Oral care during pregnancy

It's a wonderful, beautiful and joyous momemnt to be pregnant. Congratulations. And while having to take note of various issues about being pregnant, the dos and the don'ts, we are sorry that we got to put forth another - pregnancy oral care. However, it's for your own and baby's well being. Hence, it definitely requires a small effort to learn about it.

As we all already know, pregnancy can make a woman feeling very sick or nothing at all. This is due to the hormonal changes occur in our body that alters its normal behavior. This is the reason why it’s important pregnant women to take good care of our teeth and gums. The hormonal changes increase the risk of developing gum disease because it makes gums more sensitive, making gingivitis easier to develop, and this can affect the health of the baby. Pregnancy gingivitis, identified by and uncomfortable swelling, bleeding, redness or softness in the gum tissue.

Fret not actually. We have some tips to prevent that.

And it is best that good practice starts way before pregnancy. However if you are pregnant, just start paying some attention to your oral health.

Before Pregnancy
Visit your dentist regularly at least every 6 months to have teeth professionally cleaned and gum tissue carefully examined. If there is any oral condition, it is better to get it treated in advance of your pregnancy.

During Pregnancy
1. Avoid sweet food as much as possible. The more sweets you eat, the greater chance you have of developing tooth decay. Moreover, the food you eat influences your child's food preferences. Hence, no matter how great your sweet craving is, try to control it. And it good to control especially pregnant ladies need to be wary of gestational diabetes.

2. Avoid dental treatments at specific times during pregnancy. For precaution, during the first trimester and second half of the third trimester dental treatments should be avoided as much as possible. You need to let your dentist know you are pregnant during your routine dental care and checkups. Avoid dental X-rays during pregnancy.

3. Always eat a healthy, balanced diet. This is very important because your baby's first teeth begin to develop around after the third month of your pregnancy.

4. If morning sickness is keeping you from brushing your teeth, change to a bland-tasting toothpaste during pregnancy. Rinse your mouth out with water or a mouth rinse if you suffer from morning sickness and have bouts of frequent vomiting.

5. Pay special attention to any changes in your gums during pregnancy. Visit your dentist right away if there's any discomfort.

6. Maintain a good oral hygiene to prevent or reduce oral health related problems.

If you need more tips on oral health and hygiene, join Steripod Singapore Facebook page.

Cultivating a good brushing routine with your child

We all know that we have 2 sets of teeth in our lifehood,  baby teeth and adult teeth. And in the current era, we are taught to teach our children to take care of their teeth from young;  actually at infant stage even before their baby teeths sprouts.  That's because we need to take care of ther gums too.

As they grow up, they need to learn how to brush their teeth and it can be a very difficult task. We have googled some info and find this article very useful and like to share with you.

Check this link:
http://candhnews.wordpress.com/category/brushing-kids-teeth/

From my own experiences, I would recommend these ways and some are also mentioned in the article from the above link.

1. Let your child chooses her own toothbrush, toothpaste and brushing gadgets from the ranges you pre-select for them.
2. Engage brushing with them meaning brushing together.
3. Be an example to stop eating after the bedtime brushing. Even though brushing can be done again, kids are not too keen to do it again.
4. Use products like Flipper and/or Steripod to generate their interest in brushing. For example, these products are cute and colourful and it makes pre and post brushing an interesting affair. The thought of getting your toothbrush out and back into these products are a fun thing for them as they get to touch them. This method is definitely proven with my kids. :).
5. Floss with them too. Don't forget this part.

Hope the above help you and let you have an idea where to interest your children to start paying attention to oral care and oral hygiene.

Steripod is our newly brought in product from USA and it definitely is a hit here. It helps to sanitize your toothbrush while you are not using it.  Believe me, you do not want poop particles to find residence on your toothbrush. That's yucky. And by engaging both oral care and oral hygiene routine,  we can ensure that we stay healthier and prevent ourselves from falling sick offen.

Steripod and Flipper are available at www.eobexclusive.com and www.qoo10.sg.

Ciao! :)))