What should be included in an infant dental health program?
August 31, 2015
This information was adapted from Dental Secrtes, Elsevier, 2015.
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The tooth paste recommendations for infants, toddlers and preschool children appear to be American and differ from the CDA recommendations which are: 0-3 years – rice grain amount of paste; fluoride paste for those at risk of caries. 3-6 years pea size amount of fluoride paste.
The exact recommendations differ from the American (i.e. AAPD) guidelines as well (which is exactly what you’ve stated – smear layer / rice grain amount upto age 3 y/o and pea size b/w ages 3-6 y/o). But, these recommendations are close enough.
The recommendation to “avoid on-demand nocturnal breast-feeding after the first primary tooth begins to erupt” in order to prevent early childhood caries is based on the mistaken belief that breast milk is cariogenic. However, as stated in the CDA Position on Breastfeeding and Early Childhood Caries, “in the absence of daily oral hygiene care, breastfeeding is one of many risk factors that may contribute to the development of dental caries. Therefore, it is vital that mouth cleaning or tooth brushing be part of the daily routine for all infants, including those who are breastfed.”