Keep Your Baby’s Mouth Healthy and Clean With A Tongue Cleaner

Your daily oral hygiene routine includes keeping the tongue clean, which is an important part of mouth care. This includes your little one, too! It’s important to keep their mouths healthy as they can develop cavities and other issues if not properly cared for.

To minimize potential health problems, newborns must have bacteria-free tongues, gums, and inside cheeks before their first teeth come in. So it’s the perfect time when a tongue and gum cleaner for baby comes in handy.

This simple task, however, can be challenging for babies. So here’s all you need to understand about oral care for babies.

Tongue Cleaner for Babies

Oral health is the overall state of the teeth, gums, and tongue. It involves preventing and treating diseases and conditions that affect these oral tissues. Nurturing oral health is important to have a healthy body overall. Whether or not your little one has teeth, you have to ensure that your baby’s mouth, gums, and tongue are clean to secure proper oral hygiene.

This is doable with the aid of a tongue cleaner. It’s made of plastic, copper, or stainless steel that cleans microorganisms off your baby’s tongue. You have to repeatedly drag the scraper forward towards the back of the tongue. There are ways to properly use it, store it, and keep it clean.

Teething begins around the age of four months, and even before that, good oral hygiene is essential. Bacteria grows in your baby’s sweet saliva if you allow breast milk or infant formula residues to stay in the mouth for days. It can result in a fungus infection.

Negative Effects of Bad Oral Hygiene

It’s common for your baby’s tongue to seem brownish after nursing. The brownish thing is the milk residue clinging to the tongue’s surface. Oral thrush is likely if you observe cream-colored wounds inside your baby’s mouth.

Thrush is a common fungal infection that can quickly spread, so if you suspect your infant has it, consult your doctor. It resembles little cottage cheese lumps that are difficult to remove. In addition, thrush causes discomfort and burning sensation in babies, making it difficult for them to eat. It can also easily spread to the nipples of the breastfeeding mother. ‌

Lack of oral hygiene in babies and toddlers with teeth can quickly lead to plaque build-up and tooth decay. When your baby or toddler eats a sugary snack, bacteria in the plaque create acids. Cavities are caused by acids corroding the protective outer covering of the teeth called dental enamel.

How to Clean Babies Tongue

To properly clean your baby’s tongue and gums, do the following:

1. Clean your hands thoroughly. It’s important that you disinfect whatever you’re going to put inside your baby’s mouth.
2. Tongue cleaners are available in many medical supply stores. But you can use a gauze or finger cloth wrapped around the fingers to clean your baby’s tongue.
3. If you’re using gauze, saturate it with warm water before wrapping it around your finger. Then, hold your baby in one arm and clean his mouth with the other, so you can rest him in a comfortable posture.
4. Carefully open your little one’s mouth, then clean the tongue gently with your finger.
5. Softly scrape the tongue and gums in a circular pattern.
6. After cleansing the tongue, gently massage the baby’s teeth (if there are any) and gums to complete the process.
7. Gum cleansers can also eliminate any build-ups. However, if the cleansers are unable to eliminate the build-ups, you should seek medical consultation.
8. This cleaning method should be done at least once a day after every meal.

 

Now that you already know how to use gum and tongue cleaner, here are other suggestions regarding oral hygiene for your baby. The following are more like preventative measures, so don’t disregard them.

• In case a tongue cleaner is not available, you can alternatively clean the baby’s tongue with water. Ensure the water isn’t hot for your infant because it might burn your baby’s tongue and be the cause of other discomforts.
• While wiping the tongue, entertain your infant so your little one can enjoy the process.
• You must also clean the gums and the insides of the cheeks.
• Some babies get irritated and refuse to get clean. Wait until the infant is in a good mood to clean the tongue.
• Avoid using a fluoride paste or other fluoride-containing things because the fluoride can be ingested by the newborn.

How To Maintain Your Baby’s Mouth Care

Whether your infant has teeth or none doesn’t mean dental hygiene isn’t important. Even if you have a food plan in place for your baby, they will still touch everything and put their hands in their mouths. As a common factor, it’s best to keep your baby’s gums and teeth clean. Here is a list of infant oral wellness tips.

• Clean your infant’s gums with a tongue cleaner after every meal. This helps in removing the majority of the food residue.
• When your baby goes to bed, don’t leave the bottle or pacifier in his or her mouth. Remove it if they aren’t actively drinking or sucking as the milk might slowly drip into your baby’s mouth and soak teeth, causing tooth decay.
• Choosing the right food to give to your baby. Plaque forms with sticky, sugary, and starchy foods like potato chips, which are bad for the teeth. On the other hand, a well-balanced diet is an excellent method to help your baby’s teeth and gums.
• When it comes to maintaining your baby’s good oral health, water and breast milk are your best friends. Unlike sweet fruit drinks, these fluids don’t stick to your child’s teeth.
• Give your child natural soft and manageable fruits if you want to introduce them to sweets without the detrimental consequences of high sugar. Alternatively, you can make your natural fruity combinations, allowing your infant to receive vitamins and dental care.

Start Oral Care As Early As Possible

Oral health is extremely important and should start at an early age. It’s recommended that you begin cleaning your baby’s mouth the moment they start teething. It pulls out food debris and bacteria from the mouth, keeping your little one’s gums and teeth healthy.

By now, you already know the steps on how to clean your baby’s mouth. Do not forget to apply and remember all the tips in this article. If you want to save time and are not ready to DIY your own tongue cleaner, you can always buy it at your favorite baby store or online shop like Ashtonbee. We have everything you need for your baby!

Are you still scouting for the best and most affordable baby essentials? Visit Ashtonbee and see what we have in store for you!