Important Dental Habits

• Do not put your baby to bed with a bottle or sippy cup.  

• Avoid giving your baby foods and drinks containing sugar. Children should not have juice during their first year.

• Avoid saliva-sharing activities such as sharing utensils, cleaning pacifier in mother’s mouth, etc., as cavity-causing bacteria can pass from mother to baby. 

• Relieve teething pain with over-the-counter pain medicine such as Tylenol or ibuprofen and/or chilled teething rings. Do not use teething gels.

• Lift your baby’s lip once a month to look for early cavities. 

• Early cavities look like white lines near the gum line.  If you find white lines, make an appointment to take your baby to the dentist immediately.

• Your dentist can treat these early cavities with fluoride, preventing painful cavities from developing.