For children 3 – 6 years old use a pea size blob of toothpaste containing 1350-1500ppm fluoride
• Using a timer is a good way to get your child to brush their teeth for two minutes.
• We have some fun “egg” timers at the practice for 50p which are great for encouraging children to brush for 2 minutes. You can also download various “apps” to encourage good brushing https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/aquafresh-brush-time/id661737439?mt=8  or check out this website http://www.brushdj.com/
• Encourage your child to spit out any excess toothpaste and not to rinse with lots of water
• Supervise tooth brushing up to the age of 7 or 8 years. If your child brushes their own teeth, ensure you watch them from time to time to ensure they are cleaning them effectively and for at least 2 minutes
• Wait approximately 1 hour after eating or drinking before brushing teeth
• Reduce snacking and avoid high sugar content foods, dried foods such as raisins and sultanas, carbonated drinks, flavoured waters

It is very important that you bring your child to their regular dental appointment.

The highest number of patients who fail their dental appointment are children between the age of 1 – 17 years in January this equated to 43 patients.